London - Day 2

Friday, 2 September 2011

We set out to explore London on foot to see where we would end up.

On our way to the Thames river, we stumbled across St Stephens church where an organ recital was taking place.  For a small donation, we popped in to enjoy some baroque sounds in a church building around a thousand years old.

We continued on and saw a World War II memorial to the nation of Malta.  Maltese being Jason’s heritage, he stopped to have a read.  It was interesting to read that Malta became, and remains, the most bombed place in the history of war.

We then wandered some more and found ourselves at the Tower Bridge, a perfect prelude to the Tower of London.

We watched an tour guide/actor for awhile but found the gimmick distracting, so we opted for a listening tour.

We explored the bedroom of Edward the Confessor...

...an area where the arsenal was kept, and finally, the crown jewels.  (Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos in these areas).

Here are some exterior snaps of the Tower of London...

And finally, some happy snaps of us...

We also saw a changing of the guards.  They weren’t the ones in fuzzy hats guarding Windsor Castle, but it was still interesting.  Unfortunately, crowds obstructed our view by the time we began taking photos.

It was very helpful to get another recommendation from Ahman for dinner.  At a local pub, we had the ultimate roast dinner complete with Yorkshire puddings…for seven pounds each.

We then headed to Soho for some coffee and people watching, and did a spot of shopping on the way.