Day 2 In London

We started our second day in London by taking the Tube to Tower Hill station, where we met up with Calvin to go see the Tower of London and the nearby Tower Bridge.  We decided to eat before going sightseeing, and ended up at a place called The Minories for our first pub meal.  The prices were astonishingly cheap – they had a huge selection of entrees that were two for ₤7.45 – and we shared five entrees (Chile Con Carne, Fish & Chips, Pie of the Day, Bangers and Mash, and Cajun Chicken Salad) and two desserts for less than ₤30!  The food wasn’t anything phenomenal, but it was decent for the price, especially compared to what we’ve been paying for so far!

Since all three of us didn’t feel like spending ₤17.50 each to go into the Tower of London (I know it’s a World Heritage Sight and houses the Crown Jewels, but we can’t go into everything or our spending will be completely out of control and the Tower just didn’t interest us that much), we made our way across Tower Bridge and walked along the River Thames, on the opposite side of where we were yesterday.  On this side we saw the London Bridge, the Clink Prison, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and the Tate Modern, where we stopped walking and went inside for a look around – it’s free so why not!  On the lower floor we saw a huge area that looked like a playground, with kids climbing everywhere and people playing on balancing contraptions, and we started to wonder where we really were – a modern art museum or a jungle gym?  To clarify, we asked the girl at the information counter, and she laughed and told us it is a modern art museum, but sometimes it feels like a playground, and there’s a special exhibit on the lower floor for “interactive” art.  Interesting…

Because Calvin really wanted to see the Florence Nightingale Museum, we continued walking along the Thames, passing by the Dali Universe and the London Eye, where we stopped briefly to watch some street performers.  I had initially wanted to go on the London Eye, but the huge line-up and ₤17.50 ticket cost made me change my mind – maybe another day!  After a lot more walking, we finally found the Florence Nightingale Museum at about 5 o’clock, only to learn that it closes at 4:30 on Saturdays and last admission is one hour before closing so we wouldn’t have made it in anyways! 

Tired from all the walking, we decided to hop on the next bus that came, even though we had no idea where it was headed.  We got off at Oxford Circus, a major shopping area in London, and hopped on the Tube to get to St Paul’s Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and one of London’s most visited sights.  Unfortunately none of us had looked up our sightseeing before heading out today, so we didn’t know that St Paul’s closes at 4 p.m. and we got there at 6:30!  Paul and I weren’t too disappointed because we have seen and will see more than our fair share of churches this trip, but it would have been nice to see St Paul’s because our friends from England told us it was really really nice.  Again, maybe another day!  We really need to plan our days out more…