We arrived at the tower and after a good coffee we made our way inside. We decided to not take advantage of the free Beefeater tour as there were a lot of people and we had two prams to contend with. We found ourselves a quiet corner to sort ourselves out and discovered that we were standing at the base of Salt Tower. The children disembarked from their transportation and we entered Salt Tower for a walk along the battlements to Martin Tower where there was a small exhibition on crowns and diamonds including the famous Koh-i-Noor.
Just around the corner was Jewel House where the crown jewels are on display. There was incredible security – no cameras were allowed and access to the jewels was through a thick steel vault. It was an amazing display of actual crowns, orbs and sceptres held by the ruler at their coronation and a unique set for each ruler dating back to the 16th century.
Next stop for us was probably the most infamous part of the Tower of London, the Bloody Tower which was supposedly the scene of the murder of the Princes , and also the tower that housed Sir Walter Raleigh and his family. After a good look inside, we headed over to the White Tower under which the remains of two skeletons that could have been the Princes were discovered. We took turns at walking through the White Tower as our boys slept and inside the Tower was a collection of armour and weaponry belonging to past medieval kings as well as an impressive collection of cannons and mortars.
After we had all been through we decided to leave in order to see some of the remaining sites on our list. We crossed the beautiful Tower Bridge and were lucky enough to witness it raise as a large boat went through.
Just around the corner on a road called Shad Thames was the location of a famous scene in Doctor Who which I thought would be quick to pop down. Lou and Jackie walked towards London Bridge as I took a stroll down Shad Thames and back up Butler’s Wharf. I caught up with the rest of the group and we crossed the rather unimpressive London Bridge towards the monument which we knew nothing about at the time. Once we arrived we discovered it was the scene of the Great London Fire of 1666 and not far away was Pudding Lane on which the bakery once stood where the fire began. I was doubly pleased as I told Lou about the Doctor Who story which showed the reckless fifth Doctor starting the fire…
The Circle and District lines were closed so we took a short walk up to the Central line which would take us to the other side of Green Park. We circled around the Ritz before walking in to the Green Park towards Buckingham Palace. There was a curious water feature that I took a photo of before we walked out in front of Buckingham Palace. We took heaps of photos of the Palace and the Queen Victoria memorial just as the sun was going down.
After leaving the Palace, we walked through St. James Park towards Downing Street. There were lots of squirrels running around and I managed to get one eating out of my hand with the crumbs from Will’s pushchair. Jackie later informed me that pigeons were rats with wings and squirrels were rats with bushy tails! Near the end of the park were a group of pelicans sitting on a rock in the middle of the lake which Will and Samuel found most entertaining.
Across the road from the park, we attempted to find our way through to Whitehall but a policeman with an unnecessarily large gun told us that the arch at the Horse Guard Parade that I had used previously was shut for the evening. We walked back past the Bali memorial and through the Cabinet War Rooms to Whitehall. I showed Lou where Downing Street and its high security was before we headed up to Trafalgar Square.
The last time I was in England, I walked straight past Trafalgar Square without realising it! This time I wanted to have a good look around so we walked around a bit, inspected Nelson’s column and the lions at its base and visited the local souvenir shop.
From Trafalgar Square we walked up to Covent Garden where we met Mathew for dinner. We found a nice little Italian restaurant which served pizza and pasta. Mathew lamented the fact that he had to work and didn’t have much time to spend with us which had been a shame. After dinner, we walked to Leicester Square to Haagen Dasz for reportedly the best ice cream and milkshakes in the world.
We carried on to Piccadilly Circus and looked at the big advertising lights then caught the 453 bus for a bumpy ride back to Greenwich. Mathew suggested that the girls go to bed while the boys play some computer games. Lou was amenable to the idea so we sat up for a couple of hours playing on his new PS3 and watching the Casino Royale on Bu-Ray which looked so amazingly clear and crisp.
