English Breakfast and much more (London Day 2)

For our first day with Julian, we decided to get breakfast at a pub to experience a traditional English breakfast of sausage, ham, baked beans, eggs, tomatoes, and mushroom.  It was much different than a typical American breakfast, and seemed kind of weird at first, but we all liked it a lot.  Afterwards we visited the royal palace again, this time to see the changing of the guards.  There was a huge amount of people there to see the traditional parade and changing ceremony.  

From here we went to the London Eye which is a huge Ferris-wheel-type structure that travels really slow to the point that it doesn’t even stop to let people off.  As we made our way around the wheel to the top, we could see the whole city at different angles.  It was definitely a neat experience!  After the London Eye, we stopped in front of Big Ben to take a picture.  This is also where the parliament building is located.  We thought we were in line to see the inside but apparently you have to pre-schedule your tour and tours are only open to non-residents on the weekends and it was a Wednesday.  Needless to say, we got in a little trouble for trying to sneak in, but it was definitely worth the laugh.  After this we stopped at Westminster Abbey which is where all of the royalty get married and recently where Prince William and Kate Middleton were married. 

From here we went to the Tower of London which is where the crown jewels are located!  It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England.  In the 1100s, the tower was a place to hold high level prisoners such as Queen Ann Boleyn and is also where she and others were beheaded.  The Tower has served variously as an armory, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public records office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.  In the middle of the Tower is where the military grounds were located and there was a huge exhibit of past militia’s equipment, horses, and armory.  The Tower of London was definitely one of everyone’s favorite exhibits in London.

After the Tower of London we went to Kings Cross station to take a picture at Platform 9 3/4! From there we went to have dinner, a traditional meal of England, Fish and Chips!  Then we went back to our hostel and hung out for a little before deciding to go out.  We tried to go to a bar that our friend James, who is from England, recommended to us but they were only open till midnight.  Instead we went to Mango Bar.  We enjoyed free olives and pretzels while drinking wine.