Day 4 - More London

Today we awoke with a very detailed and scheduled plan of attack.  We were out the door by 8:30 and caught the hop-on-hop-off double decker bus.  We rode listening to the tour guide, all the way across the city to The Tower of London, the oldest fortress and palace in Europe.  Along the way we saw St. Paul's Cathedral (in Mary Poppins :), St. Thomas, where Florence Nightingale trained, The Ritz and Athenia (where we had tea last time we visited and sat next to Charlton Heston and his wife), Hyde Park and the famous City Hall building.

Once we arrived at ToL we mostly focused on The White Tower, build by William the Conqueror in 1066.  We also saw the famous Tower Ravens that have been "protecting" the monarchy for hundreds of years.  The legend says that if the Ravens leave the empire will fall.

Let's do this!!

Lollies! How cute!

"The Queen's Gate" outside Hyde Park

Tower Bridge

One of the Ravens, and the White Tower behind it

Yaomen Warders were protecting the building where the Crown Jewels are kept

Queen Elizabeth I's funeral Effigie 

 Henry VIII

The famous beheading block

The last time we visited we waited hours to see the Crown Jewels, so we have told H and H that we would probably skip it this time.  This time there was no wait at all!  I was so happy - seeing these tangible symbols of over 800 years of Monarchy,and reading the meaning behind each one, was definitely a highlight.  

One of the most famous parts of the Tower is how it house many, many prisoners, some right before their execution.
The graffiti scratched into the wall was absolutely fascinating. 

The Tower Green is a green space within the walls of the ToL and was primarily used for a dignified place for nobility to be executed, away from the eyes of spectators. Anne Boleyn (the second wife of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I's mother), Catherine Howard (the fifth wife to Henry VIII), and Lady Jane Gray were among those. It was also used a a burial ground.

These quint little buildings that surround The Tower Green were called The House of the Queen and were built around 1530 during the reign of King Henry VIII, and amazingly survived the London fires of 1666. 

We made it back to The Cheshire Cheese!!!  If you have time, read the linked page, it dates back to 1538 and really has such a cool history. But the main reason we wanted to go was Havalah read the children's book years ago (such a good book!!) and has wanted to see it ever since.  (It doesn't hurt that it was Charles Dickens' favorite pub.)  

I had the "jacketed" potato with bacon :D

in the tube 

Liberty Liberty Liberty!!!

This has been on my list of things to visit for at least 10 years.  Soooo happy to finally be here!  It is a very cool, very old department store, mostly famous for their fabrics with the signature Liberty floral print.  It doesn't hurt that the building was constructed in 1922 from the timbers of two ancient battle ships.  

Carnaby Street 

The Beatles (aka H and H)

time for afternoon tea!https://afternoontea.co.uk/uk/london/covent-garden/whittard-of-chelsea/

always always.  

Another highlight was seeing The Lion King at the famous Lyceum Theatre

We were one of the last ones to leave after the show was over and were surprised to walk out and find "young Simba" there with his family, taking pictures with some fans.  SO COOL!

Tin Tin was open today!  These three were pretty happy about it :)

and the two story Lego store was pretty cool too.