Free Day in London

On Tuesday, we had a free day to do whatever we wanted. First, a group of us went to see Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross station, to take some Harry Potter style pictures.

Then, Jennifer and I picked up tickets to see Avenue Q that same evening, and then went to the Tower of London. It was kind of expensive to get in (17 pounds-almost thirty dollars!) but well worth the cost. We walked around the gift shop for a bit and then went on a couple of really neat tours.

The first tour was of the White Tower, which is where the royal apartments were and also where this really neat chapel was. After that tour, we went on the yeoman's tour, which was led by this really awesome tour guide in this cool uniform, with whom I promptly decided to become besties. By that I mean I made Jennifer stand at the front of the group with me as I used ESP to communicate with this guard that we should take a picture together. He was hilarious and told really great stories about the Tower. In the end, I did indeed get not one, but two pictures with him (and a couple more of him...errrr). He also told me that he would catch me if I fell, which I thought was a good sign. I don't entirely remember the context of that statement but I can assure you that it was not as creepy as it sounds now.

Anyyyyywayyy after we went on that tour we saw the medieval palace part of the Tower and there were some re-creators there which was pretty cool to see, although not as interesting as my guard friend, of course.

the Tower Bridge

Once we left there, we went to Westminster Abbey for a tour, but it was closed already. Instead, we decided to attend their Evensong service at five. That was AMAZING. We sat in the choir stalls with all of the choir (older men and these little boys who sang the soprano and alto parts). We got to see an aspect of the abbey that I feel a lot of people, or tourists at least, don't really get to see.

After the Evensong service, Jennifer and I roamed around Chinatown and ate at the cheapest place we could find. Then we went to see Avenue Q, which was pretty hilarious but very very risque.