Panoramic Tour

St. Paul's Cathedral

The Millennium Bridge

I stayed up later than I probably should have last night, but I was talking to Amanda and Debbie and kind of lost track of time.  Anyhow, I got up early this morning and went on the panoramic tour of the city.  I thought it was going to rain, because it was cloudy this morning, but it still hasn’t rained since I have been here.  First thing we went by the Natural History Museum, and then we stopped at Buckingham Palace and walked up to the front.  We heard a little about the history and saw that Union Jack was flying, because the queen is gone to Scotland I think.  They were working on part of the fountain, so it wasn’t that great for pictures, but I took some anyway.  Then we went and looked at Westminster Abbey, The House of Parliament, Big Ben, The London Eye, and St. Paul’s Cathedral,  We also went on a walk over the Millennium Bridge, the wobbly bridge, and saw Shakespeare’s Globe Theater.  The River Themes was at low tide, so we saw the mud lurkers looking for stuff in the sand.  We got back on the bus and drove by the Tower of London, The Gherkin, the other theaters on the north side of the river, and some of the major shopping areas.  We even went down Fleet Street.  There was a lot of construction going on because London is really trying to get everything ready for the 2012 Olympics.  There was also some sort of conservative march, like a protest, going on, so there were police everywhere.  They had to make sure that no rioting occurred.  Due to all this, several streets were blocked off, so we didn’t get to see some things. 

Shakespeare's Globe

Buckingham Palace

Some things I learned on the tour

·       There are two cities in London (a tale of two cities), Westminster and The City.  The City was the area badly damaged in the Blitz, so It is now rebuild as a modern business area.  Westminster is the part of London that has most of the Old buildings and shops.  Supposedly, People go to The City to make the money, and go to Westminster to spend it. 

·       You can tell when you enter the city, because on the roads the boundary is marked by two dragons holding swords, one on each side of the road. 

·       There are statues everywhere.  The great heroes and bad guys alike are captured in stone, including kings and even Abraham Lincoln. 

·       There are three hills in London, and Three main Colleges. 

·       The Bridge that opens is the Tower Bridge, not London Bridge.  London Bridge has a spike at one end of it to put William Wallace’s head on.  It is called “Stiletto in the ghetto.”

·       Red brick roads mean royal roads, and you can’t drive on them. 

Fish and Chips

So after the tour, I went to get some cash, then I went to a place called The Patisserie, and got my fist order of fish and chips, with tea of course.  Since I have been here, I haven’t been eating all that much, and what I have ate has been mostly bread, sandwiches, or fruit, so that fried, greasy food kind of made me feel sick.  I ate most of it, but I was really surprised that they had such huge portions of stuff.  The tea was good, and I drank it with milk and sugar. 

A while after I got back, I left again to go to Tesco but I didn’t buy anything, I went to boots and got some Tums and some stamps. 

Then I came back to the flat for a bit, and then I left to go to the Bakery Spice to use the free wifi.  I am glad that I don’t have to go to the old man’s pub across the street.  I bought a coffee, and skyped for a bit, but my computer got overheated, so I left and came back. 

Tomorrow we are going to Camden market.  It is supposed to be like a giant flea market. 

Today was horrible on the tube, but not as bad as yesterday I guess.  Yesterday it was just really crowded.  Today the circle line and district line were closed, so we had to go the really long way.  We had to go like five or six stops on the Bakerloo line, then switch to the Jubilee Line for five or six more stops.  On the Bakerloo and circle its only like five stops all together.  Well I got to hear this guy singing American Pie with a guitar and his British accent.  It was pretty cool.