Off With Her Head!

Today was a day of little accomplishment.  We got up early and got ready to see the Tower of London.  Unfortunately, we had to go to Piccadilly Circus to pick up our London Passes that allowed us to use public transportation and gets us into some attractions quicker.  To get there we went on the double decker buses that we have a 24 hour pass for.  That ate up about an hour of our time but we got back on the bus and fought the cold to sit on the top.  When we got to the Tower of London we didn't realize it was basically a small city.  There are so many parts to it in different architectural styles that it is amazing.  We spent three hours there and we were able to see the White Tower where they had armor from kings of the past.  Of course I love King Henry VIII mostly because I just want to get into his head and find out how he saw things.  Anyway, there were two full suites of armor that he once owned and that was fun to see.  We also saw the crown jewels which in all honesty wasn't worth the half hour wait in line.  The pictures of the crowns are just as good as seeing them in person especially because you have to keep moving so it's not possible to really study them up close.  We then went to the bloody tower and saw the inscriptions that past prisoners had left etched in the walls.  The Queens House is guarded and people are not allowed inside.  This is too bad because this is where Anne Boleyn was kept before her coronation as queen and then while she waited to be beheaded.  Other famous prisoners were there as well and Anne actually etched her crest and name into the wall.  We did see the spot where she was beheaded though.  They had a memorial to those that lost their lives there.  It's a glass pillow with some inscription on it.  It was very sad feeling.  We skipped the torture tower and watched the famous ravens for awhile then headed off.

We left the tower and took a cruise on the Thames.  It was a lot of fun and we were able to see a lot of popular places like Tower Bridge and Big Ben.  We got off the cruise to go on the London Eye but the line was so long that we plan to return tomorrow.  We went to London Film Museum instead which had Harry Potter props as well as Star Wars and a lot of other movies.  Our 24 hour bus pass was running out so we hopped back on the double decker and headed back to the hotel.

We have come to a point in the trip where we are overwhelmed.  Being in a completely different country and learning their way of life is hard.  We have seen and learned so many different things that we feel overwhelmed.  The British people are always in a hurry.  I realize that Americans are a lot more relaxed than the people here.  We love how friendly everyone is, but slow them down and they will run you over.  I think another trip here would actually go better because the shell shocked feeling would be gone. Non the less, we love it here.  Tomorrow we are going to the London Eye first thing and then the second thing will be Westminster Abby. Due to lines, I'm not sure if we will get both in.  On a plus, I got all my  souvenirs.  I got a William and Kate wedding key chain, a Buckingham Palace ornament, Buckingham Palace guide book, Windsor Castle guide book, Buckingham Palace bag. Tower of London tour book with a ghosts of the tower book, Tower of London bad and finally, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows book.  No yarn stores that I saw and our sight seeing is going to give us much time to find one as everything closes early.  That's fine though, I'll always have a chance in Paris!