London City Tour

Our days start early. Breakfast is served in the Grange Tower Hotel Dining Room and is the first of eight typical English breakfasts. Each morning, we are greeted with fried and sometimes scrambled eggs, bacon that is more like American ham, sausage links, roasted tomatoes, steamed mushrooms, fruit, toast, yogurt and cereals. I didn’t see one bowl of grits.

Grange Tower Bridge Hotel Dining Room
Grange Tower Bridge Hotel Dining Room
Grange Tower Bridge Hotel
Grange Tower Bridge Hotel
The Six of Us
The Six of Us

After our hearty breakfast, we load our bus and head off to see the city of London. Pinch me.

We are greeted by the sweetest little tour guide on the planet. Her name is Jan and she tells us all about the sites in the perfect English accent.

Jan, our London City Tour Guide
Jan, our London City Tour Guide

We never lost her in the crowd, although she was only 4’10. Her yellow coat and green hat stood out in the midst of a cold, dreary morning.

 

We had a few minutes for photos at some beautiful and significant places.

The Shard
The Shard
View of Parliament from across the Thames
View of the Dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral from across the Thames
The Globe Theatre
A narrow shot of The Globe Theatre.

Unfortunately, my camera battery died and I only got photos of the Lord Mayor’s flotilla with Charlotte’s camera.  It was a historic day as this is London’s very first woman Lord Mayor. When I get her photos, I’ll share them, too.

 

 

St. Paul's - a little chapel that held a pretty important wedding.
St. Paul’s – a little chapel that held a pretty important wedding.
The Entrance.
The Entrance.
My own personal postcard. Big Ben with a Double Decker bus in the foreground.
My own personal postcard. Big Ben with a Double Decker bus in the foreground.
Bag Pipes played throughout the city on Remembrance Day
Bag Pipes played throughout the city on November 11th – Remembrance Day
The Golden Post
The Gold Post boxes were painted in honor of the gold medalist from the 2012 Olympics.

 

 

Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Not just any kiss...
Not just any kiss…
Rain or shine, we are at the gates of the palace.
Rain or shine, we are at the gates of the palace.

After a quick lunch from a deli and shopping at Harrod’s, we saw the hilarious play, Spamalot at The Playhouse.

Spamalot, at The Playhouse.
Spamalot, at The Playhouse.

Our dinner was very special. Recommended by the hotel concierge, we searched the area until we found, The Dickens Inn. We each had the ribeye except for Wilma, who had chicken. Paul chose a delicious Malbec to pair with our ribeye and it was very fitting to have a meal in London at the Dickens Inn. Charles would have been proud.

IMG_7536

 

 

Adjusting my camera exposure took some time and a few laughs, but we got it.
Not an indecent exposure, but with some time and a few laughs, we got a good shot.
Tower Bridge at Night
Tower Bridge at Night

After another long, but very fun day, we ended with a nightcap in the hotel lounge before bedtime.

Decisions, decisions.
Decisions, decisions.

A nice Chablis was chosen and we had fun reminiscing about our day before a quick nap.  Bags out at 7 am!

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