Mind the Gap

October 12, 2008

We finally got to tour the Tower of London. The London Pass came through again...we were able to skip an entrance line about 45 minutes long and enter through the group entrance! Saw the Crown Jewels including a scepter that has the world's largest diamond (Heather says she would use the Coronation Spoon to eat soup) and a bunch of other old stuff.

There was a display about the new 2008 coins inside the White Tower.

Toured the "Bloody Tower" named because of all the beheading that took place in the medieval times. So, Nick's customary "Stormtrooper visits the Tower of London" scene had to include a beheading.

Had lunch at a restaurant called "EAT" alongside the castle wall. Then took the RV1 bus across town to Gabriel's Wharf where we got a free bike rental (London Pass, again!) We biked past Buckingham Palace and Shakespeare's Old Globe Theater. The ride took about an hour. Had crepes and a coffee for a snack afterwards along the river.

Next, we took the tube to King's Cross station to visit Platform 9 & 3/4 made famous by the first Harry Potter movie. The was a luggage trolley stuck in the wall for tourists...

Tube back the hostel and dropped off our bags of souvenirs. Then we went down the street to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Typical Italian service (slow) but good food. Saw a bunch of cool cars parked along the road on the walk home...including this Nissan Figaro. They were made in 1991 only in Japan and there were only 20,000 ever made!

(Mind the Gap is the recording that plays several times on the subway every time you get on or off the cars. It refers to the gap between the car and platform...evidently they don't want people getting stuck. Tommy used this phrase to practice his English accent.)