Our second full day in London was reserved for the Tower of London and its rich and diverse history, as well as the hop-on, hop-off bus tour. It was so cold that day we pretty much stayed on the bus, but we did get off at Buckingham Palace. We started the day with a “Full English” Breakfast and it was more food than we could eat! No “continental” breakfast at the Doubletree!
The Tower of London is the oldest fortified castle in Europe! The very first fortress at the site was built by the Romans, and you can still see portions of the original Roman wall. The White Tower dates back to 1078 when King William used it as his castle. King Henry III used it as his castle starting in 1240, making extensive additions and renovations. Over the years, the complex has been used for many different things–palace residence, prison, royal mint, treasury, and zoo!
There were so many amazing pieces of history at the Tower that I could have spent the entire day there and it could fill several blog posts, but I realize not everyone is as much of a history nerd as I am, so I will spare you! I was particularly interested in the ravens–Legend has it that if the Tower’s resident ravens ever leave the Tower, the Kingdom will fall. I was lucky enough to snap a photo of one of the ravens close up!
My favorite pictures from the Tower are the raven and the one in the previous group that shows the Shard in the background–it is an interesting juxtaposition of old and new!
The rest of the day was spent on the bus that went EVERYWHERE, and a short stop at Buckingham Palace. Sadly, the Queen’s Gallery was closed as it prepared for a new exhibition. We were able to decide which places we wanted to return to later in the week! I did take a couple of really cool pictures from the bus, though!
It was a cold day, so the only time we hopped off the bus was to visit Buckingham Palace and have lunch. We didn’t go INTO the palace, but enjoyed the lovely area outside! We found a great little place called B-bar. I had a grilled chicken Cobb salad and Seth had chicken curry. For dessert we shared some delicious honeycomb ice cream!
That night we went to a pub called Cheshire Cheese. I had a “Pie and a Pint” while Seth had a “Three-Way Chicken Sandwich”. It was crowded and boisterous and felt like a true British pub experience!
Well, that was certainly a FULL day! Stay tuned for highlights from the rest of our London stay!