Our Grand Tour of London

            The entire day was pretty much a blur. We woke up super early this morning after a short night's sleep and everyone seemed like a zombie. We ate in the hotel restaurant that had  mediocre food and afterwards we took a big tour bus into the heart of London. There we met our city guide, Sean. He immediately woke us all up with his great sense of dry humor and we started our tour of some famous sites.

            Our first stop was a St. Paul's Cathedral. Apparently, this is where Prince Charles and Princess Diana got married in the eighties. We were able to make a quick bathroom stop and took many pictures outside. As we walked to where the bus was parked, we saw the ruins of an old church that was destroyed during the bombing of London in World War Two. Now it has been turned into a garden.

            Next, we drove to the Thames riverfront and gazed at Tower Bridge. Apparently, the original London Bridge is now in the United States and its replacement is nothing special, so Tower Bridge is the special one to see. Everyone took many pictures there and we even got to see it drawn up for a boat with a large mast.

            Then, we drove to Buckingham Palace. When we arrived, we were greeted with a large mass of people. Somehow we navigated through them all without losing anyone from our group and watched the famous guards with the tall, black puffy hats walk by after the changing of the guards. After that, we navigated through even more crowds just as the day started to get really hot. We took pictures outside Buckingham Palace where we discovered the Queen was not there because the wrong flag was up.

            Then, we took the Tube to Covent Garden where we thankfully had free time. Unfortunately, I had to pay to use a very dirty bathroom. I think if you have to pay to use a bathroom, they should at least be clean. During our free time, my friend Claire and I walked to a grocery store called Tesco to buy lunch because it is so expensive to eat inside restaurants in London. Then, we walked to Leicester Square. We attempted to brave the crowds at M&M World,  but we quickly gave up. Instead, we got very nicely done caricatures drawn of us for 10 euro. We also bought sweatshirts and other souvenirs for our family members. As we walked back, we stopped for delicious frozen yogurt and got a picture with a couple of street performers.

            After we had dinner at an Indian restaurant and had more mediocre food, we went on the Jack the Ripper tour. It poured down rain the entire time. Luckily, I brought my raincoat with me. We walked all over the tiny cobblestone streets to learn about the gruesome murders committed by the infamous Jack the Ripper. The cases have never been solved and there are many theories about the killers identity. One theory is that he was American.  All in all it was a very exhausting day.