The Saturday I never posted about

Technically, I did.  It was the nice little clip of the Griswold's going around the round-a-bout in Westminster. It was short and sweet because it has taken me about 3 weeks to get over the driving trauma that occurred.

Now that I'm over it, I can tell you what we did that day.  We had tickets for the city cruises boat trip. It is a boat tour on The Thames and they give you some highlights of what you are looking at while you are cruising.

Before we got to the boat, there is the driving part.  Our plan was to park in a car lot close to Westminster pier.  Come to find out they shut the road down that leads to the garage- therefore there was no immediate place to park.  Lovely. As Mark was trying to Google the nearest place to park, I was caught in this series of turns that kept leading me to the same circle- Big Ben, Parliament- you know. In these series of turns were buses and taxis. There I was wedged in between them all. This happened at least 4 times, maybe more.  At this point, the kids could have cared less about Big Ben and wanted out.  Luckily, Mark found a garage in the area and I nearly cried for joy.  We all were very happy to have me off the road.

On to the fun part- our highlights!

Westminster Abbey

 

 Big Ben.

 

 Parliament.

 

 

This is a new building on London's skyline. The "shard of glass" - the 1,016ft London Bridge Tower - is set to be the tallest building in Europe. (www)

 

 

Tower Bridge.

 

Off with her head! The London Tower.

 

The name Traitors' Gate has been used since the early seventeenth century. Prisoners were brought by barge along the Thames, passing under London Bridge, where the heads of recently executed prisoners were displayed on pikes. Queen Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas More, Queen Catherine Howard, all entered the Tower by Traitors' Gate. (www)

 

The Gerkin. It is 180 meters high and has 40 floors being one of the most attractive looking skyscrapers in the British capital.It is mainly made of glass and steel and reflects the light just like a mirror. The egg shape is symbolic, as the egg was once considered to be the perfect shape, the symbol for perfection and absolute. (www)

 

Cleopatra's Needle.

Cleopatra's Needle is a 3,500 year old Egyptian obelisk. It is one of the oldest monuments in London. Its was acquired by the Victorians from the Egyptians in 1878 to commemorate the British victory over Napoleon, sixty-three years earlier. Cleopatra's Needle was originally made in Egypt for the Pharaoh Thotmes III in 1475 BC. Its name is derived from its original location Alexandria, the royal city of Cleopatra. (www)

 

 

All in all, the day was a success.  Take away lesson: never, ever, drive into central London again. Like ever.

 

www = world wide web

 

Cheers mate!