DAY 4 - more food, Tower of London, and...A PLAY IN THE WEST END!!!!

It's Tuesday, June 9th and is another beautiful day in London, however a bit chillier than it's been.  We awoke to 48 degrees and are headed out for a run in Kensington before showering and going to breakfast/brunch at Duck and Waffle!

Duck and Waffle restaurant is located on the 40th floor making it the highest restaurant in the city - therefore it has spectacular views. And amazingly enough they are open 24 hours a day/7 days a week!

They gave us THE most amazing table overlooking all of London!  Our view - Tower of London and the London Bridge as well as the Gherkin (pickle) building.

Bloodies were needed after a 1 hour cab ride due to London traffic!

The House Breakfast (otherwise known as English breakfast): 2 eggs, roasted tomato, hash browns, sausage, bacon and portobello mushroom

Black pudding - a black sausage mixture containing pork, dried pig's blood, and suet/oatmeal - actually was very good (Caroline hated it).

The Gherkin!

We also found out about a couple of great bars that would be fun to go to at night:
*Sketch

*Night Jar - a speakeasy

We then headed over to Leadenhall Market (where Ross promptly purchased a Barbour jacket since it turned COLD overnight!).

It is one of the oldest markets in London, dating back to the 14th century and is located in the historic center of the city of London. It's also the backdrop for Harry Potter's Diagon Alley.

A stop for a pint at the Lamb Tavern whilst Caro and I are shopping at Reiss in Leadenhall!

Not the greatest pic, but there's the famous "Shard" building in London:

We see the LONDON BRIDGE:

Finally - we get to the infamous (actually THE top destination in London for tourists) THE TOWER OF LONDON!!!

The history of the Tower goes back almost 1000 years - making it THE top tourist destination in London.  So yes, that equals CROWDS.

The Tower once housed what was known as the ‘Royal Menagorie’, the royal collection of exotic animals. The first animals to arrive were lions, an elephant and a polar bear which would hunt for fish in the Thames on a lead. Later came tigers, kangaroos and ostriches.It was closed by the Duke of Wellington in 1835 and the animals became the basis for London Zoo in Regent’s Park.

Several ghosts are said to haunt the Tower, including those of Anne Boleyn, Henry VI, Lady Jane Grey, Margaret Pole, the Princes in the Tower – and a grizzly bear!

Only 22 executions have ever taken place inside the Tower of London. Most happened on the nearby Tower Hill. The last man to be beheaded there was the Jacobite octogenarian Lord Lovat on April 9 1747. The last execution in the Tower of London took place on August 14 1941, when Josef Jakobs, a German spy, was shot by a firing squad.

I make everyone wait in line to see the Crown Jewels:

The Tower houses the crown jewels and has done for many centuries now. The estimated value of the crown jewels is said to be in excess of £20 billion ($32 billion) with the Star Of Africa alone estimated at £250 million ($400 million).

Adorable little school children in line to see the crown jewels:

Finally - we enter:

Yeoman Warders at the tower are selected for their service in the Armed Forces. To qualify they must have completed 22 years service in the Forces, and they live on site at the Tower. The uniforms of the Yeoman Warder (the full state dress uniform) cost over £7,000 each, with uniform has gold thread.

Every evening, at precisely 9:53pm, a ceremony takes place to lock the Tower of London – the ceremony of the keys. An armed escort of the Queen’s Guards set off with the Chief Yeoman Warder to lock all the gates. At one point, one sentry at a post issues a challenge to the escort by saying, “HALT!, Who comes there?” to which the Chief Warder replies, “The Keys”, the sentry then says “whose keys?” – the escort then responds “Queen Elizabeth’s Keys”, the sentry then allows the escort to pass by saying “Pass Queen Elizabeth’s Keys, and all is well” – this has happened every day for hundreds of years without fail. It is the oldest military ceremony in the world!


A final shot of the Tower of London before we head back to the flat to pack up and get ready for dinner and a play in the famous West End this evening!

Another day of walking Londontown is in the books...