Had a lovely quiet last morning in London. We slept in then packed up, checked out and left our luggage with reception and went for a stroll along the Thames which it turns out we were actually staying on and didn't realize it. We decided upon lunch in a nice little french cafe along the river. Food was excellent and we were quite happy to end our visit this way.
Kels had the bœuf bourguignon
I had a croque with mushrooms and goat cheese
We strolled back, grabbed our luggage and caught a cab to the airport. It was time to say goodbye to the UK.
The flight was good, we forced ourselves to stay awake to help get back into a routine so movies, food and G&T's it was.
Somewhere over Greenland...
We made it home however there was a slight hick up with luggage so we are still working to get that sorted.
Face of a little girl who doesn't want to let us out of her sight now
It was an incredible whirlwind of a trip. We were very busy seeing the sights and doing as much as we could in the time that we had. We think that it will take a couple of months for everything to sink in a little more and be able to analyze everything. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip however and are thankful that we could come. It's surreal to be home now and in some ways it feels like we never even left however we know that subtly this trip has changed us and opened our minds and hearts to our experiences we will always think back fondly on our memories. Closing the book on our 2018 UK roadtrip.
Where will we head next? We are unsure but we are tossing some ideas around the old noggins so stay tuned for our next adventure and thank you for taking the time to follow along on this one.
Woke up to a typical UK morning - raining cats and dogs. We were a tad slow about starting our day so didn't get out of the hotel until 11am. We decided upon Indian food for lunch and found a spot near the Tower of London. It turned out really good and we both had things that we had never had before.
Top deck of bus riding to the tube
After lunch the rain seemed to have subsided so we continued over to the Tower of London which is actually a 1,000 year old castle that protects the Crown Jewels. It was a secure fortress and an infamous prison.
All this grassy area used to be filled with water - the moat
King Henry III's receiving chamber
The ceiling's never cease to impress
View of the Tower Bridge from inside the Tower of London
A lady strolling the grounds with her minstrel
Tower defender - lol just a statue depicting how any fighting would have been done
If you come to the UK get used to narrow spiral stairwells in every castle you tour
Miniature of the whole of the Tower of London
Ravens of the tower are a fixture - they were unbelievably calm. You could walk right past them like this one on the railing of the stairwell and they didn't move.
Yeoman Wardener
There are ceremonial guards here "protecting" the crown jewels
We got to see the enormous wealth of the crown jewels and the banqueting pieces. Pictures were not allowed.
We went into the bloody tower. It was so named because 2 princes went missing and their bodies were never found all in the name of a crown.
The rack
This well was once connected to the royal apartments.
The traitor's gate where they brought in traitors to the tower.
The Tower was bigger than we had anticipated so we spent quite a few hours here. So much so that our original plan was vetoed and we then took a stroll across the tower bridge to Stooley Street and the many eateries there.
Another view of Tower Bridge
The Shard
Last true english fish and chips and G&T's
This is a fountain
Last tube ride in London
Our time in London is at a close. We will probably sleep in and catch our flight home tomorrow. We will post our last thoughts tomorrow and let everyone know we got home safe.
Moderately early start. On the way to the tube there is a McDonalds so we stopped for breakfast. Then away to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards! They only do this every second day. The guards hold the position for 24hrs however they do a 2hrs on and 4hrs off rotation throughout that 24 hr period. The St. James's Palace detachment of the Old Guard forms up in Friary Court at 10:30 for an inspection by the Captain of The Queen's Guard. (St. James's Palace is situated off The Mall in Marlborough Road). This contingent will make its way down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace at approximately 10:25 preceded by a Regimental Band or Corps of Drums. The Buckingham Palace detachment, of the Old Guard, already on duty in the Palace, are inspected whilst awaiting the arrival of the St. James's Palace detachment. The St. James's detachment enters the Palace Forecourt via the South Centre Gate (left of centre facing the Palace) and takes up position beside the Buckingham Palace detachment on the left hand side of the forecourt. Now complete, the Old Guard awaits the arrival of the incoming New Guard from Wellington Barracks, which is situated at the Buckingham Palace end of Birdcage Walk. The New Guard undergoes its own inspection on the parade square at Wellington Barracks. While awaiting the arrival of the New Guard's Regimental Colour the band, accompanying them forms a circle and plays a selection of music. After saluting the Colour, the New Guard steps off from Wellington Barracks preceded by a Regimental Band at 10:57. At 11:00 the New Guard enters the Forecourt, via the North Gate (right of centre facing the Palace), they march in front of the Band and halt facing the Old Guard. The Band then performs the New Guard's Regimental Slow March as it advances towards the Old Guard. The Old and New Guards 'Present Arms' before the Captains of the Guard ceremoniously hand over the Palace keys. This symbolic gesture represents the transfer of responsibility for the security of the Palace's from the Old to the New Guard who, until relieved, will be The Queen's Guard. When The Queen is in residence The Foot Guards, on the forecourt of the Palace, will await The Queens Life Guard and 'Present Arms', (salute with their rifles), as the cavalry pass between the Queen Victoria Memorial and Buckingham Palace. It was quite the fan fare and procession. And the people! So. Many. People. Kels and I divided and conquered as it were. We stood in 2 different locations.
Apologies for the video is in a funny position - I tried to flip it to get a panoramic shot and I messed it up
The band playing - they played happy birthday (not sure why), theme from Game of Thrones and various other random selections of music.
There were lots of police (bobbies) corralling the crowd and this particular one in front of Kels had quite the sense of humor. After herding people behind the railings a pigeon walked right in front of him. He paused and then started herding the pigeon with a right then move along move along.
The fountain in front of the palace
Queen Victoria
There are columns on the 4 corners of the round about in front of the palace - each had countries names on it (we suspect it was once all the countries Britian owned). These are Canada's. Off to the left (not pictured) is one for Newfoundland on it's own.
Once the changing of the guard was complete we navigated our way down the Mall to Westminster Abbey and the Churchill War Rooms through a very large park.
However the queue for the abbey was horrendous. So we just stopped for some pics and carried on.
The amount of detail was amazing.
We passed by the Supreme Court building.
When we got to the war rooms they were also horrendously queued so we decided to get away from the core and headed up to 221B Baker Street to visit Sherlock Holmes residence. A short tube ride later and we arrived. We stopped for lunch at a nice little pizzeria and the waiter was very friendly. It was nice to sit and rest after standing all morning on pavement watching the guards changing. After lunch we headed down the street to Shelocks abode. There was a tiny bit of a line but it moved quickly.
Sherlock
Professor Moriarty
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Original key for 221B Baker Street
After that nice literary stop, we headed back on the tube to the war rooms. We arrived and the line wasn't as bad as it was previously so we decided to wait. The sun was out again after being overcast in the morning. Got out the umbrella and created our own shade while waiting. It was about an hour's wait but it was worth it. The war rooms were in a bunker and you could easily spend at minimum 2 hrs there. It walks you through the history of not only second world war but also the life of Churchill himself.
The room where they all met to decide things
This goes with the picture below
These stairs descending down were known as the Dock. When the air raid went off everyone went down here. It was particularly unpleasant and cramped and musty.
Churchill had only 2 bodyguards for anywhere he went. This is their quarters
Mrs. Churchill's bunker room.
The power generators that kept the facility running.
A portrait of Churchill as a child. He was born into an aristocratic family.
Churchill's one room beside the map room. He would take siesta's in the afternoon and the whole bunker had to be quiet.
After the war rooms we were still early for dinner so we took a stroll in the general direction that we would be having dinner and found some interesting things along the way.
The London Eye
This is the only surviving section of one of the guard towers that used to surround London.
This boat has the royal crest on it and we were thinking it was one of the queen's pleasure boats?
The door to our dinner banquet opened at 715 and there was a line when we got there at 705. Once inside we were shown to our seats and then we headed to the costume racks to don our lordly and ladylike outfits for the evening.
There were many entertainments between courses - contortionists, jugglers (jesters), much singing and ale glass raising. All of the actors were very good singers and they sang quite a few appropriately songs of the ye era gone by. The couple next to us on my left were from Mazatlan however they live in London for about 5 months of the year. The couple next to us on my right were from Italy on holiday and the couple next to them were from Calgary. Small world when you travel lol.
No spoons with soup!
The juster juggled upside down on his head from a tiny little platform and balanced the balls on his feet.
The contortionist was very good.
Before desert they had dueling for the representatives of each house (in actuality the "houses" were the long alcoves of trencher tables we all sat in)
It was a very fun night. The food was excellent - four courses of soup, salad/meats/cheese, roast chicken with veggies and apple pie. There were pitchers of ale and flasks of wine that once emptied the wench promptly came a filled again. There was also a bar if you wanted to having something other than wine and ale. At times the wench would try and get everyone up to join the dancing circle and we'd all skip about then sit again. At the end they started playing 20th century music and we took our leave shortly after as we had a long train ride back and it was already 11pm. We packed quite a bit in the day so were pretty tired when we got back.
