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Our first full day in London was spent touring the city on a double-decker Big Bus. This was a wonderful opportunity to see the major landmarks and the Big Bus tour allows passengers to get off at the sites they wish to see more in depth. Each stop has another bus in 5 - 15 minutes and each bus has a great tour guide. The RED route seemed to cover the largest area of the city, so that is the tour that we took. I must say the top of a double-decker bus is not nearly as much fun in the cold, drizzly March weather of London as you might imagine.
Our Big Bus ticket price also included a walk as we went from St. James Palace to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of The Guard ceremony. |
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| Joe and I stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral and climbed the steps of the dome. There are 537 steps to the top! This is an absolutely magnificant structure! I had never seen such a large, beautiful church in my life. The price is reasonable, only £5 per person.
St Paul's is built in the shape of a cross, with the dome crowning the intersection of the arms. It is one of the largest cathedral domes in the world, 111.3 metres high. It weighs approximately 65,000 tonnes and is supported by eight pillars. |
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| Our BIG BUS ticket included an escorted walk to follow the changing of the guard from St. James Palace to Buckingham Palace. Simon, our guide, led us down the Queen's Walk along Green Park. Notice the beautiful blossoms on the tree. Simon also showed us the Spence House , which was once the city home for Lady Diana's family. | ||||||||||||
| The Changing of the Guard begins at St. James Palace - the residence of Prince Charles - where the guards are coming off duty. The guards march to the guard base and then on to Buckingham Palace. We walked along the march path to follow the procession. The rank and regiment of each guard can be determined by looking at the uniform and Canadian bearskin helmet.
We were told that the guards are not forbidden from talking with tourists. We were also told their boots are large and wide enough so that they may move their feets around without being noticed. |
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| The flag flying about Buckingham Palace indicates that the Queen was in on the day of our visit. There is still a symbolic exchanging of the keys to the palace that takes place between the guard coming off duty and a guard coming on duty. This exchange is now just touching of the hands - no key is exchanged. | ||||||||||||
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| As we drove through the streets of London atop the double-decker bus, we passed many interesting sites. Here we saw a statue of general Dwight D. Eisenhower outside the US embassy. And what is this -- Tennessee Fried Chicken -- someone should tell them! | ||||||||||||
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The final part of our Big Bus trip included a cruise along the Thames River. Getting on a boat near the HMS Belfast, right by Tower Bridge, the cruise took us back to Big Ben. Along the way we saw St. Paul's Catherdral from the river. We also saw Shakespeare's Globe Theater which lies right along the Thames River and a WWI damaged monument, Cleopatra's Needle. Somehow Tammy ended up on a boat by herself, Arian took the Tube to the destination and Joe and I enjoyed sights along the cruise. There are several cruises departing throughout the day. Caution: this area of London has no restaurants open past 17.00. Our second meal in London was at Kentucky Fried Chicken! |
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| On this evening we took a guided "Jack the Ripper" walk offered by Ripping Yarns Ltd.. Our sleuth detective guide, who is also a Beefeater at the Tower of London, recreated each murder scene and the Jack the Ripper mystery for our group as he lead us through the lesser known parts of London. Included in this tour was a stop at The Ten Bells pub where Jack the Ripper met one of his victims. | ||||||||||||
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