"... and he bought the wrong bridge"

Day 1 of the Tour of London...

Wow. That is about the only word that comes to my mind at first... The amount of history within that city alone dwarfs anything imaginable in the US. And me being the history lover that I am, it was nothing short of amazing.

The day started EARLY... we were up and on our way by 7, and headed on the bus towards London by 8. We made it there by 10 and started at the Tower of London. With our tickets we got a free "Beefeater" tour... and no, I do not know how they got their name. Neither do they... But, they are some of the most entertaining fellows to listen to. They live and work at the Tower. And they have to serve a certain number of years in the British military to be able to apply to work at the Tower. They are appointed by the Queen and once they attain that position, they stay there for life. So pretty much, it is the greatest position to have. We equate it to living in Cinderella's Castle and walking out the door and your life is on one of the major tourist attraction of the world. We saw the Bloody Tower, Traitor's Gate (which Callie was sentenced to, she likes to cause problems...) Crown Jewels, Armory, and the greens where all of the beheadings took place. We were walking on cobblestone roads that have been there for centuries... it was incredible. Simply breathe taking. And that wasn't even taking into account the FRIGID weather! Haha it was easily the coldest yet. Oh, I would like to put a "disclaimer" on any and ALL pics tagged of me on facebook... NO i have NOT gained 30 pounds in the 4 days of being here. Due to the thorough nature of pick pocketers... My purse is under my THREE jackets. So again, mom, family, and friends, do not be alarmed... i'm still of normal proportional size.

We left the Tower and purchased an On/Off double decker red bus pass to tour the city. Since it was freezing, and we had never seen London before, we decided to ride the whole time and get a lay of the land. I'll spare the little details of what we saw... Basically just the highlights and big stuff! However, we DID see some intense action. Witnessed "history" if you will... Idk if any of you have kept up with the student riots in London. But after today, they have a new meaning. As we were traveling down Picadilly Road a HUGE mob of students began to take over the streets. So large were the crowds that our bus, and all other traffic was stopped for about 10 minutes. Police was called in and of all places they were protecting... they chose the Top Shop. Haha shows the priority of British police. The students were walking through the streets with signs and whenever the police tried to disperse the crowd, students were running down the sidewalks. Not only were the streets covered with police, there were helicopters flying overhead. Obviously, this was my favorite part of the day!

After the extended bus tour adventure... we ventured back to the Tower for dinner. And we found ourself in our first Pub! We absolutely loved it and the food was delicious... I believe we will find ourselves there again tomorrow. We are going back tomorrow to hit the highlights and the shopping!!