London - Day 2 (Part 2)

London - One day tour (continued):

London Bridge

Millennium Bridge  

We strolled along the Thames river, we walked by so many restaurants, food stalls and many attractions.  One of them is the millennium bridge.  We passed by so many bridges.  The most common misconception is that the London bridge is the iconic image of London.  But IT's NOT.

Common misconception: 

This is the TOWER BRIDGE, not the London bridge.

Tower of London:

The Tower of London is the most famous of all the Medieval English castles.  Many men and women were killed and imprisoned in this great fortress. 

"In the late 15th century the castle was the prison of the Princes in the Tower. Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle its defences lagged behind developments to deal with artillery.

The peak period of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures who had fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, were held within its walls."    - Wikipedia

River Cruise:

After a long walk from here and there, we decided to take the river cruise back to the Westminster area.  It's a very good option if you don't want to walk anymore and still be able to enjoy a relaxing cruise ride along the river Thames.  It also had an audio tour guide  with the cruise.  The fee from the Tower Millennium Pier to the Westminster Pier was 9,50 pounds.  

 

London - Day 2 (Part 1)

          

London - Day 2:

After having a full breakfast buffet at the hotel's lounge, we took the hotel's shuttle van to Chelsea.  It was a very peaceful Sunday morning.  While we were heading to the Buckingham Palace, we didn't know the Paralympics hadn't ended until we saw this sign: 

 

Paralympics - London 2012

In fact, it was the last day of the Paralympics in London 2012.  We were fortunate to witness part of the Paralympic marathon.  Everyone gave a big applause for every athlete that ran by.  It was very inspiring.  The Paralympics games never fail to impress and to inspire.  It always reminds you that somewhere in the world, there are still a lot of people who never give up.  

The atmosphere and the crowd were great, it reminded me of the time when Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics in 2010.  Tourists and athletes came from all over the world to celebrate for this big event.

 

This is the one of the official mascots (Wenlock) for the London's Olympics.  83 of these sculptures were installed close to the famous landmarks of London.  It actually looked creepy when I first saw it, but eventually I did get used to it and I began love taking pictures with the weird looking mascots.  

Big Ben , Houses of Parliament & Westminster Abbey:

  

How can we miss seeing the Big Ben when we come to London?  Most of the roads were closed for the Paralympic.  We were able to sit in the middle of the road to take pictures.  We were very lucky that the two days we stayed at London was very sunny.  The weather was perfect to tour around and took pictures.  We were told that London usually has gloomy weather.  We sat right in the middle of the Westminster bridge and took great photos with the Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.


London Eye vs. Flying Swing?  

Walking over the Westminster bridge, we had great views of the House of Parliaments on the left side and the London eye on the other side.  Initially, the London eye's ride was on my "must-do" list for London.  However, when I was looking at the speed of its movement and the long line-up, I went for the other option instead.  We saw this carnival that was right across from the London eye, and they had this flying swing for only 7 pounds and no wait time!

Both London eye and the flying swing provided magnificent views of the London's top attractions: Houses of Parliaments, Big Ben, River Thames..etc.  The ride in London eye will last 30 minutes when the flying swing only lasted for 2 minutes.  Since I didn't want to wait for the line up and I kind of didn't want to get stuck in the Eye for at least 30 minutes from the slow rotation, I went for the cheaper option instead :)  It was a hot day, taking the flying swing was very refreshing.  The swing was awesome as I could also have an amazing view of London including the London eye.  If I go back to London again, I wouldn't mind taking the London Eye to watch the sunset along the River Thames :)