Traditional Sites

The tourist activities are mandatory when visiting a nation as old as the United Kingdom and so here I continue with some of the famous sites in London. This includes the Tower of London, Big Ben and Westminster. After the Tower of London my mom and I went to the new Globe Theatre and saw the Merchant of Venice. The acting troupe was really good and our seats were right over the stage. I wasn't able to to take any pictures but it was one of my favorite experiences so far here. The round theatre was completely outdoors and so it got a bit chilly but it was exciting thinking that we were seated in a theatre designed exactly like the one that the famous playwright worked out of. It was rebuilt because during a performance of Henry the Eighth the actors failed to predict the consequences of lighting off a real cannon through a straw roof and burned the whole place down. Shakespeare may have been brilliant but I suppose even geniuses have lapses in judgement...

So first...The Tower


This is the inner courtyard of the Tower of London. The Tower is famous because it is a palace that criminals were held and many times tortured before they were executed or put on trial. This includes royal offenders, such as Anne Boleyn and William Wallace (Braveheart/Mel Gibson...anyone?).

The first view of the London Bridge.



This was a little prayer room and if you look on the floor you can see the little kneeling mat and stand to the left.

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The staircases here give you maybe half of a foot of room to walk on each step and if you are much taller than I am forget about comfortably walking and not bending over.

Across from this tall white building are the Crown Jewels. The jewels are more impressive then I ever imagined and there are diamonds the size of my fist. A collection of gold platters, rubies, emeralds and every other kind of stone fill three different rooms...

A second view of the famous London Bridge from inside the Tower.

The crooked egg shaped building across the water is the City Council. This building was designed to be energy efficient and runs on about 25% of the energy of a normal business building.












The first pictures of Big Ben with the London Eye in the background. The London Eye is basically a half hour ferris wheel ride that you can see the entire city from. It may be nice at night but it is a little bit pricey and I can't bring myself to do it yet...

Here are the views of Westminster Abbey that I first had on my trip. It was everything I expected and more.



The abbey is actually attached to Westminster Palace, which was one of the King's favorite abodes (James?). The back part houses the different Parliament buildings and part of my orientation here included a tour of the different rooms. We were able to visit the places that many famous political figures in the U.K. work out of and even rub the foot of a statue of Winston Churchill, which is an English tradition said to bring good luck!


This statue was erected in memory of Oliver Cromwell who fought in a battle overseas and died right after he learned that the English had conquered the country they were fighting. Our tour guide told us that he was preserved in a barrel of alcohol so that he could be brought back to land for a proper burial. Apparently, when they finally docked there was almost nothing left in the barrell because the soldiers had been dipping into the supply the whole way back...I hope that's not true.