Welcome to Europe! London, Day I

I love to travel, but I'm not a fan of traveling.  I'm a big guy, and planes (on a teacher's budget) just aren't cut out for guys like me.  However, after two grueling years of earning a Master's degree, I figured another round of travel would be a great gift.  And, thankfully, this trip started off differently than the norm.  When I was booking the flight a couple months ago, I got the chance to upgrade to first class (from Salt Lake to Chicago) for less than the price of luggage and get baggage fees reduced to zero.  Umm, yes please!  Then over the ocean I snuck an emergency row seat (courtesy of a very kind lady at the Salt Lake Airport), so that when I arrived in London I was decently rested and not so cramped I was able to walk!  I arrived around noon and took the tube directly to the hotel to check in and rid myself of luggage.  I, honestly, at this point, hadn't accepted the fact that I was anywhere special yet, and was feeling quite exhausted from the non-sleep journey over the ocean.  But, when I got down to the waterfront after just a 3-minute walk and saw this:

The London Eye

my excitement overflowed and I did a spontaneous happy dance.  It finally hit me! I was there, in London, and I couldn't believe it.  I was in a place that seemed like just a dreamland for so many years.  I stood on the bridge for a few minutes soaking in all the grandeur, then headed off towards Big Ben along the river walk.  I had myself a London Pass (an entertainment coupon book essentially) that gave me a free river cruise, so I hopped on right near Parliament and took the cruise down the river.

Big Ben and Parliament from the boat

We floated right down past many historical sights, including the London Eye, Cleopatra's Needle, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, St. Paul's Cathedral, under London Bridge, the Tower of London, and many others on our way towards Tower Bridge.   We received an unexpected treat upon hearing the bridge was going to be raised in just a few minutes, and that we could witness it on the boat, if we wished to brave the weather (it was raining quite heavily at this point).  We assented, of course, and got to see all traffic be stopped for a ship to go underneath.  It was pretty majestic.

The sun came out right after I left

From there I went to the old Tower of London to see if I could get myself thrown in the dungeons.  Even messing with the guards couldn't get me in that much trouble, though.

Tower of London

I've never felt so ignored in my life

Bed Chambers

The Tower was full of history, and I learned a bit about a few King Edwards and others and their lifestyle.  I couldn't wait to get to Tower Bridge, though, to get up to the top and check out the view, even if it was still rainy.  We had to do a little tour, learning about the idea for Tower Bridge, who came up with the plans, how the bridge was going to be lifted and such, the hydraulic systems powering it, and then we climbed.  It was great up top, so I stayed quite awhile before heading back down. 

Typical rainy day in London

I think I stayed a bit too long at Tower Bridge, because, before I knew it, it was almost 7:30, which went time for Lion King the Musical!  I rushed to the theatre (which was, incidentally, about 2 minutes from my hotel, woohoo!) and sat down just as the music started.  Whew!

I couldn't believe how amazing the show was!  A visual, as well as musical, treat - I knew the storyline of course, but some of the new music (as well as the old) was fabulous!  In fact, I'm listening to the soundtrack as I'm writing this.  After the musical, I went back down to the river to play for a few hours.  I ended up spending a bit of each night at the water, it was my favorite place in London.

London Eye from the middle of the street across the river