London, Day Three

As I mentioned in my last England post, our last day in London started bright and early at the place it had ended the night before: the Tower of London. We spent the majority of the day there, but after a late lunch we headed next door to Tower Bridge. I love the view of the city from the top of Tower Bridge, and walking along the glass floor gives such a different perspective. It's one of my favorite views--not to mention getting to see the inner workings of the bridge. We bought a combo ticket that included the Monument to the Great Fire as well, so afterwards we walked along the south bank and back up to the Monument for another view. 

Unlike Tower Bridge, which has an elevator, there's no easy way to get to the top of the Monument: it's 311 steps to the top, 202 feet above the ground. It's not a fun climb, but you're rewarded with spectacular views, relatively few people, and a certificate of achievement once you make it back down. There are no shortage of opportunities for beautiful views of the city in London, but the Monument is one that doesn't get the attention it deserves, in my opinion. Even though my legs felt like jello when we were done, it was well worth it.  

After we left the Monument, we headed to the original Twinings store on the Strand. I'm a huge tea drinker, so of course I had to make a pilgrimage to the birthplace of Earl Grey. :) I was basically in heaven--they will brew any tea you want to try and are an absolute wealth of information. For instance, I learned that the teas they ship to the US are different than the ones they sell in the UK, even if the label is the same--so the Twinings English Breakfast tea on US supermarket shelves is different from the Twinings English Breakfast you can buy in England. I've always heard the stereotype that Americans make terrible tea; turns out that's at least in part because we can't get the good stuff over here! :) 

After Twinings, we grabbed dinner at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and headed back to Whitechapel. We ended up turning in a bit early because we had to be up early to head to St. Pancras + catch a train to Canterbury. Looking over these photos again has me so excited to head back to London this spring; it really is just the most amazing city and I fall more and more in love with it every time I go--maybe someday I just won't come back. :)