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I got up the following morning to another very overcast day. Ray didn't join me. I was excited though because I went back to Buckingham Palace in hope of going for a tour. When I got there were lots of people and nothing happening. I did not know where to go or who to speak to, so I sat on some steps for a while looking at the Palace instead. It started to rain so I went to the Buckingham Mews which is a shop with souvenirs. I bought a book on the Monarchy. By then the rain seemed to have stopped.

My next stop was at the Tower of London. William I ( otherwise known as William the Conqueror ) started building the Great Tower or White Tower in 1066. This building became a residential palace and fortress for a Queen or King. Since 1066 the castle has been constantly improved and extended. It has more walls, walkways, smaller towers and buildings. It has been a castle, fortress, prison, palace and now a museum.

I took a tour with a Yeoman Warder which was very interesting. He told us the history of the place, of all the hangings and people who stayed there. I then went to have a look at the Crown Jewels and all the armour and such like.

I saw the Ravens that are resident there. Legend has it that Charles II was warned that if the ravens leave the tower the monarchy would fall. So the ravens have been there ever since. An interesting story that I found out when I came back to South Africa was that my Uncles one relatives found one of the ravens out of the Tower of London and took the raven back. My Uncle still has the letter that his relative got thanking him for returning the raven.

My next stop was the Tower Bridge. It was completed in 1894 and took 8 years to construct. The Tower Bridge was originally a brown colour. In 1977 it was painted red, white and blue.

My last stop for the day was to The Monument. The Monument is in the City of London and was built between 1671 and 1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London on Sunday the 2nd of September 1666, which was finally distinguished on Wednesday the 5th of September. The fire destroyed a very large part of the City. The Monument was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. I walked up all the 311 stairs without much trouble as I was getting fit by that stage of my holiday and enjoyed the sights of London. I took a couple photo's and then headed back to Ray's house for some food and sleep!!! I got to bed pretty late in the evening and had an early start the next morning.

I got up to another overcast day. Having not seen Shayne for 16 days I was happy to see him again. We met at Paddington Station and went to Lords Cricket Ground for a tour of the grounds.
Lords Cricket Ground was built in 1787 by Thomas Lord, a keen cricketer and a successful property developer.

We saw Warwickshire play against another team while on the tour, but we did not watch much of it at all. We did get to see Alan Donald bowl though. It was his last match for them.

From there we went to the River Thames to the London Eye. This time however we got into it and went for a ride. It took half an hour and I enjoyed the view.

The next place we went to visit was 10 Downing Street. This is where the British Prime Minister lives. The street was named after the person who built the street, Sir George Downing. Prime Ministers have had official residence in this house since 1732, when King George II presented the property to Sir Robert Walpole, Britain's first Prime Minister.

We continued down the road to the Queens Guards and through the buildings there and onto the war memorial and then we went for a walk along the Princess Diana Memorial Walk in St.. James Park, but we only did a part of it and then we went our separate ways. I was supposed to go back to Swindon but I did not as two days later I was to meet another pen friend of mine in London and I was not going to pay L21 to come back for a day. So Shayne and I went our different ways. I went to Ray's granny's house because she had other people at her house. Her Granny was very nice as well.

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