Sunday, June 21 - We woke early to get ready and had to walk two blocks to the Ramada Jarvis Hyde Park where we were to meet our bus. We arrived early at the hotel and saw that they had a coffee shop inside and were hopeful that we'd be able to grab breakfast, but alas, the coffee shop wasn't open until after they finished serving breakfast - which was 15 pounds/ person! And we weren't quite early enough for a full sit-down breakfast... So we got on the bus hoping to be able to grab something to eat along the way. Turned out that the bus we got on was just picking people up from our region, and that the people on our bus were talking all differnet tours. So our group and many other busses all met up back at the tour company's office, where we split into groups according to which tour we were taking. Just so happened that there were several shops around the office, so we were able to grab some danishes and juice for breakfast and a bottled water to carry for the day :-) Our tour was the City of London, or Total London Experience, I believe it was technically called... It started off with us driving around the city and our tour guide explaining the buildings we passed, monuments, statues, etc. When we got to Westminster Abbey, we were allowed off the bus so that we could take pictures. Then we continuted on the route. We finally left the bus at the cavalry museaum, which we toured, then we walked through a park towards Buckingham Palace, saw the changing of the guard - parade and all!!, and met the bus again. We went to lunch with the group at a resturant neat Convent Garden and were allowed a short time to explore after eating.
From there we headed over to the Tower of London! I had been looking forward to this the most, so it was most unfortunate when the tour guide informed us that after going all together to see the Crown Jewels we would have about 20 minutes to explore the Tower itself. Now, contrary to how it may sound, the Tower is not simply one tower.. its an entire castle, a fortress, and has tons of amazing history - not the least of which is that is was the site where Henry VIII had his wives beheaded... So when we got inside and saw the line to see the Crown Jewels, we decided Not to see them and to see the rest of the castle instead. It proved to be a good decision. We didn't see the Jewels, but we got to see almost everything else - including the Henry VIII exhibition they have going on this year to commemerate the 500th anniversary of his assention ot the throne!!
After the Tower, our tour group walked out to a pier on the river Thames and boarded a boat that took us all the way down river back to Parliment and Big Ben, etc. The boat ride also included a tour, and you have an excellent view of London from the river, so it was really great. Once off the boat, all we needed was to cross the river to get to the London Eye - the UK's largest ferris wheel, that takes 30 mins to do one rotation. We loaded into a compartment and took our ride - luckily it was a clear day and we were able to see the excellent views of the city and surroundings that the Eye was designed for! Our tour guide left us before we got on the Eye, so our tour was over at that point. Ben and I decided to cross back over the river to get a closer look at Parliment and Big Ben before making our way back home.
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