LONDON prt 5

If you go to London you cannot miss London Tower and Tower Bridge. I had SO MUCH FUN visiting London Tower, aka an old fort/castle which has had a history for housing important prisoners like Sir Walter Raleigh and Anne Boleyn. It's known now for not only it's older history, but for being the home to the Crown Jewels. If you want to see real bejeweled crowns, scepters, tiaras, rings, necklaces, and tableware then you want to visit London Tower. Poking around by myself with my map was fun, I fortunately got there right when it opened, before the groups of tourists arrived, but it was better getting an hour long tour from a beefeater. This older gentleman in a long black, red-trimmed coat and top hat led us around to various spots inside the fort walls, telling us gruesome stories and giving us a general history of the place. He was really witty and very personable which made his anecdotes and history lessons all the more interesting and entertaining. I only got to spend a few hours at London Tower, when really an entire day would have been ideal.

In order to cross from one side of Tower Bridge to the other, I took the bridge tour high up in the air on the enclosed pedestrian walkway. It was a cool little exhibition and tour covering the history of the bridge with some general information about the surrounding area of London and the Thames. I don't suppose there was much to see aside from the beautiful cityscape views to either side, but I thought it was money very well paid!

Before we move on to the two theatre performances I saw, I'd like to mention a few other random things:
Fish and Chips aka fried fish and french fries with a side of green peas is very yummy! I quite liked it the once time I had it while in London.
 Scones (pronounced Scon like con but with an 's' before it) are varied in shape, texture, and flavor BUT they are always delicious. Equally worth the time and money is the hot chocolate and the tea in London.
 The Cadbury Mcflurries from MacDonald's are to die for...and probably should have been avoided for the sake of my waistline. Really, though those Mcflurries are scrumptious!

 Ross suggested Indian food, and while I was nervous to figure out Indian food by myself since I've had it all of 3 times in my life, I tried a little place near Piccadilly Circus. The waiter picked out my food and drink which were both fantastic! If I go back to London I'll be eating at the same little place.                                           

I've been missing typical food fare from the states, so when Ross also suggested the Texas Embassy Cantina (aka texmex restaurant) I had to check it out. Besides the Indian food dinner, the other three dinners I had in London were all had at this place and it was SO AWESOME! One night I even caught March Madness on their television at the bar. Sitting there with my texmex, my salsa & chips, and my strawberry margarita, I felt like I was back in America. IT WAS GREAT !!!

I even ducked into Starbucks a couple of times while touring the city. How could I bear to stay away from the caffinated, sweet, chocolaty mochas? They certainly don't have Starbucks here in Toulouse after all!