After a long flight and a first sleepy day of Bus touring, we spent our second day visiting the Tower and exploring Old London. Pete The Tour Guide on the bus taught us a lot about the City of London ... his grandmother survived the WWII bombings and he is very proud of his City, Christopher Wren and St. Paul's.
When Kayti and I were here 3 years ago, Big Ben was being restored, so this was the first time we actually heard him chime the hour.
This fine gentleman Beefeater talked to us for a long time ... learned a lot about what it takes to be a Yeoman Warden (apparently "Beefeater" is actually an insult) ... at least 22 years exemplary service in the military. Thirty-six Yeoman Wardens actually live in the Tower while working there. We later walked to St. Paul's, but we got there just as a Choral Concert was about to start, so we were unable to tour the building. We will return, no doubt, at a later date.
Here's the view from the South Bank of the Thames ... not all bad, huh?
Gotta go ... heading off to Portobello Road to search out fun 50th birthday gifties for Lori and old buttons for Jean.
