UK Trip: Day 2, Sky Garden and Tower of London

Monday June 13, 2022

The kids (most likely Elisa) woke me up around 5am. We got ready and headed out the door to walk to the train station, about a 10-minute walk from the house. We took a couple trains to downtown London. We had to buy our passes (Oyster cards) at the downtown station since the ticket office in Eltham was closed. The British are pretty trusting and let us walk right on and off the train without suspicion. Then again, we did look like confused Americans. London reminded me of New York, except cleaner, quieter, and not nearly as busy (at least where we were).

Riding the train to downtown London.

Our first stop was Sky Garden, which was basically an overlook of the city (34 floors up), similar to the Rockerfeller building, except it was free. It was really neat to see the city below us. We saw classic structures like the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the London Bridge, and St. Paul's Cathedral as well as modern structures like the London Eye, the Shard, and the Gerkin (pickle).

See the Gerkin?

The Shard to the left and the London Bridge in the center.

The Tower Bridge, City Hall, and the HMS Belfast from left to right.

St. Paul's Cathedral is the domed building in the center-left.

We spent most of the day at the London Tower. We started with group tour where a Beefeater (Tower Guard) told us a few gruesome stories about beheadings and murders. He also talked about the history of the Tower (when different parts were built under whose reign). Then we went to see the Crown Jewels. We were not allowed to take any pictures inside unfortunately. We had to wait in line for a while before we could see the jewels. They put everyone on a moving platform as we passed the jewels, so I didn’t get to study them. They are real even through its hard to believe, even in person but they are pretty darn sparkly. After the jewels they had all the gold dining ware that was really neat to see. We were able to view these longer since we weren’t being moved along automatically. Then we walked through some exhibits and ate a late lunch in the cafeteria. The food was nothing special, just some sandwiches that were buy one get one free.

The outer wall was obviously built after the center Tower.

The central courtyard housed the chapel, the crown jewels, and the Tower.

The Beefeaters live in those dwellings below. You can see the start of the Tower Bridge on the road.

Grandpa photobombed this nice picture of the Tower.

Walking around the outer battlements.

The very end of the tour included some activities for the kids.

Grandpa always buys them ice cream.

Afterwards, we walked along the Thames River and across the London Bridge to the Borough Market. Supposedly, they have been holding markets there for over 1,000 years. I bought some cheeses and salami.

The Thames is pretty dirty. Imagine hundreds of years ago when it was full of sewage.

We hopped on a train and headed back to the rental house after spending most of the day at the Tower of London. Erik and Grandpa took the kids for a walk to a nearby park. They spent some time there on the playground.

Grandpa was excited to see the red British mailboxes.

Gabe tried "holding" a squirrel, but he couldn't get his hand in the right position.