May 31 -- The Tower of London

Slept in 'til just before 9 this morning. I was the last one up. Yeah for me. The day was pretty much layer out when I got downstairs. Going to the Tower of London. Got the tickets online and saved £1.10  on each ticket. Also there are discounts for seniors at most of the venues in London. If you are over 60 you should check on it. Save £4 on each ticket for the four seniors.

We did the one hour tour with one of the Beef Eaters, the queen's guard. Got some lunch. The ladies went in to see the crown jewels, they are really impressive, and Ed and I went into the White Tower. The White Tower was the first structure erected on the site by William I (Conqueror) begun in 1078. This structure and the rest of the buildings and fortifications were the home of the King and Queen of England for almost 500 years. It is no longer a Royal Residence but it is still on the list though no longer maintained as one. The White Tower is now a museum of armor and weaponry from the 11th to 19th centuries. Very interesting exhibits but very crowded. The Crown Jewels are still used for special occasions and coronations so sometimes they are not in the Tower of London. (Also see March 9, 2009 post)

From the Tower we walked along the Thames taking pictures and finally arriving at the Tower Bridge. This bridge is quite famous and is often thought to be London Bridge. London Bridge is the next bridge up river and is pretty nondescript as bridges go.

After we crossed the Tower Bridge we stopped at Draft House for a cool one and some appetizers. Probably spent about 1.5 hours in there and enjoyed ourselves. From there we walked by to the London Bridge Underground station to go back to Mel's. Bonnie, Kay, and Melanie stopped at the market on the way home to pick up stuff for dinner. Melanie prepared a lovely dinner and we all sat and watched her clean up the kitchen at her behest.

Had a great time today. The weather was wonderful. The company was spectacular. The venues we visited we magnificent. Enough superlatives for this day. Pictures will follow.

May 29 -- Arrive in London

We landed a few minutes early in London. Bonnie and I didn't sleep on the plane at all. Ed and Kay caught a few z's but not very many. We were all very tired on our arrival. Since we were at the back of the plane we were the last off, the last in line at port of entry and nearly the last to pick up our bags. But then we didn't have to wait for our bags to arrive. Melanie had arranged for a car so we found the driver got loaded up and we were off to Melanie's place.

Mel worked from home on Wednesday so she was there to greet us when we arrived. It was just wonderful to be able to give her a hug once again. Our bags were all over the sidewalk so we hustled to bring them into the house. Gave more hugs. Hauled the bags to our assigned rooms. Checked on the stuff that we brought, honey, maple syrup, bourbon, etc. Everything came in good shape. Slowly but surely each of us succumbed to taking a nap. While I took a nap, Bonnie showed Ed and Kay around neighborhood.

When they arrived "home" and Mel was done with work we went to the neighborhood pub for dinner. We had sandwiches and chips or salad for dinner. The food was excellent. For dessert we had bourbon on the rocks. Mel had her's straight up. Walked back home and tried to stay up. Slowly each of us again succumbed to the rest we all needed. All in all a pleasant but tired first day in London.