Our First Full Day

This morning I woke up on the pull out couch to the sounds of a busy street in London. My dad went to the 24/7 convenient store down the street and bought toaster waffles, yogurt, oranges, and milk for breakfast. We all got ready and headed off for our appointment at the London Eye. The line moved pretty fast which was good. London has some very very good people watching opportunities, so waiting in line went pretty fast.

The London Eye was really cool. It only stops for wheelchairs to get on so you walk onto a moving capsule. The inside is very roomy and you share it with about 20 people. There is a thirty minute rotation and there are interactive screens you can touch and learn about the things you are seeing. When you buy the tickets it comes with a 4D movie experience so we did that next. It showed how they built the London Eye and there was a cool video about it.

After the London Eye we took a river boat down the Thames (pronounced Tems if you were wondering) to the Tower of London. Before we got on I got my picture inside the most photographed telephone booth because you can see Big Ben in the background. The river boat was really nice. It felt like a very comfy lounge gliding across the water. My most favorite mode of transportation so far.

The Tower of London was quite interesting. We took the tour given by the Beefeater which are the men that live on the grounds and guard the tower and the crown jewels. There are three criteria to become a Beefeater: 1. You have to serve in British military for at least 22 years. (Our guide, Chris, served for 26) 2. You have to secure a title of Commander or above in the military. 3. You have to have a special badge that said you had good behavior in the military. We got to go inside the beautiful chapel that was on the grounds. After the tour we walked up into the White Tower which is in the center. We saw all the armor that past kings have worn and all the armors that the horses wore, along with the swords they used and such. Next was the the Crown Jewels. We saw all the crowns of the King and Queens including the current one. Sadly there were no pictures allowed but even in the dimmest light everything glistened so spectacularly.

On our way to finding diner we passed a beautiful church. We decided to walk inside and walked in on an all boys choir practicing. It was very lovely and they were all wearing their dresses and they sounded really good. The church was also really pretty with beautiful stain glass and a pet cat that slipped on the air vents. A good find on my moms part.

We wanted to go to a really cute pub that we saw on the river boat ride but realized it had the same menu as the pub we went to last night so we decided to try something new. I am VERY greatful for that because I wouldn’t have been able to try the Sunset Burger from Nandos which was OUT OF THIS WORLD! It’s a really cool Portuguese chain restaurant that is know for their 24 hour long marinated chicken. The Sunset Burger is a chicken burger with a bunch of really really really good sauces and things that make it really really really delicious. I definitely recommend it if you ever run into a Nandos.

Then we walked to the Tube, took pictures with a really cool mural of Shakespeare, and went back to the apartment. We chilled for a while then walked to a pub where my parents wanted a drink and I was able to blog. A great end to an even better day!