Day 32: London, England

The internet service at the hostel is kind of spotty, plus I have been too busy to edit the pictures. Sorry for the delay in posting.

Picked up our London Passes.

Went to St. Paul’s via the tube.

Had the guided tour and learned all kinds of amazing things. Went up to the two balconies for views of the city. Edon has caught the cold and didn’t feel well enough to go up. 

Got falafel at Falafel House. It was good, but I think I liked the falafel in Dublin better.

Walked past the Monument to the Great Fire, also designed by Christopher Wren.

Close to the Tower is the oldest church in London. It has a great Crypt Museum with Roman artifacts found on the site.

Went to The Tower and it was like going to Disney. The line to see the Crown Jewels was so long. We decided to see the other things at the Tower and wait for the line to lessen. I really enjoyed the exhibit in White Tower(?) about the Royal Armory. We saw amazing armor, including Henry VIII’s, and weapons.

We also saw Beauchamp Tower where prisoners were held and the graffiti they left. The ravens are so big! And all have names. Finally we saw the Crown Jewels. Waiting for the line to shorten paid off. Afterwards we walked across the street to see some of the original Roman wall that had surrounded Londonium. It was so much larger than I was expecting!

We made our way across Tower Bridge to the other side of the Thames. We wandered toward The Globe. We arrived a little early to the show and collected our tickets. Adi and Jack had seats in the upper balcony center. The boys and I were groundlings in the yard. 

The show was amazing, of course. It was The Winter’s Tale. It was one of Shakespeare’s plays I wasn’t familiar with. It lasted just about 3 hours including an intermission. Standing actually was less awful than I thought it would be. Plus, we got most of the prophecy that was ripped and thrown into the audience as a souvenir. We got back late and went to bed.