After two weeks of traveling around the UK, my last full day in the country was also my only full day in London. There are literally thousands of things to do in London, but I had to narrow that down to a select few. Having not done my homework properly, I still wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to see and do.
Breakfast at the hotel. Nothing fancy, but still glad that breakfast was included...and I got to try what I assume was a real English muffin.
It seemed like the most British thing I could do was watch the Changing the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. After getting a later start to the day than I planned (as usual), I wasn't even sure it was going to end up being worth the effort. When I arrived sometime between 11:15am and 11:30am, there were large crowds, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined it would be. (Be sure to read this first if you plan to catch the Changing the Guard yourself: http://changing-guard.com/dates-times/buckingham-palace.html)
The Queen...on the telly. She was in France for the D-Day anniversary, so I knew there were no possible chance of running into her that day in London.
The band marching in past the crowds along the streets. (I mainly posted this photo though because of the very brute-looking police officer.)
Better views of the band.
The band is now inside the palace gates.
Waving high above Buckingham, with a crown on top.
Zoomed in views. They carry flags...
...and swords...
...and guns, just like every other marching band.
Their outfits are pretty snazzy.
There is a lot of walking back and forth. Once you've seen them walk past for the fifth time, you're kind of ready for it all to be over.
I'm pretty sure one (if not both) of them are female, which is something I didn't even consider until I was editing these photos.
The flags are pretty snazzy too.
Lucky for me, enough people got bored and left that I was able to work my way to the front row behind the fence.
I realized that the song there were playing was by ABBA. No joke.
And the band is leaving.
As well as whoever is driving this Range Rover.
The crowd dissipated a little as the show went on, but there's still quite a large audience.
Show's over.
These guys filed up and entered the building.
A quick peek inside (zoomed in view.)
The palace gates.
That whole ceremony was for this guy.
No crowds anymore.
The Victoria Memorial, across the street from the palace gates.
By the time the festivities at the palace were over, my stomach was ready for lunch. In order to fit as many activities as possible into the day, I chose something quick to eat...a pasty , which is the quintessential British fast food after fish and chips (in my opinion, at least.) The simplistic explanation of a pasty would be to call it a handcrafted "hot pocket." There's much more to it than that, so I recommend reading this if you don't already know the story behind how pasties became the go-to lunch choice for miners: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty
Lots of fillings to choose from.
Vegetarian pasty, filled with potatoes, mushrooms, and such. And of course those are packets of Heinz and HP Sauce in the background.
The Tower of London is actually a walled medieval palace and city.
Just after the entrance, you can wait to take a free tour with a Yeoman Warder, a.k.a. "Beefeater." The tour guide was one of the best parts of the whole experience. He gave a lot of historical information, but seasoned it with humor and interesting facts. (For example, here's a fun fact. All of the Yeoman Warders live inside the walled city.)
This is what the "town" looks like from inside. It's the perfect backdrop for a Renaissance Fair.
Old meets new in the heart of London.
View of Tower Bridge from inside The Tower of London.
Inside is where the Crown Jewels are tightly guarded while on display. Photos weren't allowed inside, so sorry I can't give you a peak at those. I thought it was a neat, though rather repetitive exhibit. (Once you've seen ten crowns and scepters, you kind of get the idea.)
More of these guys.
They do a changing of the guards here too.
There are several other displays in the buildings located inside the fortress. This one in particular, The White Tower, had armor and ammunitions galore.
The sight of these realistic royal masks still freaks me out!
Time to rest my feet. I thought the displays were neat, but I was not as enthralled by them as my travel partner, who is a huge Game of Thrones fan. So, if you love Game of Thrones, then I guess you will love this place.
Speaking of thrones...
It just keeps going, and going, and going.
A real life medieval dragon.
The displays are situated on many different floors. This was the view outside from one of them.
The British version of the guillotine.
I learned where the designs on the current British coins came from. I had been curious about that, so I was happy to find out the answer.
Oh, and did I mention there were stairs too. I hate stairs, especially winding ones.
But I love winding stairs for photo ops!
The stretcher located in the Torture at the Tower exhibit.
Back outside, and more guards doing their thing.
I spent around three hours at The Tower of London until it was time for everyone to leave. I still had no real plan for the rest of the day. I figured now was as good of a time as any to take a look inside Harrods, just to see what all the fuss was about. It was very bright, fancy, and colorful inside. I spent a little bit of time looking around the food and candy cases, but ultimately decided not to buy anything.
As if I hadn't done enough walking that day, I spent the next hour (at least) walking along the south bank of the Thames and checking out menus to try to find a good place for dinner. I had a hard time deciding on what I wanted though, so I ended up walking way further that I intended to.
My good friend, Ben!
Intently reading a menu.
I was sick of walking, and knew I had to just pick a place. The decision ultimately came down to pizza or seafood. I decided on The Wharf (http://www.wharfrestaurants.co.uk/.) There was a bit of a wait for a table, but thankfully I didn't get forced to eat outside in the cold.
I had a taste for fish. I wasn't expecting it to come out looking at me though!
Not completely satisfied after dinner since I didn't get dessert, I decided on one last ditch effort to have scones with clotted cream. I was ecstatic to find a coffeehouse, albeit a chain (Caffè Nero), with just that very thing on the menu. But, it ended up being too good to be true as the cashier informed me that the clotted cream sells out by late morning, which I kind of suspected. Dry scones just don't cut it once you've tasted them with clotted cream, and butter is no substitute. Oh well, I still enjoyed my chai tea.
It was a long but fun day. Back to the hotel to rest...I mean pack, and hopefully have some time leftover to sleep.
Bonus info, if you consider this mundane info to be a bonus. That night and the following morning ended up being quite eventful. The internet connectivity at the hotel decided to crap out, so I couldn't confirm my flight details in advance. That stressed me out a bit, and the fact that I hadn't even started packing or consolidating everything I'd gathered on the trip stressed me out even more, so I slept horribly once I finally got to bed. In the middle of the night, the internet connection finally started to work again, and I was alerted by the United App on my phone that my flight to Phoenix via Houston was delayed. Shortly after, I found out that it was CANCELLED! This ended up being a blessing in disguise though. I was automatically re-booked on a flight connecting in San Francisco, and this flight left later in the day, which gave me much needed time to catch up on some sleep AND finish packing.
Two weeks after beginning, back at Heathrow. As much as I loved the trip, I was so happy to be going back home!
The brand spanking new Terminal 2 - The Queen's Terminal. It had just opened 3 to 4 days earlier.
It was also like a ghost town since United was the only airline flying out of Terminal 2 thus far.
It was really confusing too! It is HUGE. I hope you are never in a hurry here because the walk from the check-in area to the gates is 20-30 minutes and 2 miles, or at least it seemed like that.
At my happy place...the brand new United Club!
At my unhappy place...the floor at SFO baggage claim waiting for my luggage to finally come.
And there you have it. Two weeks in the UK done entirely my way. There is so much more that I would love to see that I couldn't fit into this whirlwind trip. But I know that I'll be back again, someday. Maybe sometime soon, maybe not for 20 years, but someday. Until then, I will think of you often, and fondly, Great Britain.
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