Day 4 - Quinlan Great UK Adventure

Our adventure continued the next morning after a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. We were booked on a river cruise later in the morning, so we just ambled around Westminster. 

The river cruise went up the Thames River starting at Westminster Pier, 

and stopped at Tower Pier just under Tower Bridge. 

Along the way, we got to see a lot of architecture from from the Roman times, through the Medieval ages to more modern buildings. 

 

We got a glimpse of St Paul's Cathedral from the river,

and finally saw the iconic Tower Bridge.

At the pier, we jumped of the boat and immediately set about trying to get a good selfie in the wind. I really don't remember London being as windy as it was on this trip.

We finally abandoned all attempts to keep our hair out of our faces 

and walked up the hill to the Tower of London.

We were just in time for a free tour led by one of  Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary (also known as a "Beefeater"). 

These guys are always entertaining, but our's today was especially good. He told us all about the Tower, and its uses over the centuries.

He even was kind enough to put up with my questions about the 13th century Welsh Princes who were imprisoned here for years. 

Check out the story of Gruffydd ap Dafydd. It's incredibly interesting and ends with him falling out a Tower window while trying to escape. I wanted to know which window it was and our guide was probably just making stuff up as he went along, but he told a good story!

After visiting the Tower, we had to do the touristy thing and walk across Tower Bridge. 

For some reason, we opted for the "Enhanced View". I cannot begin to imagine why I agreed to that.

It was up really, really high and had a glass floor that looked directly down to the Bridge and the River below. 

I didn't stop to look, let Sean take all the pictures he wanted to, and bolted for the other side of the Bridge.

Since we were on the opposite side of the river, we went in search of the Anchor Bankside, a pub that used to be next door to the Globe Theater, when there was a Globe Theater, and welcomed William Shakespeare and his actors after their performances.

It was past closing time for many of the attractions, but we wandered over to St Paul's Cathedral anyway.

 I used to work around the block from St. Pauls, 

and spent almost every lunch eating on the steps or wandering through the Church, so it was great to see my old friend again.

After another fun-filled, exhausting day, we relaxed at 'our' pubs and just enjoying the people watching.