We got adventurous today and figured out how to take the bus. It is half the price of the tube, you have something to look at out the windows, and it is fun to be on a traditional double decker.
We started at the opening of The Globe theater - the remake of Shakespeare's original. As we were waiting, and were next in line, a tour guide cut ahead of us. She was late and unorganized, so we had to wait while they called someone up to help her. Then in walks her groupies -- Tauck! Not mom's group though - there are 180 people split into smaller groups.
The Globe Theater was one of my favorite places so far, and I will definitely come back to see it again. I liked the information the museum gave. It wasn't all about Shakespeare at all - it was not a sleeper - I was reading about London during his time, etc. Then we had a tour of the theater. I loved the poster of "you are quoting Shakespeare when" but didn't want to carry it around all day. "It's Greek to me""in a pickle""seen better days" and many more.
The theme of the day was the Millennium Bridge. We crossed over it twice, under it once, and saw it from 350 feet above. It is famous from Harry Potter - the bridge the Death Eaters flew over and destroyed.
The bridge connects The Globe and St. Paul's Cathedral - our next destination. The architect was famous Christopher Wren, and Princess Diana married Charles here - a wedding I got up in the middle of the night to watch! We climbed high into its dome. At one level, you can look straight down through a small opening to the floor below and see the ants walking around. Very cool but no photography allowed. Outside on the top level you could see all of London for miles.
The Shard on the left is Western Europe's tallest building.
The bad news about our day is that it was ugly overcast all day. The good news is that it wasn't raining - except for some sprinkles on our picnic.
From Wellington Arch we took a "free" Westminster walking tour with Sandemans. I don't recommend it, even though I had no problem with the one I had in Italy. They told me we could not be late and "catch up" with the tour but they didn't tell me why ... At the beginning they take a pix "to post on Facebook" but really to charge the guide up to £3 for each tourist, which he is essentially obligated to re-coup from you in tips. Our group was so big, because one guide bailed, that we dragged at a snails pace so much so that we had to leave halfway through. Someone suggested he not wait for the slow people but he had to - as he was paying for them so needed their tip! Lastly and most importantly he was not a credible source. He sounded like one but he couldn't tell me what the driving lines in the street meant (admittingly something I should have asked prior to renting a car) - and he is raised in London!
We took a river cruise to Greenwich - something I hadn't expected to enjoy as much as I did. It was informative (live guide) and more importantly - had a bar. While we were stopped at the Tower Bridge pier, the bridge (a drawbridge) went up! It only goes up a few times per day and we could not be in a better location to see it!
By the time we got to Greenwich, we were tired and everything was closed - which I knew in advance but visiting The Prime Meridian is all part of experiencing London. We walked up to the observatory to see the Prime Meridian/ Greenwich Mean Time. Finding a place to eat dinner was a pain. We sat down in a pub but left after waiting 15 minutes for service. The place we actually ate did not serve Guinness... Somehow I survived. Lastly I was not prepared enough for a ride back to London - because we canceled the plan to walk under the Thames - so we had some confusion to get back. Nothing too bad at all but I got Craig and Reene back later than promised. Actually my original plan was to spend all Sunday in Greenwich, which quite fortunately but coincidentally I changed, because as it turns out the train was not going to operate on Sunday!
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