Wednesday November 6, 2002
We arose early for our tour of London. We managed to get out of the hotel a bit ahead of schedule, so we popped into the Cafe Nero for a quick breakfast. Then it was off to the Boots pharmacy to pick up an umbrella for Roger, which turned out to be the best investment of the day since it started to rain. We chose Evan Evans Tours for the trip, and they picked us up at the Ritz hotel on Piccadilly. We were then taken to the Victoria Bus Station for organization and then separation onto our tour busses. Our tour guide for the day was Allan and the bus driver was Charlie. Allan had a dry sense of humor but did an excellent job pointing out the sights along the way. In reality we did three things in between all the sightseeing. We got a tour around Westminster Abbey, a River Thames Tour, and a stop at the Tower of London to see the family jewels. We were supposed to stop and see the changing of the guards, but it was an off day as well as a bad weather day so there was no changing to be had.
Our bus traveled from the Abbey, past the government buildings, including 10 Downing Street, home of the Prime Minister, down Whitehall. We then went through the Admiralty Arch, down the Mall and drove past Buckingham Palace. We then veered through Knightsbridge where we saw Harvey Nicks, Harrod’s, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History and Science Museums, around the Royal Albert Hall, pass the Albert Memorial, along the Ring between Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. At Victoria Gate we passed a little Pet Cemetery, went around Lancaster Gate, and then headed down Bayswater towards Marble Arch. Circling the Arch, we went through some exclusive parts of Mayfair including Grosvenor Square and the U.S. Embassy.
I had visited all the sights back on a similar tour back in 1996, but thankfully, I managed to get some good Gorn shots with the Abbey as well as Big Ben and the London Eye Ferris wheel. We then had lunch on the tour at the Silver Cross Pub near Trafalgar Square where we met a nice Australian lady Margaret who was traveling with her mother Gloria and was part of our group. Gloria was walking with a cane, but she was a trooper throughout. We met them because Margaret asked if wed take their picture. It turned out that their battery was depleted. So I offered to take some pictures of them and email them back to her in Australia. In the end, we only managed the first picture at the pub since we lost track of them at the Crown Jewels at the Tower. We did have a nice chat on the boat and we exchanged addresses so that we could correspond. She also invited us to stop by if we ever make it Down Under.
Our tour resumed with a trip back towards Westminster to board the ferry to take us down the river towards the tower of London. There was no narration on the boat so I took it upon myself to narrate and point out some of the sights to Margaret, Gloria, and a couple from Alabama. I was disappointed that I did not see the MI6 building last seen in “The World is Not Enough”. After the boat docked it was over to the Tower, Allen gave us some background on the Tower as well as some tidbits on the green area where the famous executions were carried out. He then let us explore on our own. Roger and I admired the Crown Jewels. Some of the videos were presented a bit different than the last time I was there, but it was still amazing to see the stuff in person. We then explored the White Tower home to a museum of the Tower’s history and some of the armaments used in its history. By then, it was time to get back to the bus and the Tower had closed so we were not able to walk along certain parts of the wall.
Back on the bus we finished with a little sightseeing of the City of London proper and the financial district as well as a quick drive-by of St. Pauls. We then began dropping fellow passengers off the bus at various points. We had grand plans at the conclusion of the tour to get dropped off at Harrod’s and then try and make it over to the Victoria and Albert Museum since all London Museums are open late on Wednesday. En Route back to Harrod’s near Russell Square, we were stuck in a huge traffic snarl during which Roger got very tired. We then opted to get off near where our hotel was and then crash for a few hours. Sadly, we managed to oversleep and only managed to make it back out around 11pm (five hours after we arrived back at the hotel). I figured it was a good idea to try and find a place to eat since we skipped Dinner. Thankfully, we set out and found a place to grab a quick bite. We then decided to go for a walk around Leicester Square and through the theater district of SoHo before turning around near Charing Cross Railway Station. It was not that long of a walk, but the cool crisp night air was nice. We then trudged back to the hotel in search of a local cyber cafe to no avail. I remembered I had put the address of one on my laptop so we will try and make it over there tomorrow.
Our big plans for tomorrow is to stop at places that were pointed out on the tour that seemed interesting: The British Museum (to see the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles), Harrod’s for some shopping, the Victoria and Albert Museum, possibly the London Eye if I get brave, and if time permits, St. Paul’s Cathedral. I would like to get over near the London Eye to take a good picture of Parliament and Big Ben. Ah yes, weather permitting, we’ll try and catch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.