Saturday, September 9, 2023

European Vacation Day 3 - July 2022

 Day 3 - July 12, 2022 London

My husband had to work so Boogs and I booked a guided walking tour. We had to walk two miles to a spot by the Ritz Hotel to meet the walking tour guide. Boogs took over navigation our way to the meet up spot.

Our guide, Eve, took us to many historical sites and explained some of the history, politics, royal scandals, gossip, and interesting facts as we walked. We went to Greene Park, St. James Palace, Buckingham Palace, Wellington Barracks, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, and ended up at the London Eye.


Changing of the guards

Buckingham Palace Gates

Buckingham Palace

More of changing of the guards

More of changing of the guards

Our tour guide walked us over to Wellington Barracks to watch the "old" guards and band complete the changing of the guards and enter the barracks.

Big Ben in Elizabeth's Tower

Statue of Nelson in Trafalgar Square

Statues of King George and Queen Elizabeth (Queen Mother)




Duke of York Column

Lions in Trafalgar Square

Downing Street blocked off and heavily guarded



Admiralty Arch commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother Queen Victoria


A picture of a tree for my Mom.

The tour ended at the London Eye. The price of a ride on the London Eye was included in the tour's cost. Boogs and I had some fish and chips while we waited for our ticket time to be called.

Waiting in line under the Eye.

It was a neat, one-time experience. The views were incredible. One pod was unoccupied and Boogs asked why we couldn't have gotten in that one. They put 27 people in our pod. One family had a 2-year-old that was running around and screaming, that was unpleasant. We had waited in line for about an hour to get on and there was one family in our pod that decided it would be a great time to have a picnic. Their four kids walked around the entire pod dropping pieces of bread, ham, cheese, and grapes everywhere. The ride was only 30 minutes long and the floor was covered with food by the end of it. Boogs and I were able to squeeze up against a side, out of the path of the kids. I am glad we got to see the views but we were both ready to get out of there.






On our way back to the hotel, we stopped and bought some snacks at a little shop. I had to take a pic of the different flavors of Pringles in the store. No, we did not try any of them.

We really enjoyed our day. My husband had dinner with his co-workers so Boogs and I walked over to Lower Marsh Street and had dinner at a little Thai place. 




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