Day 25 - London, Day 2

Got up bright and early this morning, got ready, and... waited for others to get ready. But that's alright :) We had to work out what we wanted to do anyway. Several of us decided to buy a bus tour ticket. I think it was a really good idea. It was a good way to see London, a view we would not get if we took the Underground. Plus, they have very interesting tour guides. It was fun. Inside of the top of a double-decker bus. It was pretty crazy because when they turn, the top tilts precariously. I felt like I was on the (k)night bus from Harry Potter.

A house like this in London costs about 20 million pounds, if I remember correctly. Seems a bit much.

Trafalgar Square

You can see the London Eye in the background.

Me with Big Ben.

Houses of Parliament

Westminster Abbey. I couldn't, unfortunately, take any pictures on the inside. I don't really know why but they didn't allow it. But it was amazing! Many people are buried there. Kings and Queens, obviously, along with Handel, Newton, Darwin, and many poets and authors. There is a memorial to Shakespeare that was really cool. They considered moving his body here, but they decided to leave it in Stratford. Next to his memorial, there is a plaque for Jane Austen. I don't know if she is buried there or not, however. Also, there was a really cool cloister that I went into. The center of it was open and it was raining out there. The grass was perfectly green. It was beautiful. I wouldn't have minded being a monk there :) I so, so wish I could have taken a picture.

The Thames

This is the Austrailian High something or other. The reason why it is important to me is that this building was Gringotts in the first Harry Potter movie :)

Wounds from bombings

St. Paul's Cathedral. We would have gone in, but it cost, like every other church in London, and I'm pretty sure I'm going in when I come back during the Art History study abroad.

:)

It is so funny to me that they still make these types of cars. I love it.

Tower Bridge. Not to be confused with London Bridge, which is really plain.

A bad up-close view, but it's the best I have. I think the blue looks a little out of place. Is it just me?

The Tower of London

Traitor's Gate. Anne Boleyn, among others, was brought through here to be executed. It used to be called Water Gate, I think. I'm not sure if the tour guide was joking or not. He was a funny guy.

Speaking of the tour guide, here's the man himself. I think his name was George and he was Scottish. Loved his accent.

The White Tower under construction.

The place where private executions would take place. According to our guide, you had to be a really good friend of the King (and have the relationship go sour) in order to be executed here. The memorial looks a bit strange to me.

Then we ventured into the white tower to see all the cool stuff in there.

The Loo.

I thought litter was only litter if it was on the ground. Guess not.

Eight ravens are kept on the premises at all times because there is a legend that if all the ravens leave, the white tower will fall.

After that, we got onto the Tube, went to the hotel to change, then went to the Opera.

No, we weren't allowed to take pictures, but didn't know that until I had already taken it :) Our seats were pretty good. I enjoyed the Opera. It was very different than a musical, however. 1-it was in Italian and we had to read the English hyper-titles and 2-they have long, drawn-out musical parts where they sing a lot, but they don't really say anything. It was mostly a lot of tedious repetition. But that's just how Opera is. The voices were amazing! The opera we saw was Cosi fan Tutte (which means, "they way women are" or something similar). The music was composed by Mozart.

Then we headed back to the hotel again. I think it was a really good day. I saw a lot and I am satisfyingly tired :) I love London.