LAST DAY IN LONDON!

On my last day before leaving London I decided to take a quick morning tour of The London Tower, since that was the last thing I hadn't done yet that had been recommended! The castle was amazing, as well as the JEWELS of course! WOW! I was especially enamored with the coronation sceptre!

The Royal Sceptre of Great Britain.

If I remember the date correctly, the wall behind me was erected in the 1020s.

That's the same wall in the background of this picture.


It was kind of fun seeing this incredibly old structure, and then seeing something so new and gleaming just over the wall!

This was one of my favorite towers! I love the brickwork, and the windows, and of course the ivy that has made a very long journey up the side!

I also loved being able to get such a good view of Tower Bridge from the tower walk on the side facing the Thames.

And of course, I couldn't resist including a pic with one of my favorite buildings in the background! :)

And an even better view of Tower Bridge from here...only by this time, I was running late, trying to get back to class by mid-afternoon.

While I really do love all the old buildings in London, sometimes I can stand at just the right spot, and all I see is 2009!

Time to sprint back to the tube station to try to make it to class in time! I was 5 minutes late! Not too bad, considering!

That night, another classmate and I managed to snag some tickets to see As You Like It from the group of Honor's College students that came on this trip as well. I was not familiar with Shakespeare until recently, and had seen a PBS presentation of this play earlier in the year, so I was very thrilled to be seeing it in person, let alone IN SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE THEATRE! I was concerned at the previously warned of simplicity, but was quite entertained throughout the whole play! :) I may become a Shakespeare fan after all!

And then there was London at night! Soooo beautiful! I almost wished I had made it out more in the evenings, but then it was soooo cold, and we had been so busy with homework and other sight-seeing that by the time the typical show is over (10pm), I was very ready to just be home snuggled in bed! :)