Glorious Monday!
News Flash of the Day: The London Heathrow airport was closed since yesterday.
The original plan for Monday was to head for the free Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge tour.
We had to head to Victoria Station Bus Terminal to go on the tour.
Taking the train in the morning.
Since this wasn't the Piccadilly line, it wasn't that crowded.
We took some wrong turns but finally arrived at the terminal late.
The gate was empty.
I freaked out but when we asked the lady, apparently the trip was canceled due to the closure of the highways!
Like I said in my earlier post, the weather ruined some of my plans but it was ok as lady luck was kinda shining on us throughout the trip.
The lady explained that we can re-schedule for the next day and they even offered free pick-up at our hotel in the morning.
Also, another gentlemen asked what our plans were since the trip was canceled.
We said that we would head to Tower of London which was Tuesday's plan since we might go on the day tour the next day (and we were returning on Wednesday).
They offered a free ride to the Tower of London on their bus tour..wee~
Thank you Lucky Stars!!!!
Actually they offered us the full half day tour on the bus and a boat ride but we declined.
10 Downing Street!
Finally caught the gates from the bus.
The bus we took. =)
This is not London Bridge but Tower Bridge =)
A common misunderstanding amongst many travelers.
FYI, there's also a Tower Bridge in California.
Currently, Tower Bridge is undergoing re-painting.
There's a Tower Bridge Experience you can go for but we didn't due to lack of time.
This photo was taken around 9am.
A little brighter.
You can see the snow fall behind.
It was another very cold day.
Heading into the Tower of London.
The Tower of London was probably infamous for being a prison with many deaths inside.
But before that, this was actually a castle (White Tower) built by William the Conqueror in 1078.
The Tower was expanded over the years to what it was today.
Yeoman Warder telling us interesting stories within the Tower.
In the past, traitors were literally dragged out of the Tower and beheaded in a compound.
Their heads will be put on sticks and displayed near London Bridge as a warning to others with their bodies dragged back to the Tower.
One of the stories that the Yeoman Warder told us was one of the previous royalty who was beheaded already had the head stitched back to the body as the royal portrait of that royalty has not been painted.
Like what we see in movies, there are always struggle for power within a country and even children perish due to the power struggle.
Isn't he tall?!
I got a shock when I stood next to him
Ma and I look like dwarves next to him!!
So, these Yeoman Warders or known as Beefeaters have served in the military services and gotten the good service award for at least 10 years.
They also have to commit to staying within the Tower compound as part of their contract.
He suggested at the end of the tour why they were known as 'Beefeaters'.
The probable reason was that during the early ages, beef was a premium food which commoners do not get to eat.
However, the royalty will usually have beef on their tables and sometimes the beef are thought to be given to these warders thus the commoners gave them the name of 'beefeaters'.
There's also another legend which people here will come to hear of.
Charles II was told that if ravens left the Tower, the kingdom and fortress would fall meaning the end of royalty.
So, to prevent that from happening, there's a raven corner in the compound where these ravens are taken care of and fed by Ravenmasters!
White Tower.
Beside the White Tower was the Waterloo Block which displayed the Crown Jewls.
No photos was allowed inside but it was a real eye opener to see the crowns and regalia.
The bling bling was BLING BLING!!!
Inside the White Tower was the display of royal armour.
The original layout of the Tower.
We headed out to the cold to find food..
This was the interesting one.
Turkey with some sort of bread.
The bread was nice but I think it was deep fried.
Outside Tower of London.
Headed to Oxford Street to do some shopping!!
Eh, too busy shopping so no photos other than this one which I look super spastic!!
Came dinner time and we cabbed down to Bayswater to try the roast duck as recommended by Renzze!
We couldn't get into Gold Mine so we went to Four Seasons instead.
It was really packed too!!
We waited close to 20 minutes before getting a table.
The layout of the restuarant was really weird as the take away counter and the waiting area is all at the door.
So, if you head there to try the food, check with the waitress to see how many people are in front of you if you see a mass of people gathering at the door.
That's normal!
I was famished after all the shopping!!!
Fried Wanton and vegetables.
Fishball soup.
Duck Rice.
Some people call it roast goose but from the menu it's roast duck.
The portion was HUGE!!!
I only managed to finish 1/3 of the rice and maybe 3/4 of the duck meat.
If you are going, please share!
I took the breast meat and it was not tough or dry.
Fatty and oily but certainly worth a try since it is really different from Singapore's duck. =)
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