The London Pass - Saturday

On Saturday and Sunday, some friends and I bought The London Pass to explore the city.  The pass comes in a one day, two day, three day, five day, or six day version and gives you access to hundreds of top London attractions.  We bought ours early Saturday morning before setting off.

Our first stop was the London Zoo located in the northeast section of Regent's Park.  Although its nowhere near as large as the Detroit Zoo it was still a pretty cool place to visit.  Here's some of my favorite pictures that I took:

After the London Zoo, we made our way to Westminster Abbey.  Many people most likely recognize this church as the place where the coronation of the Queen occurred, where the funeral of Princess Di was held, and most recently where Prince William and Kate Middleton were married.  We weren't allowed to take pictures in the Abbey but we got an audio tour included in the admission.  I visited Poet's Corner which contains memorials to great writers from Chaucer to Shakespeare to Dickens.  I also saw Newton's grave, Joule's grave, and walked across Darwin's.  At the end of the tour, was the memorial to the unknown soldier framed by red poppies.  I also lit a candle and said a prayer in the Abbey.

  

We then boarded a City Cruise and floated down the Thames River.  We learned about the various buildings that line river bank and those that tower above in London's skyline.

Here is city hall, flying the city hall flag, the union flag, and the gay pride flag.  On Saturday, in central London (Trafalgar Square and surrounding area) there was a HUGE gay pride parade.

Further down the river we could see the City of London School where Daniel Radcliffe used to be a student.  It is an all boys school.

I also learned that years ago, these lions head which line the banks were used as flood warnings.  When the water level reached the lion's mouth, it was almost guaranteed that London would flood. A popular saying was "When the lions start to drink, London is sure to sink."  The Thames riverman giving our tour told us another one: "When the lions' heads are ducked, London is truly ... in trouble!"

 Finally, we also passed Cleopatra's Needle, a gift to the British from the Egyptians.  There are two Sphinx on either side facing the Needle.  It was realized only after the concrete set, however, that they were facing the wrong way.  They are supposed to face away from the Needle so they can guard it.

We disembarked the City Cruise and walked towards Buckingham Palace.  On our way, we past the famous Downing Street.  Unfortunately, these days you are no longer allowed to walk down Downing Street to see No. 10.  You can't even really see it from the street.

After Downing Street, we passed through Trafalgar Square which was trashed from the morning's festivities.  We finally arrived at Buckingham Palace!

By the end of Day One of the London Pass my feet were so tired!  But I woke up early the next day to continue my sightseeing.