England Day 3

This was the day we tried to do everything - it didn't quite work, but we saw a fair bit.   I'll  back up a bit though because I forgot to mention in the last post that when we got back into London that evening, we were able to go on the London Eye!  It looks like a huge ferris wheel, but each car holds 20 people or so without being crowded at all, and the cars offer a wonderful view of London!  We also saw Big Ben by night as we walked a bit to get to a bus stop as the tube strike was  still on.

Our third day started with a trip to Tower of London.  It was so interesting - lots of history!  Then we went over the Tower Bridge, which had displays too.  I love that bridge - it's  really a nice bridge to look at.  After that we had a bit of difficulty trying to find Shakespeare'S Globe Theatre.  We kept asking people and consulting our map.  Twice we ended up in the middle of Burroughs Market, and it was amazingly crowded but really neat to see.  Tried to eat lunch there as the scents were mouthwatering, but oh how the lines were long!  We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant, and thus fortified, finally found The Globe.   That was a fun tour, and we got to watch a tech rehearsal for Richard the.... 3rd? 2nd?  which was opening the next night.  They were having a bit of trouble with the dying scene and it was fun to watch.  Not so different really than GHS rehearsals.   After the Globe, we found St Pauls Cathedral where Megan climbed all those 528 steps to the top to get that view!  I did it in 1977 and remembered the view perfectly well, so saw no need to climb them again!

After that we saw part of the city from a different vantage point - by taking a Thames River boat cruise.  Very fun!

 Close up of one of many carvings done by prisoners in the tower.  The guy in the picture is there because of a reflexion off the plexiglass.

Megan with a Beefeater.

See through portion on the bridge with view of below.

Burroughs Market.

The Globe.

Sam Wanamaker was the driving force behind  the rebuilding of the Theatre.  His daughter, if I have this right, was in the Harry Potter movies.  Sam passed away before the Globe was finished.

The Shard.  Looks like a piece of broken glass at the top.

A delicious finish!