Waking up in London the next morning felt good. Finally most of the jet-lag had left me and I was ready to face the day. And the day started with a run through Hyde and Kensington Parks. 4.5 miles along the outskirts of the parks and back to the hotel. I was up at 7am with my alarm and was ready to go by the time the sun came up, at 7:15am.
It was cold. But it was definitely pretty. Plenty of people out and about at that hour, both running like me and heading to work. I passed by the Winter Wonderland area (like a lit carnival/playground) and then up to the Diana Memorial Playground, followed around to Kensington Palace (don't know if William, Kate and George were up yet or not) and then back up the south side of the park to return back up at the hotel.
I was able to compete the run in under an hour easily and when I returned to my room, I was thrilled for the hot shower.
I met up with my parents in the lobby at 9am for breakfast. Now, figuring out where breakfast was (ie which of the locations in the hotel we were supposed to go to) was slight challenge, but we were victorious.
Fueled for the day ahead, we split up. Dad was heading off to Harrods while mom and I left for the London Eye and whatever other adventures we decided on along the way. With tube passes in hand, we headed up to Marble Arch Station and made our way down to Waterloo and then out to the Thames where the London Eye was.
Finding the London Eye was easy (it's a big Ferris wheel...you can't miss it) but finding where to get tickets was tricky. But with perseverance, two tickets were purchased and we headed right into one of the pods.
Next stop, the Tower of London. We decided to walk over to Westminster Station so that we would be able to walk across the bridge for the Eye over to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament to take pictures.
Then we took the tube over to Tower Hill and arrived at the Tower of London. The space around the Tower has definitely expanded and improved in the last 10 years. More shops and exhibits surround the historic site, so before you even get to the gates, you can see some additional history, purchase tickets and shop to your heart's content.
When we arrived, there was some sort of 'event' happening because when we stepped over to the Tower, they began firing canons. Yes, canons, plural. I think there were three different canons and they kept reloading and firing. We never did stop to ask what it was about, but it was interesting enough to stop for a few moments before moving on to the reason we came.
So...the Tower of London: home the Crown Jewels, Beefeaters, ravens and of course the site of many beheadings and other deaths. Always a pleasure.
It was a beautiful day for this visit. A bit windy, but inside the walls, you would never know.
And I don't know about you, but every time I look at Tower Bridge now, I picture the character of Lord Blackwood, from the movie Sherlock Holmes (yes, the Robert Downey, Jr. version), hanging from the partially built Tower Bridge after Sherlock has practically kicked him overboard. Good news...no such image there today. ;-)
Fun fact...if there are any Doctor Who fans reading this, the picture below should look really familiar to you, but only if you watched the recently aired Day of the Doctor 50th Anniversary show.
And for those same DW fans...here is one of the said Ravens. It didn't look to be in need of new batteries. For those who don't follow DW, this is one of the many ravens that live on-site at the Tower. They are taken care of by the Beefeaters that live at the Tower as well. They each have names and they also have their wings clipped...however, that hasn't stopped at least one from escaping recently. It even made the news.
No worries...he was picked up and returned to the Tower unharmed.
And here's another fun fact...the Tower of London used to be home to a ZOO. Yup, a zoo, long before the London Zoo was ever founded. They would have the animals roaming an area of the grounds...and needless to say, some of the predators would eat the other animals. Thus, the zoo didn't remain around long.
From the Tower of London, we headed to London's Southbank where we walked along the river Thames and took in the sites, such as St. Paul's Cathedral.
We also stopped by the Tate Modern. This is a very cool museum which is housed in an old factory. One of the main attractions here is the large open art space which you see as soon as you walk in. In there is an installation that changes every 6 months or so. Sadly, when we walked in it was completely blocked off because they were changing it from one installation to another. Sad day.
One more fun fact for the day...we kept seeing signs that said 'No Busking' and we didn't know what that meant. It wasn't until later, when we asked a family friend, that busking is singing/performing for money. Who knew?!
So our last stop for the day was to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I had seen a stage combat demonstration here 10 years ago in the museum portion of the building, but never had the pleasure of actually going into the performance space.
But that changed!! Thanks to the London Pass, mom and I got a fantastic tour, led by our tourguide below.
The tour was great. We learned how they rebuilt the Globe (as the original burned down many many many years ago, i.e. pre-Great Fire of London) and how theatre was illegal in the city of London back in Shakespearean times, so you would have to cross the river to be able see it.
So, when the tour was over, we started to head back to the hotel. Crossing the Millennium Bridge, we were able to have great views of St. Paul's Cathedral again as well as back at the Globe.
Dad's adventure at Harrods apparently was still going on when we got back, because he was no where to be found. Mom and I changed for the show we were seeing that night and grabbed dinner at The Park Room in the hotel. I don't know if I was ridiculously hungry or if it was just that good, but the club sandwich and fries that we had were unbelievable.
Dad did finally arrive back at the hotel...bags in hand...before we left to go see ONCE. I had been very excited to see this show. So many people I work with were recommending it, saying it was something I would love and needed to see. I had meant to see it when I was in New York about a year ago, but never made it happen. So, when mom had asked what I wanted to see while we were in London, ONCE was at the top of my list.
The pre-show was pretty awesome. Members of the cast came on stage a little after half-hour and once the house was open and played music and sang as if they were actually in the little pub that was setup on stage. I even went up there and got a drink! :-) Ah...warm beer...but in a collector's cup!
This was a beautiful production and I was happy to see it. It's not your traditional piece of musical theater and I think that's refreshing. If you get the chance, do. Some of the symbolism (aka dancing) stretches it a bit, but overall, beautiful and great music.
So with the performance done, we headed back to the hotel. And of course, there's nothing wrong with ending the evening with a gin and tonic and a huge piece of chocolate cake...right?
I thought not.
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