London -- Day 4

We're moving! I've mentioned that we do everything the cheap way. We planned this entire vacation around points and we only had enough hhonors points to stay at the Hilton for 3 nights. We ate our last huge English breakfast before heading out with our luggage on to our next home. We are each traveling with our suitcase that weighs right at 50 lbs, plus a carry-on bag. So we each have two pieces of luggage. In order to get to our next hotel we can do two things: call a two taxis, or ride the bus. Can you get what we did? You betcha, we hauled our suitcases down the hill, through a park, and back up a hill and across the road to the nearest bus stop that has a bus heading in the direction that we would like to go. Can you guess which bus that might be? Ok, you probably wouldn't know, but it is the 381 bus...again. When we finally reach the bus stop it is very crowded. The wait was about 10-15 minutes and we saw our favorite double-decker pull up. We let everyone else get go first so they wouldn't have to wait on us with our luggage. I was the first in line and as I was getting on with my bags the driver held up his hand and said, "I'll only take one of you." You got to be kidding right? Nope! He was as serious as a heart attack. So we all backed up and waited for the next bus to come by. We were lucky because it was only about 10 minutes later that one pulled up and since he was fairly empty he allowed us to get on. Phew! I was worried we were going to be traveling in singles for a minute.

We had researched this route the night before so we'd know approximately which bus stop to get off on. We had the address of the hotel, but no one was sure which stop was the closest for the 381 bus. I'm sure most of you know that Brent is pretty intense at times, so as soon as the bus turned on the street that the hotel was on he wanted us to get off at the next stop. We all hauled our luggage off the bus, studied the map, and then headed in the direction we thought we were supposed to go. Brent is so good with having his bearings that he lead us right where we needed to go. It wasn't bad, we only had to pull our luggage for about 6 blocks before we spotted the sign: Holiday Inn Express. What a great feeling to know that we made it! And we didn't spend a pence doing it!

We checked out bags and set off again to go exploring. We decided to go to the Waterloo station first to have a bite to eat and check it out. We then decided to head back to the Tower of London. Just a few of our pictures while visiting the Tower:



This is the building where the Crown Jewels are located.  I've NEVER seen so many diamonds and gold in one place in all my life!  It was beautiful.



This is the yard that the ravens live in.  There is a story behind the ravens and if you're interested you can read about it here.



Another view of the same yard.



This young whipper snapper is guarding the Crown Jewels.  Is it me or does he look like he should be in school instead of being a guard?



I just loved this set of stairs.  The light colored stone on the far right is the chapel, which were not allowed to take picture of, but many people who were beheaded were buried beneath the floors of the chapel and remain there today.




There are many different towers at the Tower of London which are all part of the Inner Ward and this is one of them.  Prisoners were house in the towers.




The moat is on the other side of these arches.



This is the Broad Arrow Tower, which is also part of the Inner Ward.  There are several crowns housed in this tower now.



As we walked across the path in the picture above, we saw these dwellings.  They are the homes for the Beefeaters, which are the ones who act as tour guides, provide security, and are a tourist attraction in their own right.



Here is a picture of two of the Beefeaters. The one that is sitting down is the one that was our tour guide for the Ceremony of the Keys.













As you will read if you click the link about about the raven, you'll find that some ravens are kept in cages and some are allowed to be free.  These are the raven's cages.





More housing on the grounds.  I cannot remember who lives here, but someone so important that they are guarded as well.





I have this thing with strange things I see in the bathroom. This was the only time I witnessed a loo such as this one.




This is what you've all been waiting to see. The London Bridge picture I shared earlier is really the London Bridge. This is the Tower Bridge and people often confuse the two.




I'm still trying to figure out while Blair insisted on looking so "special" each time the camera was aimed in her direction!




The moat around the Tower of London.  It no longer has water, but beautiful green grass instead.  The mote was also the sewer, hence the rich green color :)



This is the entrance straight ahead in this picture.  On the other side of the arch is where the Ceremony of the Keys is held every night.



Just one of the methods they used to torture the prisons at the Tower of London.



I'm fairly confident that if I was a traitor that I'd start talking if I were to put on this!



Traitors' Gate



The architecture is truly amazing!



Cool building...but not quite sure what it was.