We kept our heads at the Tower of London and set out to explore the City of London and it’s surrounds
For our next connection, we took the Eurostar which is a high speed train that runs through the tunnel under the English Channel. Since Brexit, this meant we had to clear European passport control and enter the UK at the train station before boarding. It was relatively simple and straightforward and as NZ citizens, we were automatically granted UK visas on entry.
The train sped along at 300kms an hour and we arrived in London in just over two hours. The “Chunnel” was relatively boring and there wasn’t much to see coming into London. We arrived at St Pancreas Station which is the international train terminal next to Kings Cross. From Kings Cross, we made our way down to the underground or as the Londoner’s call it, “the tube” and caught two trains to our accommodation over in the west of London.
Before entering the tube, both of us set our Wise credit cards to default on our iPhones and turned on "Express Transit Mode" in the settings. This allowed us to easily charge London public transport directly to our credit cards - and enabled the iPhone to wake from sleep and tap on/off at public transport stations without requiring a passcode or FaceID (which was essential to get through the gates quickly in a busy station!). If you haven’t already heard of Wise, I’d highly recommend looking into it as it is a much cheaper option than a normal credit card or travel card.
From the station, we walked through a nice little neighbourhood to our Airbnb. Unfortunately nice didn’t extend to our Airbnb and this was the first accommodation that we were not happy with on our trip! The Airbnb was in a nice enough looking building which had been split into 8 “units”. Our accommodation was on the top floor so we had four flights of stairs to contend with. The room itself was just ok. It was clean enough but run down - though it was listed as “recently refurbished to a high standard”. For example, the floor wasn’t flat so you could only open the fridge door a quarter of the way before it hit the floor and got stuck. I could list off a number of things wrong with the place! It mainly just annoyed me how expensive it was but from talking to people, that’s just London in a nutshell! We were quite tired after our train rides so headed to Marks & Spencer to grab some groceries and a quick bite to eat for the evening.
The following morning, after a slight delay, we made our way to the Tower of London. This was a must do bucket list item for me as I love all the history around the War of the Roses! We started our tour with our Yeoman Warder in the old moat of the fortress. It was, quite literally, a cesspit in the past as a lot of nasty things flowed into it from The Thames. It was then filled in and had a new life during WW2 as a vege patch! It is frequently replanted to reflect certain monumental events. At the moment, it is a lovely bed of wildflowers.
Moving into the fortress, we stop at the Water Gate (later known as Traitors Gate), to reminiscence over the unlucky souls who were bought to the Tower, never to leave again. From here we moved up to the courtyard for a quick history lesson on the White Tower and the famous names of those beheaded and their stories. Where they were beheaded, Queen Victoria later had a monument installed to remember those who lost their lives to the executioners block.
When I booked the tickets, I had purchased an add-on for an audio guide for both of us. We lined up to collect these and after some technical difficulties (Sam’s was broken and had to be exchanged), we set off on our tour of the castle. We started in the Medieval Palace which was built in the 1200s and now displays restored and original versions of what the palace once was like during those times.
We then moved across the battlements where we had our first proper look at the White Tower as well as an uninterrupted view of Tower Bridge. From here we also saw a poor girl being terrorised by a raven in the courtyard so I was keenly aware of them for the rest of our trip in London!
Built by William the Conquerer during the early 1080s, the White Tower was the strongest defensive point of the complex and provided accommodation for the King and his court. Due to its security, it was later used to house items of value including the Crown Jewels and the armoury. Now it showcases an impressive assortment of medieval armour including many versions of King Henry the VIII’s armour sets and custom firearms.
After the White Tower, we moved out to the courtyard to continue our tour but were distracted by the changing of the guard.
Our next stop was to the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula which is the final resting place of many of those who died at the tower. The most famous resident of course being Anne Boleyn who was buried there in an unmarked grave and discovered in 1876.
We then explored the Beauchamp Tower where many of those bought to the tower were imprisoned. During their imprisonment, they carved graffiti into the walls of their prison as a lasting memento. It was very dark and crowded in here so hard to take photos.
Lastly, we stopped to see the rack in the torture exhibition as well as the tower ravens (these ones thankfully in a cage for their own protection). The line to see the Crown Jewels was obscene and frankly, not of interest to us, so we decided to skip this and head on out to explore more of London. I really enjoyed my visit to the tower but if you aren’t that interested in English history, it’s probably not worth your time (or your money as it was expensive!).
Hungry, we then started looking around for food only to end up at Wetherspoons (a UK pub chain that was recommended to us by our Scottish friends!). For £19 pounds ($36AUD) we got a pie, pizza and two pints!! I also indulged in a chocolate brownie after our lunch (history makes me hungry!).
After our not so healthy lunch, we headed across Tower Bridge and marvelled at the stonework. We decided not to go up on to the glass walking platform (as someone scared of heights I couldn’t think of anything worse!). The bridge itself is impressive and definitely a must see! Unfortunately we missed the bridge opening before a boat by just a few minutes!
From here we continued walking along the riverside towards London Bridge, spotting such sites as The Shard, "the Gherkin" and the ridiculous "Walkie-Talkie building" (famous for concentrating sunlight at over 100℃ on the footpath below) as well as many riverside malls and complexes.
London Bridge was a complete disappointment! The original bridge was sold in 1968 and now resides in the USA. The bridge built to replace it is completely boring and utilitarian. Across the bridge we made our way to the Monument to the Great Fire which was built after the Great Fire of London. I had read that you could climb the stairs of the monument for panoramic views of London at a fraction of the cost of the Shard. Unfortunately, the one day we visited it was closed for “unforeseen circumstances”.
As we were meeting an old friend/flatmate for dinner in the city, we continued wandering around the City of London. We found the London Stone and meandered along, taking in the sights and people watching. As it was a lovely day, many people were already at the pub having a pint of which, interestingly, they were allowed to stand outside the pub to drink on the street - a sight you would not see in NZ or Australia! Sam trolled me and told me they were allowed to do that as long as they were touching the pub outside……..I believed him for all of 20 seconds before I realised he was pulling my leg!
We then ended up at St Paul’s Cathedral where we enjoyed the sun in the gardens waiting for our dinner reservation. Another friend let me in on a secret free rooftop viewing platform near the Cathedral so we headed up there to capture some beautiful shots of the Cathedral and its dome. After this, after constant nagging all day, Sam finally convinced me to get into one of the London phone booths. Can confirm it was unpleasant and smelled disgusting……
We then caught up for dinner with my beautiful accounting friend / flatmate Abbey who moved to London last year!
After a very full-on day, we headed back to our accommodation to get some much needed rest!