| Day 2 - London |
| Copyright Famocon Tours 2001 |
| Every day we were in London we wanted to leave for the first attraction by 9am at the latest. A lot of places don't open until 10am but you should plan to be there when they do open to make the most of your time. Today we headed straight to the Tower of London which opened at 9.30am (10am on Sundays). There is much to see and listen to here so be prepared to spend about two hours. We looked at the various towers surrounding the site and the White Tower in the middle. The Jewel House where the Crown Jewels are kept is an excellent attraction as are the museums, the rookeries, Tower Green, the Queen's House, the Bloody Tower, Traitor's Gate and the site of the executions. The guided tour by the Beefeaters is very entertaining. Our next stop was Tower Bridge which is within easy walking distance of the Tower of London. On the way we had lunch at an excellent upmarket cafe/restaurant overlooking the Thames and the Tower Bridge. You must do the Tower Bridge Experience - this tour takes you up the northern tower and along the covered walkway which links the tower tops and then down to the depths of the tower below the Thames. The tour follows a story on the building of the bridge and how it operates. The tour takes about an hour or so. The rest of the day was taken up with wandering through the Inns of Court, starting with Lincoln's Inn and Chancery Lane and ending with Temple Court and its exit on Victoria Embankment. These legal precincts are very old and quiet. There are wonderful gardens and green space. The buildings and churches are well worth seeing. At the Embankment look out for Cleopatra's Needle guarded by two Sphinx. This day is not so demanding especially if you used mostly transport to move around. We arrived back at the apartment in time to enjoy our comfortable surroundings. We were looking forward to tomorrow's major trip to Hampton Court Palace. |
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