Summer Vacation 2016 London Day 3

Hey guys,

So for Day 3 in London we kind of went all over the place and we did so much in this one day I honestly don’t know how we made it through the day. We only had the tour bus for one day (which we used on Day 2) so at this point we had to figure out how to use public transportation. Thankfully we’re used to traveling in NYC so we were able to pick it up really quickly.

We started out the morning by heading to the oldest church in London, which is All Hallows by the Tower. It was pretty small inside compared to Westminster Abbey and some of the other churches that we saw later on during the trip. All Hallows by the Tower is right next to the Tower of London, which is why we planned to go there first. It also opened up before The Tower of London so we were able to fit more in during the day. However, this is not something I would recommend to visit, unless you are really into visiting churches or are really religious.

We went underneath the church to their basement, which had a museum and a bunch of areas where people could go to pray. I believe it also had boxes of ashes from important people that had passed away but I am not entirely sure. It also showed history of what London used to look like and it also had a bunch of artifacts.

Next, we headed to The Tower of London. Once inside we got to see the Crown Jewels, which you are not allowed to video or take pictures of. Everything inside this portion of the tour was absolutely gorgeous and I totally wish I were royalty just so I could get a crown like some of the ones that were on display. We also got to see some other items such as a robe they wore during their coronation ceremony and some other items that they used during their coronation banquet.

The Tower of London is kind of set up like a small village and/or a fort (I believe it actually used to be a castle but it reminded more of a fort). There are four walls that surround the whole thing and it even has a moat that used to surround the entire thing. Standing inside the Tower of London, it had amazing views of the London Bridge. It was amazing!

Yes, we totally selfied with one of the guards! They were both so young looking, it was crazy. There were two of them and they looked like they were maybe 14 or 15 years old.

One of the other buildings that we went into (the building in the center of the property) featured the armory that had been used over the years for the British army. It also had guns and canons on the bottom floor. There were also horses set up on display showing you what they would have looked like back in the day when they were going to war.

Once we left The Tower of London, we went and stood by the water to take some selfies in front of the London Tower Bridge. It was also time for lunch so we walked next The Tower of London and found a Pret A Manger and picked up some sandwiches. We chose Pret A Manger because we were already familiar with them because they have them all over NYC.

Next, we walked to the London Tower Bridge and took a tour of the bridge and walked all the way across to the other side. We even stood on the glass floor, which totally freaked me out because I am really afraid of heights.

When we finished touring the London Tower Bridge we walked across the bridge back to the same side that were on before and took a boat ride down the River Thames so we could check out St. Paul’s Cathedral. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside of the church but honestly, this church is just as amazing if not better than Westminster Abbey. I definitely recommend checking it out while visiting London.

After visiting St. Paul’s we walked around London for a little bit (mostly because we were kind of lost and trying to figure out where we were going next). We were heading to the London Bridge Experience, which is not technically apart of the London Tower Bridge. It is actually located underneath another bridge and it took us a little while to find it. We did the tour and it is not something that I would recommend. It was very dark and all of the actors screamed at the top of their lungs for no reason. We ended up skipping the scary portion of the tour because I don’t enjoy scary walks (I just like to watch scary movies haha).

While we were on the boat and walking around we discovered this pirate ship that you can rent out for birthday party or other events. How crazy is that?

After we finished with the London Bridge Experience, we headed to the Millennium Bridge. The reason we wanted to check out this bridge was because it is featured in one of the Harry Potter movies.

We also checked out Tate Modern, which is a museum that is located at the end of the Millennium Bridge (which this bridge is featured on Harry Potter). The Museum was actually pretty boring but I kind of say that about every museum because I am not really a fan of art or anything like that.

Next, we headed to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. We unfortunately missed the last tour and we were unable to make it back another day. We also tried to see if we could see a show but unfortunately they were all sold out evening for the “standing room only” section.

In the evening, we took a ride on the London Eye, which also freaked me out since I am afraid of heights but I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to participate in such a popular attraction. It was kind of gloomy and rainy when we went so some of the pictures are not the greatest quality. This attraction is something that I definitely recommend. It was really cool to be able to see the city and see what “Big Ben” actually looks like. I don’t really remember how long the whole ride is but I believe it maybe lasted about 30 minutes. We were one of the last groups to go on for that evening and by the time we got off the whole place was practically deserted. Riding The Eye late at night also allowed us to be able to see what the Big Ben looked like at night, all lit up.

Thanks for stopping by!

Feel free to leave a comment or share this with your friends!

XO, Steph

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave