Since I moved to London three years ago I have lived in London but not really been a tourist in London. Of course I have visited many of the wonderful art galleries and museums, since that is something I really enjoy doing no matter where I am, but I have not done the traditional tourist things like go on the London Eye or visit the Tower of London. So I think it was a good thing when the ash cloud from a volcano in Iceland caused my flights to Greece to be cancelled and I was forced to have a holiday in London with my friend who was visiting from NZ!!
I suppose I hadn’t really done the tourist attractions in London because they didn’t really interest me to do on my own and I figured that eventually someone from back home would come to visit me and would want to see these things so I would do them then, but I cannot tell you how frustrated my goddaughter got with me every time we spoke and she discovered that I still had not been on the London Eye which in her opinion was vital to my London experience! Thankfully I can now say I have finally been on the London Eye to see what all the fuss is about.
For those who don’t know, the London Eye is kind of like a giant ferris wheel with pods that can hold large groups of people and which takes a good half an hour to complete one revolution. Sitting along the Thames Riverside, opposite the Houses of Parliament I have often waked past this structure and admired it but never bothered to make an effort to stand in the insanely huge queue or spend the almost £20 it costs to get onboard, but with my friend Nicky in tow we spent the money, joined the queue and proceeded to enjoy the ride.
While London is quite a flat city there was still plenty to catch your attention from so high up: the view up and down the river was great and the almost areal view through St James’s Park and onto Buckingham Palace was really rather lovely, as was the different point of view of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Lots of photos and one revolution later we were back on terra firma and I could cross another tourist activity off my London list.
Another activity we also did was to visit the Tower of London . All I knew of this place before entering was that it was where the crown jewels were kept; it was once the royal palace; and it was also used as a jail for a time; and now you can tour the huge grounds with the assistance of a Yeoman Warder (one of the Queen’s Guards) who will give you a very insightful guided tour of the the grounds – it turns out to be so much more than just a tower…
So we entered the Tower grounds and discovered that the next Yeoman’s tour was taking place in just half an hour so we wandered around the nearby gift shop and then joined the tour. I was instantly pleased that we had decided to take the guided tour, our Yeoman was so entertaining! He had a booming voice which could be heard across the huge crowd and he was also funny! The first interesting thing I discovered was that this Yeoman and all the others who work in that same job are all part of the British military and this is just another part of their service, they also live within the Tower grounds! So while it is a historic place and a tourist destination, it is also a residence to a handful of people and their families.
Inside is quite a mixed-bag of buildings, there are ancient (eg 13th century) towers built of bricks, next to Tudor-era housing with black timber and white walls… it is definitely a location that shows clear signs of being built upon over the centuries. I had always been under the impression that the Tower was where prisoners were kept and executed but I discovered on this tour that actually only seven people have actually been executed within the Tower grounds – the most famous being Anne Boleyn, 2nd wife of Henry VIII, who was executed somewhere in the green space in front of the Tudor-era buildings although no one is quite sure where.
A bonus to joining a Yeoman’s tour was that we were able to enter the chapel where Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard (Henry VIII’s 5th wife) and Lady Jane Grey are buried.
Another point of interest was the building which houses the Crown Jewels – lots of shiny gemstones set into crowns, sceptres and orbs – very grand indeed!
Another great discovery while Nicky was here was the fact that the iconic Tower Bridge is actually a different bridge to the famous London Bridge!! For some reason I always thought they were the same bridge!! However I can now confirm that London Bridge is the bridge next to the Tower Bridge!!
After being a tourist in London, Nicky and I took ourselves off to the English town of Bath for a day. Here we explored the ancient Roman Baths, absorbing the history and splendour of the place and even enjoying (or at least attempting to enjoy) a glass of the infamous Bath Mineral Water fresh from the spring in the Pump Room restaurant.
There isn’t any good way to describe the mineral water except that it tastes like what I might imagine drinking metal tastes like… not particularly pleasant! It is famous though and has been for centuries, there is even the Royal Mineral Water Hospital in Bath and back in Jane Austen’s time Bath was a popular destination for people suffering from any sort of ailment. It was said that “taking the water” on a daily basis would cure almost any condition! I am not entirely convinced by that theory just yet!
After the Roman Baths Nicky and I wandered around the rest of this beautiful Georgian town, enjoying the sights and sounds and then after some dinner we jumped back on the train headed for London.
It was great to see Nicky and also great to have still done a few new things and enjoyed some touristy activity even if our original trip to Athens and Amsterdam got cancelled due to a natural disaster in Iceland! It would seem that the UK has a few good things to offer 
