London: Tower of London/Globe Theater {Day 5}

{Day 5} London: Tower of London/Shakespeare's Globe Theater

Today was much quieter and slower than the last few days.  This morning, we all got up and went to the Tower of London.  We got there early since Sundays are apparently their busiest days.  The Tower itself was a castle where the monarchy was stationed for several hundred years before the days of Henry the VIII when it was a prison.  The crown jewels are housed there now and they were stunning (Britain has this thing about not letting you take pictures of their best parts...Buckingham Palace, the crown jewels...come on now, really?!?).  

We then broke off into pairs and spent the rest of the day leisurely exploring at our own paces.  Wesley and I walked down the Thames to Shakespeare's Globe Theater.  There are no tours after 11:30am...they have plays running all Sunday afternoon!  So, we did the next best thing...having a lovely traditional English meal at the Swan, which is right next door.  Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roasted potatoes, and delicious vegetables and gravy...I'm getting hungry again just typing this.  It was like Christmas Day...because it almost the same as what mom makes every year (We prefer mashed potatoes over roasted, of course!).  After lunch we headed back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day just resting.   Mom and Dad had a very similar lunch closer to the Tower and took a long walk down the Thames (apparently a much prettier walk than ours because the side they went down had a lot of historic buildings).  And, Kelsey and Issac headed to the National Portrait Gallery.

Tomorrow, we are taking a day trip with the London Walks tomorrow to Richmond to see Hampton Court!