Tuesday!

Monday was such a great day we weren't sure how to top it. :) But just leave it to me to throw something good in! hahaha.

A Christmas store was pointed out during our hop-on/hop-off bus tour on the day we arrived and we knew we wanted to stop there. We started a tradition of buying a Christmas ornament from every place or trip we go on, so we're always on the look out for them and knew we would find one here. Luckily we (sortof) remembered where the store was located (and used the great invention---the internet) and headed off in search of it. After a few wrong turns we finally arrived and got the coveted ornament. From there we walked across London Bridge (stopping to take photos of Tower Bridge as well) to the Tower of London.

The Tower of London is a huge part of Great Britain's history. The White Tower was started by William the Conqueror in 1078 as a royal residence and a show of power to the Anglo-Saxons he had subdued in the Battle of Hastings. The Tower of London went through many changes and uses from then until now resulting in a much different compound but still quite fascinating.

Today one of the biggest draws are the Crown Jewels. Yes, this heavily fortified fortress holds the monarchy's stunning jewels. I can't even begin to tell you how many jewels we saw. I remember the Imperial State Crown which is used for the coronation ceremony of the British monarchy. This crown includes 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 5 rubies. There were other crowns that were used by other monarchies such as King George V as well as the Queen Mother's crown. By far the most fascinating jewel was in a Sceptre (also used during coronation ceremonies). This includes the Great Star of Africa, a diamond that is over 530 carats (no, I did not mis-type...that's over five HUNDRED and thirty carats) which is the largest cut diamond after the Golden Jubilee. Amazing.

The Tower of London is widely known as a place of imprisonment, torture and execution for the monarchy's most notorious traitors as well as its martyrs. Some of King Henry VIII's multiple wives were executed at the tower (Anne Boleyn, Queen Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey) along with Guy Fawkes, Sir Walter Raleigh and Josef Jakobs (many many others as well). We took a Beefeater tour which was quite enlightening and we really enjoyed it. Oh, one other funny thing...there is a legend that says if the black ravens that live within the Tower of London should ever leave or die, the kingdom will fall. There are usually six ravens but even though they are not superstitious......they keep 8 ravens and have their wings clipped for good measure. haha.

From there we had a quick bite to eat at Subway (yes, so American, but it was quick and close) and headed to St. Paul's Cathedral. And we hit a snafu. St. Paul's was closed for visitors---Oh No! I couldn't leave London without going inside St. Paul's Cathedral so we switched a couple things around---moved St. Paul's to Wednesday and went directly to Westminster Abbey instead.

*sigh* Westminster Abbey. I am not sure there are words to describe this amazing church. Most recently of course, the Abbey is very well known for being the church used by Prince William and Catherine for their wedding. Prior to that though, the church has been used for 14 other royal weddings (you can't use it for a wedding unless you are a royal) as well as the site for 38 coronations, the first in 1066 when William the Conqueror was made king here. It was also used for Princess Diana's funeral. So much history is in this church!

This church is actually home to 600 monuments and memorial statues. About 3,300 people, from kings to composers to wordsmiths, are buried in the abbey. That was actually one of the craziest things about churches and cathedrals in Europe. Sooooooo many memorials are within the church, it's quite odd actually. Included in this church were Henry VII and his queen, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth I and Mary Tudor, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and George Frederic Handel (amongst many others!). The High Altar was amazing with black and white marble pavement and Italian woodwork. The cloisters were jaw dropping. Everything was just beautiful. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside. But we took our time to take it all in. The staff of the Abbey stop at the top of every hour for a few moments of prayer and we were present for one of them which was great too.

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are just across the street from Westminster so we took a few more photos of that and headed to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. I was really looking forward to this, but Jim thought it was quite corny. They create wax statues of famous people and have them set up throughout their facility....for instance, the first section was an "A-List Party" and we were invited! We got off the elevator to a red carpet and what appeared to be hundreds of paparazzi taking our photographs...we went into a room where a "party" was going on and in attendance were Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen), Christina Aguilera, Tom Cruise, the Beckham's, Jennifer Lopez, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, etc etc etc...you get the idea. They have different sections set up like that....there was a sports section, music, world leaders, horror / haunted house, etc. Anyways, the statues look SOOOO real and are set up so you can take photos with them, touch them, whatever. I had fun with it...and Jim eventually loosened up and enjoyed it a bit too.

From there we went to the London Eye. This is a humongous ferris wheel type thing that takes 30 minutes to go completely around and you get some great views of London. It started sprinkling towards the end of our ride but stopped by the time we were finished. Jim says this wasn't great but something you just have to do when you go to London. lol.

After that we headed to dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Inn the Park and is inside St. James's Park. The royal parks in London are immaculate and this was no exception. Jim had a spring chicken with wild garlic stuffing along with a organic cola. He said the chicken was very good and the stuffing was full of flavor. The cola was...interesting. haha. I had a longhorn ribeye steak with a bearnaise sauce and green peppers along with some kind of early potato . It was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S! We took a walk through St. James's Park afterwards and then went by St. James's Palace and Clarence House on our way back to the hotel.

It was a FULL and BUSY day but so great. I'm writing this from Munich and so far Westminster was Jim's favorite church that we have gone to thus far (and we have seen a LOT of churches) so hopefully that will give you some idea of the amazing-ness of it. :) Sure wish we could have taken photos inside but alas...oh well.