Cheers Old Chap - London Day 3

Well, we've arrived at our final day in London. Our 3 days in Paris while still part of the same trip seemed like a lifetime ago. Here's my travel tip for the day. When planning a long vacation like this (2 weeks or more) make sure you save some really awesome things for the end of the trip. It's natural as you travel to lose momentum. Your attitude changes completely from the beginning of the trip. You're tired. You're beginning to miss the comforts of home (your own bed, shower, favorite food). And all at the same time, you're sad that this trip that you've been planning and excited for for months is nearly over. That's why it's so very important that the last days of your trip should be filled with things that excite you. In the case of foreign travel, there is definitely something to be said for saving the best for last.

On our last day in London, we definitely saw the coolest thing in the entire city, the infamous Tower of London. I may start sounding like a broken record, but I can't emphasize this enough. Get up early; beat the crowds. We got to the Tower of London right when it opened, and didn't see the slightest hint of a crowd. (Could have been the fact that it was the middle of the week in mid-May.) You could tell that the Tower of London was nothing but prepared for high volumes. The area from the ticket booth to the main platform looked like an amusement park line with poles and ropes designed to keep people organized. Once you get inside the door, you would think that you've made some progress. WRONG. Inside is a giant empty theater with the history of the tower playing on the movie screen while you...what's this....wait in an even longer line than the one outside. At least this time you're out of the elements, and they have a video to watch.

For us, however, not a single other person was around, and we walked through the ropes like we were getting some sort of special VIP treatment. We actually walked slowly through the non-line in the theater so that we got a chance to see some of the movie. Had we wished, we could have skipped it completely. These two lines are for entry into the chamber that houses the British crown jewels. Once you finally get inside the vault, you step onto a conveyor belt that takes you past them. I can only imagine how bad the crowds must be on a busy summer Saturday that they need a conveyor belt to keep people moving. Fortunately for us, we rode the conveyor belt again and again to view these precious gems (because once across is not nearly enough).

Sadly, no photography is permitted almost anywhere inside the Tower of London, so I was delighted when I could buy postcards of them for my albums. Read my blog on London Day 2 for my postcard photograph tip.

After spending way too much time viewing the crown jewels and imagining every fantasy scenario from being crowned queen at a coronation to engaging in a world-class jewel heist (impossible when you see how ridiculously this place is guarded), we exited the treasury and spend the next several hours exploring the rest of the tower.

We learned all about the famous prisoners who had been imprisoned here and where many of them met their fateful demise. For a fortress that houses some of the world's most valuable jewels, it also has a dark and twisted history. The literature that they give you is very informative about the history of the tower and the various superstitions and legends including the story of the tower ravens. I kid you not, as soon as we finished reading about the ravens, we walked down an outdoor flight of stairs only to meet twin ravens hanging out on the railing. We did a double take to make sure we weren't seeing things. Sadly, these ravens belong to the Tower and no longer have the freedom to soar as normal birds.

Tower of London ravens

From the Tower of London we headed back to London's West End but not without first stopping to take a picture of this very famous bridge.

London bridge is falling down....

Our afternoon was spent in a dark theater enjoying the wit and prose of playwright Agatha Christie as we watched The Mousetrap. After the show and with our last few remaining hours in London, we headed to the most famous department store in the entire city for some retail therapy.  We spent a good amount of time in Harrods though we quickly realized the prices were slightly out of our price range. I found a really unique set of flower jewelry that was hand-painted enamel. I loved it and asked to see it out of the case. Not having any precious stones or being made of precious metal, I was shocked when she said that it was over a thousand pounds. Then the lady said, "We have some other Chanel jewelry in this case over here." Suddenly it all became clear to me. Not that I have anything against Chanel, but if I want to buy it, I can buy it just as easily in the USA as I can in England. I smiled politely and we left.

Entrance to Harrods Department store

Having gone to bed late the night before and getting up early that morning, we were tired and eager to pack up and get ready for our next adventure. We called it an early night and made sure we had everything in order to depart London the next morning and head out for the English countryside. 

Check out my blog here on the next part of the trip outside the city. 

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler