London Calling

We ordered our taxi for 9AM since we'd have to slog across town during the morning rush and didn't want to completely waste our first of two days in London. We arrived back at the Ibis at 11, and they were very accommodating--as well they should have been. It turned out to be a rather costly mistake on their part, considering they had to part with the following:

1 bottle of water
2 Aero mint and chocolate candy bars
2 cab fares (one during peak time)
1 night's accommodations
2 days of WiFi  ("Is WiFi free at this hotel?" I asked, knowing it was 9.99/24hr period. Shoot, it was now.)

Our first order of business was to take a nap. We were exhausted.

Finally, around noon, we headed out to explore. First, we headed to Westminster. My last trip to London, I literally had to speed walk through the abbey, so this time I wanted to take my time. There was a long line and it closed at 3:30, so we decided to return the next day. We walked around the area, taking in Big Ben, Parliament and Covent Garden and stopping at a little Italian place for lunch.

The Royal Horse Guards

I always enjoy watching the street performers at Covent Garden. Unfortunately, I didn't hear any act as beautiful as the two women that Mom and I heard singing when we were there, but this guy was decent and had a sense of humor. Here he had grabbed a random man who was coming down the steps and had him sing the last few bars of Nessun Dorma with him.

This one was a former Cirque de Soleil performer. He was amazing. Four men from the crowd were holding the Chinese poll he was performing on, and he called a little boy from the crowd to assist him by throwing up his balancing block and hat.

Our next stop was the Tower of London. We were a little concerned because we didn't arrive until 4, and it was only open until 5:30, but we chanced it anyway. One dimension of Tower of London that I absolutely loved was that they added sound effects/a soundtrack at different spots throughout. Adding the sound element really helped the history to come alive in a different way.

We particularly enjoyed these iron sculptures stationed throughout the complex.

If you look along the wall, you'll see metal statues representing the beasts that used to live in the complex. These are all monkeys; however, they used to house many an impressive animal there, including a polar bear and lions.

Our timing was actually perfect because we finished up right around closing time.

We decided to walk around Greenwich next. The park was closed off in preparation for an equestrian event in July, which was unfortunate, but it was a nice little area. There was a little opera performance, or something, that we stumbled upon as we were walking around. It was just ending, so I'm not sure what exactly it was, but the soprano's voice was lovely.

The Royal Naval College

Royal Observatory Greenwich

The Prime Meridian

London Skyline

For dinner, Steve and I grabbed a chicken pesto panini and hot dog, respectively, from a little shop, and we ate on a park bench by the Thames while the sun was setting. It was a lovely end to a lovely day.