The rest of Day 2 in London......the 2015 Gainor European Tour (Part 2)

Well we'll just finish the rest of our first full day in London still traveling on the tour bus.  Once we got the first seats......the picture opportunities were amazing.

 This was us crossing the Tower Bridge.  This was an amazing bridge and the views were awesome!

As we crossed the Tower Bridge, the London Tower was the next site on the left and our first time to hop off the bus.  However, before any sightseeing could ensue.......we had to eat.  We were looking for traditional England food and found a nice place across the street.

This was our choice.  It was close.  It was convenient.  And it looked like a classic London place to eat.  Not sure of the history of the place, but it looked like we were in an old subway tunnel.  In fact, as you were eating you could hear the trains running underneath you.  Loved the place.

 And what did we order.  Hunter's Chicken (here is the menu description: Topped with streaky bacon, melting mozzarella, Cheddar, spring onions and BBQ sauce) and Bangers and Mash (Cumberland sausages with mashed potatoes and a red wine gravy).  OMG......both were delicious!

Ok.....so now our stomachs were nice and full and it was time to go and visit London Tower.  Just a little history:  London Tower was a Royal Palace and fortress a long, long time ago.  It was a prison for Sir Walter Raleigh  and has several prominent people buried in the chapel (Anne Boelyn).  You can opt to have a tour by a real Beefeater who tends to and lives on the property.  And that's what we decided to do.  This guy was a blast.....we enjoyed his tour so much and of course there were so many pictures to take.

The Crown Jewels were located here.  They sure do have a lot of diamonds

and other fine gems in those crowns!

 

 

An impressive place to visit and quite a history to go along with it. 

 

 This is a magnificent looking bridge......The Tower Bridge

 

It was a windy day, but after it had rained all morning.....

you can see how gorgeous of a day it turned out to be.

Love this picture of us with that awesome bridge in the background!

 

After touring the London Tower, we were at the right place for us to catch the boat for the river tour.  However, because it was getting late and we had evening theater plans.....we opted for an ice cream snack and hopped in The Tube for our ride back to the hotel to freshen up.

 

Earlier in the morning when we were waiting for our tour bus, we had bought theater tickets for that evening and the next evening.  This way, we already knew our plans for the night.

 

Paul picked this play for our first night entertainment.

 

 

The theater was the Gielgud Theater and was about a block down the street from our hotel.  Since we were early for the show, we stopped in at a pub next door and downed a couple of local beers and then off to the show!

This is probably the most beautiful theater we have ever been it. 

 

 

Here we are before the play begain.  We had great seats, however, after watching the first half......we escaped at intermission.  We just weren't feeling this show, so we thought we'd scope out the area and find us someplace to eat. 

 

The decision was made for Chinese, since our hotel was right across the street from Chinatown.  Interesting walking along and looking at all the ducks hanging in the windows from all the little tiny restaurants.

 

 

We opted for Gerrard's Chinese restaurant and feasted upon some food that we had never had before. 

 

 

We spent the next couple of hours walking around the streets exploring.  Found a couple of casinos and walked through them, but most of them were table games and the slots were a little different than what we are used to. 

 

Since it was getting a little late, we stopped and bought a couple of beers from the corner grocer and went to the room.  After all, we had another whole day of fun to be had in London!

 

We sure did see a lot of stuff today........what an awesome adventure!