Last Day in London

We spent the last day in London touring the Tower of London, checking out St. Paul’s Cathedral and taking in the entertainment at Piccadilly Circus.

The Tower of London is officially Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress. The White Tower was built in 1078. The Inner Ward was constructed during the 1190’s and then re-built in 1285. The Wharf and moats were expanded in 1377–1399. The official guards of this fortress are the Yeomen Warders aka Beefeaters. This fortress has housed kings, queens, prisoners and has been the execution site of many influential persons, most notably Anne Boleyn. We toured the building that houses the Crown Jewels. We saw the crown that Queen Elizabeth wore at her coronation and wears at every opening of Parliament. We explored the White Tower which is now an Armaments museum. Though I am sure that this had potential it wasn’t really the history that we were interested in. We did however spend about 3 hours on the grounds and along the ramparts taking in the history of the buildings and the people that occupied them.

From there we walked over to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We took some pictures of the exterior but did not enter the church. We walked along the Millenium Bridge that spans the Thames. We wanted to walk this bridge as it shows up in a couple of scenes in one of our favorite movies – Love Actually. We hopped a bus to Piccadilly Circus which of course is not a circus but actually a traffic circle. However, what differentiates this circus from the others is that there are large advertising screens overhead and entertainment in the centre of the circle. We wandered around there and then headed back home via the tube and then train. We stopped for supper at the local pub The Oval which is close to our BNB. Another great day in the heart of London. We are sure going to miss this city!!