June 24 - Tour Day 3
We began Tour Day 3 at the Tower of London where we were treated (with only one other group) to early entrance through a side gate so we could see the morning Ceremony of the Keys where the Yeoman Warder opens the Tower for the day. After the opening, we were given a few hours to explore on our own. It was advised that we go straight to see the Crown Jewels before the crowds arrived, and it was good advice - we walked right in. We missed the first free Yeoman Warder tour of the Tower, so we spent a little time exploring until the next tour. That tour was interesting, but also had hundreds of people following him around. (Note: get the first tour, if possible!) There was a lot to see here, and not much time to do it.
After leaving the Tower, we hopped a boat to move westward on the Thames to Westminster. We took a quick walk along Whitehall to see the government buildings and then broke for lunch before starting our tour of Westminster Abbey. The Abbey itself is a magnificent piece of architecture. We'll let the photos in the slideshow below (also including the Palace of Westminster) speak for themselves. A word of caution from Lesley: if you get distracted by all of the amazing photo opportunities, you might just lose track of the group.
After the Abbey tour, the group split up for individual activities. We wandered around the Westminster area a bit before heading to Leicester Square to buy more theatre tickets. Tonight: The Commitments. We had dinner at a nearby pub called The Spice of Life, where we had a lovely conversation with an Englishman named Gary and his son David (who worked on the tech crew for the show). We wandered around Picadilly for a while before heading to the show. |
On-Tour Adventures:
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Off Tour Adventures:
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FITBIT SAYS: 8.07 miles
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