July 13- A Day for Knights

Our last full day in London began with another yummy breakfast at the hotel.  Today was slated as a day for knights - that is we would actually be spending the day in London, whereas on the 12th we spend the day wandering around Westminster and the Palace.  Instead of riding around on a bus all day, we started the day off with a walk around St. Paul's Cathedral.  Unfortunately it was a Sunday morning, so we did not take a gander inside given that mass was going on.  The Cathedral is the third largest domed cathedral in the entire world.  It had to be rebuilt after the Fire of London but withstood the blitz during World War II.

While we were walking around our Blue Badge guide, Steven, told us to keep an eye out for dragons.  Dragon statues are an indication that you are entering/leaving London.  After walking around the Cathedral, we made our way to the Thames.  On the way we did manage to find Knightrider Street.  Alas, no Hasselhoff sightings.  We crossed the Thames via the Millenium Bridge.  It is more affectionately known as the "Wibbly-Wobbly" bridge.  At it's opening, there was so much foot-traffic that the bridge began to "wobble" about 2 ft back and forth.  Only after 2 days of being open, they had to close the bridge for repair.

After crossing the bridge, we caught a glimpse of Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre.  We did not go inside either.  The Globe is not the original, although it was rebuilt following the same design as the original.  Walking along the edge of the river we met up with a bus which would take us to the Tower of London.

We drove over the Tower bridge to get to the Tower of London.  What is interesting is that most people believe the Tower Bridge is the London Bridge.  In fact that is not the case.  London Bridge used to have many houses attached to it.  It was replaced in the 19th century, without the houses.  While at the Tower of London we learned about Traitor's Gate (which St. Thomas More traveled through); the Bloody Gate; the White Tower; the Crown Jewels; and the Fusiliers Museum.

The tour guides then gave us the afternoon off.  They set us loose on the city.  We walked from our hotel to the British Museum.  It was quite crowded to say the least.  We wandered through Soho to Piccadilly Circus to pick up a little something for my brother.  We realized we were nearby the National Gallery.  So we stopped in for a looksie before it closed for the day.  On our way back to the hotel, we stopped for dinner at The Porterhouse on Maiden Street for our authentic pub meal.  Andy had bangers and mash and I had fish and chips.  We also had some yummy beers - of whose names I am blanking on at the moment.  We meandered through Covent Garden on our return to the hotel.  We slept quite well that evening.