Kathleen's Blog: Day 54 Dover, England

July 12

Today we arrived in Dover. We took a bus to London which took about two hours. There wasn't much to see on our journey to London via a highway. We arrived just outside the Tower of London, where we were lucky enough to see the Tower Bridge open. We took a 40 minute cruise tour on the Thames River, followed by a ride on the London Eye. After lunch, we went to Westminster Abbey.

I will have to go back to London one day, there is so much more to see. I would also like to visit the villages in the country. When you have four hours of travel time, you are very limited in what you can do in a day.

We hoped Kate would have her baby the day we were there. She didn't.

White Cliffs of Dover. You can just see Dover Castle, its origins in Roman and Saxon citadels, but it was William the Conqueror who strengthened the walls and towers to create a major fortress. King Henry II rebuilt it (1168-74). Tunnels and secret chambers were burrowed underneath into the cliffs.

White Cliffs of Dover. Dover became the headquarters for the Normandy invasion in WWII.

Tower of London. In the 11th century, William the Conqueror began the construction as a royal palace. During the middle ages it became London's fortress, with a royal prison and the site of executions. Home to the Crown Jewels and the Beefeater guards. Many prisoners were executed here, amoungst them were Sir Thomas More, Lady Jane Grey, and two of Henry VIII's Queens, Anne Boleyn and Katharine Howard.

Tower of London. In Edward I's time (1272-1307), the fortified gate towers were defended by archers. There were drawbridges that spanned the water-filled moat. When archaeologists excavated the drawbridge pit and Lion Tower in 1936 they found skulls of medieval lions over 600 years old.

Tower of London. At one time the Tower of London served as a mint. Even today, monarchs begin their coronation ritual at the Tower, then through the city, and finish at Westminster Abbey. The Yeoman Warder guards aka Beefeaters, have worn the same dress for 500 years. I didn't see one today.

Tower Bridge.

Tower Bridge was opened in 1894 and is 61 metres long. The drawbridge took about 90 seconds to open.

The Shard (tall building). HMS Belfast (the large ship), first launched in 1938 and has seen active war in World War II and the Korean War. It has served as a museum since October 1971.

I think this is the Hay Galleria, the place where deliveries were received from all over the world.

I'm under the London Bridge like a common troll.

The London Bridge was the first stone bridge built in London in 1176, the old nursery rhyme "London Bridge is falling down" refers to the old wooden structures which used to be in its place.

The Golden Hinde (the boat in between the buildings) is a replica of the galleon which Sir Francis Drake sailed around the world in during the 16th century.

Southwark Bridge.

Globe Theatre (white building). The Globe Theatre is a reconstruction of the original. The original globe was pulled down in 1644, the site where Shakespeare became so popular with many of his plays.

Millenium Bridge is the 330 metre long pedestrian bridge, linking St Paul's to Tate Modern art gallery.

It is known as the wobbly bridge, because it had to be closed to add stabilisers to stop the bridge from swaying.

You can see the dome of St Paul's Cathedral. The cathedral was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and took 35 years to build. The dome at the top is the second largest in the world after St Peter's in the Vatican, Rome. In the crypt you can find Sir Winston Churchill and Sir Christopher Wren, but they won't say much.

Somerset House.

Cleopatra's Needle (just in front of the tree line) has two sphinxes facing the needle on each side. This is over 3,500 years old and was sent as a gift after Lord Nelsons victory at the Battle of the Nile. The needle didn't arrive until after 1878.

Whitehall Court.

Charing Cross Station.

London Eye.

Country Hall. We had lunch in this building.

Parliamentary Offices (dark building on the left).

Elizabeth Tower with the Big Ben Clock.

Westminster Bridge and Houses of Parliament.

We lined up for the London Eye, had bags thoroughly checked, they even use mirrors to check under the seats on each pod.

There is the other half of my tour group.

The panoramic view starting on the right, facing the Thames. On the bottom right hand corner of the picture is Waterloo Station.

Next in sequence heading anticlockwise.

You can see Buckingham Palace in this shot. You might see it in the distance, the lone building amoungst the parkland. The building on the Thames, with the pale green roof, is the Ministry of Defence.

Westminster Bridge, Houses of Parliament, Elizabeth Tower with the Big Ben Clock. You can just see a part of Westminster Abbey behind the Houses of Parliment.

Other side of the Thames.

The roundish building is the Westminster Park Plaza. Behind the plaza are the train lines coming into Waterloo Station.

Country Hall, where we had lunch somewhere inside.

Lunch room.

Trafalgar Square. Can't see much in this photo from the bus.

Mounted guard. Can't remember what this place is, but there were a lot of people there as we passed.

The kids would like this tour vehicle.

Lady with super long hair.

Out and about.

Methodist Central Hall. Little black London cab.

Westminster Abbey. The most important rituals of the realm take place here. The Abbey has been the setting for coronations since 1066, the coronation chair is inside. The Abbey is the final resting place for Kings, Queens, famous political, scientific and literary greats of centuries past.

Westminster Abbey holds the state funerals and royal weddings. Winston Churchill had his funeral here, however when asked if he wanted to be buried here, he refused stating that he would not get along with some of the people already resting here.

The entrance we used to enter the Abbey. We had very little time in the Abbey, I wanted to see the tombs of the Kings and Queens, but we missed out this time.