Saturday was our last full day in London. I had a list of things to see. I had my bucket list out and ready. Robyn and Di were a little leery of my long list, but they set out to help me accomplish it!
First we met for breakfast (on-time) and then we jumped in a cab and headed to the Tower of London. We lucked out and the Tower had opened early that day. We were able to meet the Beefeaters. These men work and live with their families at the Tower of London. It is very prestigious to be one of these elite men. You have served 22 years in the military and have earned the Long Service Medal.
These are the homes where the Beefeaters live.
Back when the monarchy used this castle for a home, it had 2 motes around it. This was just one of them. They also had wild animals living on the property between two sets of outer walls. They had replica statues that were freaky all over the grounds.
We quite like the guards with the big hats.
They aren't just napping, they are holding very still with huge automatic weapons that they are not afraid to use.
This is a view with the tower bridge in the back ground.
Our main reason for coming here was to see the crown jewels. Boy are they spectacular. No cameras are allowed and there are guards with weapons everywhere! For hundreds of years the jewels worn by the royal family have been stored here. They are used for coronations and birthdays and many other celebrations. Wow!
Once we had toured the Tower, we jumped aboard a water taxi just before it pulled out and sailed us down the Thames to Greenwich. My goal here was to go to the Prime Meridian.
We arrived in the quaint town in about 12-20 minutes. We were greeted by the Cutty Sark Ship.
We followed the signs through town toward the Royal Observatory. We stopped along the way at a little bakery where I ordered a "drinking chocolate" (hot cocoa) and Robyn and Di shared a scone, which is like a biscuit.
Well it was a good thing we stopped to refuel because from there we walked about a mile through a beautiful park and then straight up a huge hill to the observatory.
I made Robyn come in with me to take pictures. We had to pay to get in, but I didn't care. I wanted to stand in the eastern and western hemispheres at the same time. I made it to the Prime Meridian!
While we were there we could see for miles across London. We were able to see the tall buildings from the financial district and the Millennium Bowl where the London Olympics were.
On our way back to the water taxi we passed the maritime museum. There we were able to see a giant ship in a bottle.
I stopped to use a public restroom and this is the one I found. It was down stairs in a little hallway. It looked like a dungeon. The toilet flusher hung down as seen below.
We made it back to the water taxi which took us back to London where we saw the London Eye. We were not about to wait in the 6 hour line for a ride so we grabbed a taxi and headed to Kensington Palace.
Robyn was so excited to go and see this palace. This is the palace that Diana lived in and where Price William and Kate live now. Robyn and Di reminisced about the images they remember from Diana's funeral. The park and the walkway up to the palace gates that were lined with flowers and people who loved her. We went in to do the tour and we were very disappointed. The tour was very limited and showed very little about Diana. Robyn was the most disappointed and she wanted to leave.
To drown our sorrow we hopped in a taxi and went back to Harrods. We found a magnificent ice cream bar to get a little snack. OK so the snack wasn't that small but it was that magnificent. The desserts were served in cool blown glass dishes. We were even able to chose our dish from a large variety of glasses and then watch them make the desserts. It was a lot of fun.
After we had our fill we did some souvenir shopping and I moseyed back to the bakery for a little treat. I had to stock up on these little pieces of heaven before I left the country.
Once we got back to the hotel Robyn was in dire need of a nap. We all slept for a couple hours and then planned to meet up again for dinner. When I got up Robyn tried to sit up and talk to me. She literally could not sit up or talk or even be coherent. I was worried about her so I got her some medicine and a cold drink. She slept a while longer before she woke up and was able to go to dinner. We had dinner at the hotel before retiring to bed for the night.
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