London's Calling

Now since my last post you probably think that was the end of my trip.  But it wasn't!? I'm not sure if it was a blessing or a curse, but my flights home from Dublin were somehow switched all around leaving me with a 24 hour layover in London.  While I wasn't really excited about all this waiting, I decided that you of course can see a city in 24 hours!

Luckily I have a friend living in London that I was able to crash at her apt for the night.  I left Bray at 3:30 am, arrived in Dublin at 4:30am, and caught my 6:30am flight to London.  From there I dropped my things off at my friend's place and started my adventure of London.  Since I had had such amazing luck with the free walking tour in Dublin, I decided that I wanted to check out the same thing in London.  The site is http://www.neweuropetours.eu/.  They have walking tours in almost every big city in Europe.

I took the tube (which I am a pro at now) to the city center and met my group.  The walking tour was very interesting.  Essentially I learned that the English have been quite the barbaric group of people.  Between beheadings, burnings at the stake, torture sessions, and hangings they really get a kick out of seeing others suffer.  The tour took me through the standard royal buildings and areas of the city.  We went through a lot of the royal family's history and lineage.  One interesting fact that I didn't know was that the city of London is actually separate from the metropolis of London.  Like Rome, it has its own governing entities and is considered its own ceremonial county. But in all actuality this "city" is located smack dab in the middle of the metropolis of London.

My tour ended in a square by Westminster Abby and the London tower.  Afterwards I made my way around the area, looking at all of the beautiful architecture.  I saw the London Eye, Millenium Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, a outdoor christmas market along the river Thames, London Bridge, and the Tower of London.  By this time, my feet had about had it.  I hopped back onto the Tube and made my way to my sofa for the night.

Even though it was only 24 hours in London, I feel like I can honestly say I saw the bulk of the things that there are to see.  Now, looking back on the this little taste of London, I can honestly say, it is just another big city.  For some reason London didn't have a real cultural, unique feel like Dublin did.  It was beautiful, and I learned a lot, but I'm not sure if I would like to go back again.

Now onto the photos:

Big Ben. 

London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady! 

The Tube. 

Buckingham Palace. 

The oldest street lamps in London. 

Due to an overload in pictures, I will only be able to put a few up on my posts from now on.  So If you want to check out the bulk of my photos, check out my Facebook page! Cheerio!