Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The beautiful sites of London!

This weekend, my program provided us all with a bus tour of London. It was a great day and somehow it didn't rain while we were touring! 

The first stop we went to was Buckingham Palace! Unfortunately the Queen was not home...the tour guide told us that we could figure this out by seeing what flag was up at the center. If the Royal Standard is up then she is home and if the Union Jack is then she is not. It is accurate up to the minute! I couldn't believe that! As I was standing there all I could think about was how much history has happened on that center balcony!  



Next up...Big Ben!! It was the first time I saw him during the day this trip and it was break taking! One fact we were told was that Big Ben is actually the bell inside the tower and not the tower itself. I didn't know that before! Also, the tower is actually the Queen Elizabeth II Tower. It used to be called simply the Clock Tower but for her Diamond Jubilee year it was named in her honor! 




After passing through Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, past the Borough Markets, and many more sites, we stopped again. This time near Tower Bridge! Our tour guide had our bus driver park a little ways away so when we turned the bend Tower Bridge was standing in all its glory in front of us! It looked like a postcard!! 



On the way back to the bus, there was a little manmade stream going down the middle of the walkway, it was so cute. I loved it! The tour guide said that in the summer little children just walk right in it the whole way down the path! 


At the end of the stream, there was a great angle of the Shard! I think at some point in the semester I am going to try and go up to the stop of it, but am not sure yet!  


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