Day 11 - Tower of London and The Lion King

We woke up early this morning, had breakfast and headed off to the Tower of London. - Luckily we are only a 5  minute walk away.  We had already purchased our ticket the day before (to avoid the ticket queue) so we strolled into the Tower of London just as it was opening.  First stop was the crown jewels, as this can get quite crowded and there is a long wait sometimes.  At 9:00 am in the morning there was just about no one there yet, so we had  the place just about to ourselves.  All the jewels, crowns, orbs, sceptres and so forth really are magnificent.  I wonder how much they are all worth?

Next stop was the Yeoman warder (or Beefeater) tour, starting at 10:00am.  By this time the crowds were starting to build.  There would have been nearly 100 people on the tour we took.  We did think about waiting for a later tour, but were told that the tour sizes would most likely get larger throughout the day.  Good Job the guide had a loud voice.  The tour was very funny and very informative.  The Tower was first started in 1066 by William the Conquerer and took 20 years to complete.  The boys seemed to be most interested in  how many people had their head chopped off!.

After the tour we wandered about looking at the other various exhibitions and presentations. -There is so much to see you could spend a whole day looking at everything.

Tower Bridge

Licking Big Ben

After the tower, and a few photos of Tower Bridge, we headed off to see Big Ben (You can't actually see big Ben, because its the name of the large bell inside the clock tower) , the Houses of parliament, Westminster Abbey, (Where Prince William and Kate were recently married), and the London Eye.  All very spectacular.  We were going to enter Westminster Abbey, but thought 16 Pounds per adult and 8 Pounds per child a little too expensive, so photos of the outside would have to do.  Additionally, we wanted to get back to the apartment early to have a rest before heading out to Dinner and the Theatre.

Westminster Abbey 

The London Eye - By Daniel

The Boys were both pretty excited at the thought of seeing the Lion King.  Daniel especially, was talking nearly non-stop (as he does when he gets excited).  Inside the theatre, our cheap tickets turned out to be pretty good.  - Right at the front of the Grand circle on the LH side.  They became even better whe the people on our left all moved across three seats, so we did as well.  The show was great, we all loved it.  We left the theater very satisfied, with Daniel now contemplating a career as a stage performer. (But he's not prepared to take any dancing lessons as his friends will tease him!)