SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 20TH 2014

 

• LONDON - Hilton London Metropole, Edgware Road, London

We arrived at Gatwick Airport outside London England at approximately 10 am.  Went through the formalities easily, and went to the area where we were to meet our Globus host who would transfer us to the hotel in London.  We met another couple there who were taking a different Globus tour - they were from Oshawa.  After waiting for an hour, she telephoned Globus to find out where our host was, as he/she had not yet shown up.  They couldn't find any paperwork telling them we were landing that morning, but eventually they had an "Aha!" moment and sent an emergency host to get us.  We lost over two hours of sightseeing time in London because of this error.  However, the "emergency host" (Tom) who came for us was wonderful, and gave us the scenic tour around the city so that we could see the major sights even though we were arriving too late to enter them. After checking into the hotel, we headed out to wander around the city and see some of the sights even though it was getting too late to enter any of the main attractions.

 

 Horse head sculpture in Marble Arch park.

 

 

The Marble Arch. This was designed by John Nash in 1857 to be the entrance for Buckingham Palace.  It was relocated to a traffic island in the city centre in the mid 1960's.  Traditionally only the Royal Family, the King's Troop and the Royal Horse Artillery are to pass through these gates, but everyone wanders through them at will.

 

A view of Hyde Park. This is a huge park, created by King Henry VIII as his hunting grounds.  

 

Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. It has acquired an international reputation for demonstrations and free speech.

 

Animals In War Memorial.  A powerful and moving tribute to the animals who served in the military during the 20th century conflicts.  

 

The Tower of London with the sea of poppies art installation.  As it's near the end of September, the moat is almost full of poppies. 

  

The poppies cascade from the Tower window to the moat below. 

 

The exhibit continues with new poppies added daily until Remembrance Day.  Each poppy represents a Commonwealth soldier and there are 888,246 poppies in the full display.  These poppies have all been sold with the proceeds earmarked for veteran charities and the Legion.  £22.2 million ($40 million Canadian) has been raised in total from the sales.

We also decided to take the "Taste of London" excursion.  We were taken downtown to the Tower of London and boarded a river boat for an evening cruise along the Thames.

 

 

The Tower of London at night - I was playing with my camera settings here to get the ghostly effect.

 

 The Tower Bridge, all lit up. 

 

The skyline along the Thames River.  

The Millennium Wheel, or as it's more popularly known, the London Eye, all lit up in blue, lazily circling. 

 

 

Big Ben, or as it is properly known, The Elizabeth Tower.  We'll keep calling it Big Ben anyway LOL!  

 

 

 

This is a reconstruction of the original Globe Theatre where William Shakespeare performed his plays once upon a time.

 

 

 

 

We didn't realize that the Tower Bridge was also a lift bridge, so of course we had to sit and watch it open and close!

 

 

 

The Cutty Sark.  Built in 1869 for speed.

 

 The tour included dinner at "The Butcher's Hook & Cleaver" restaurant which was built on the spot where William Wallace was hanged, drawn and quartered in 1305. Nice bit of history to relate while we're eating!

 

 

 

Front view of the restaurant. 

 

 

The historical plaque with the story of William Wallace.