Erin Across the Pond: Sightseeing

I had a great week this week. I saw the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben (finally up close!), Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, and Tower Bridge.

It might be kind of strange to have a favorite Underground station, but I love Westminster station. It goes down four long flights of stairs (well, escalators anyway) to the lowest platform, and there are all kinds of exposed pipes and structural bits. It feels like you're in a secret underground base. But the best part of Westminster station is that when you first step out, immediately you see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, right across the street and right in front of your face. Very cool.

Westminster Abbey is very close by too, and also completely gorgeous. But even the gorgeous outside has nothing on the interior. It's so amazing! I couldn't believe how lavishly decorated that place is! There's gold and stonework and colors and statues everywhere you look. It's such a pity that they don't allow photography in the abbey. I think I could have taken about 600 pictures. Instead, I had to content myself with listening to Jeremy Irons narrate an audio tour, which was pretty interesting. I also saw the grave of Elizabeth I, along with a lot of writers in Poet's Corner. SO worth the time if you ever go to London.

On Friday I went to the Tower of London. It was a much bigger complex than I had thought it would be. Apparently there are actually 20 separate towers in the whole place. The two most famous ones are the White Tower (where all the torture happened) and the Bloody Tower (where the princes were killed). Fun stuff. I went on a tour given by one of the Yeoman Warders (also known as Beefeaters), who was very cool. They get to live in the tower, but then again they have to put up with all the tourists. I'd have to say, though, that the best part of the trip was getting to see the Crown Jewels in the Jewel House. They have the world's biggest cut diamond there, set into one of the coronation scepters. It's unbelievable! And they have little conveyor belts going along the display cases, I guess to make sure that nobody stops and gawks for too long. I rode around it twice to make sure I got a really good look at all the crowns and things, heehee.

Also, Dan and Beth are flying in today. Woohoo!