Time to see London! Up, eat, get ready, and out the door by 10. The first thing on my list of things to see is the London Bridge. Taking the DLR to the London Bridge station, the first thing I see out of the station is the London Bridge Experience and the London Tombs. Sure! Why not! It looks pretty fun! I go up to the kiosk and out it’s all about the gruesome history of the London Bridge, and the London Tombs is a horror maze that has won ‘Best Scary Tourist Attraction’ four years in a row.
I leave the lineup with tickets in hand, I’m asked to wait from a couple of other people because they don’t know where they’re going. I don’t either but I don’t want them to get lost on their own. I wait for them then my party becomes three. We find the entrance not too far from where we bought our tickets. Talking with another, I find out that they’re from Taiwan. The guy is here studying history at the University of London and the lady has flown in to spend Christmas with him.
Going through the London Bridge Experience, I learned about its construction during the Roman days, that London was originally a Roman settlement, the destruction of the bridge by Olaf the Viking King, the great fire of 1666, and the reopening of the bridge by Queen Elizabeth II. After the tour of the London Bridge came the London Tombs. It started off with us walking into a rickety mine shaft elevator and then it ‘going down.’ Once at the ‘bottom’ of the shaft, it was definitely creepy. Dark area, dimly lit pathway, voices coming out of the darkness saying ‘Help’ and ‘Stay out of the shadows.’ So far so great! And it’s only the beginning! I won’t spoil too much. The entire experience reminded me of a bunch of horror video games (Metro 2033 for one) and a bunch of horror movies (Friday the 13th for one). If you visit London, DO THIS!!!
After all of that, I walk across the London Bridge. I always thought this was the bridge with the two towers and all the cables. Nope. That one is the Tower Bridge, the next one to the East. Once across, I was getting pretty hungry so I popped into a pub and got a burger and fries with a Christmas pint. Then another pint.
Belly happy, I come across the monument dedicated to the 1666 first that burned for 3-days and destroyed a good part of London. After taking a few pictures, I walk around to the other side and see that there is a way inside. I can go in and climb to the top. How hard can 202-feet worth of stairs in a tight circling staircase be? Quite the challenge foe an out-of-shape guy actually! I wasn’t going to let the tower beat me so I climbed the whole way with no stops. At the top, it was quite the view of the city. After taking a few pictures and a bit of a breather, I make my way down. At the bottom, I’m given a card stating that I have climbed the 311 steps to the top of the Monument. I tell them thanks and not to do the climb after lunch and two pints. They chuckle and say that I’ve worked off lunch now.
Right near the Monument is the London Tower. Contrary to the name, it’s more like a castle than a tower. Since it was 3:30 and the tower closes at 4:30, I decided that this will be a tomorrow adventure. Also the hike up and down the Monument did a number to my knee and hip, yet my hour hike in Iceland with my backpack on did not. So I just walk along the waterfront, get a cup of beer nuts, cross the bridge, checkout a shopping centre, tour the city some more, then make my way back to the apartment.
Getting in at 7, I decided to wash all the rest of my clothes. The sulphur smell from Iceland’s water was still in them. That took me until 9:30. Played some video games afterwards, I called it a night at 11.