London by bus and boat

We started the day with a typical European breakfast at the hotel: runny scrambled eggs, potatoes, toast and croissants, beans, yogurt, fruit, juice and, of course, a spot of tea. Then we walked a few blocks down to the Visitors' Center where we purchase tickets for the doubledecker bus tour. We had just missed the walking tour of the changing of the guard but one of the old chaps that worked at the place offer to run us down to catch up. He was a funny guy. But not nearly as funny as the tour guide, Uncle Bernie. He took us on more like a running tour from where the new guards exit the one of the smaller palaces and march down the boulevard past Buckingham Palace to the guard house. There are different uniforms for the guards one different days because they represent the armies of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Whales. We also went to a smaller scale changing of the guard at the palace where Prince Charles lives.

From there we made our way back to the pick point for the bus and climbed to the open top for the prime view of the city. We circled back around by Buckingham Palace, past Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, to St Paul's, through the financial district, over the Tower Bridge to the London Tower with the commentary of an aspiring young actor as our tour guide. We got off at the Tower of London and grabbed a bite to eat from an strange under ground food court of sorts built into the side of the hill. We dined on large stone benches surrounded by pigeons watching the demonstrated catapulting in the yard. Then we started off on foot for our Jack the Ripper walking tour with the same interesting tour guide from the morning. On this tour he was really pouring on the drama with his crazy eyes and slashing motions when he described the brutal slayings. I have to admit I didn't know a lot about Jack the Ripper when we decided to take the tour, but it sounded interesting and we got to see a part of the city that most visitors would never visit.

We boarded the the boat at the Tower of London and traveled back down the Thames past Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Tate Modern, and the London Eye before docking in Westminster near the Parliament and made our way back along the bank with lots of joggers and other casual walkers towards the hotel. We took a break for a rest at the hotel and then went to an Internet cafe across the street to select our seats on the flight to Lusaka, Zambia the following evening. Then we made are way along the cobbled sidewalks up to the Covent Gardens area where we enjoyed a late dinner alone in a small, but delightful Greek restaurant called Pad. Then back to the hotel to pack up catch some BBC before falling asleep.