We awoke with bittersweet feelings on our last day in London.  We loved it there.  Right around the corner from our place in Balham was a Starbucks, handy for getting the coffee to jumpstart our day.  I had misplaced my hat, and I thought to ask there.  Yay, providentially, they had it!  I would hate to lose my hat, it has been on many adventures with me.  By the way, not to worry – I patronized many local coffee shops as well, lol.

Coffee in hand, we hopped eagerly on the Tube to the London Bridge stop.  Our friend gave us a great tip about walking from there for a great view across the Thames.  It really was good advice.

After admiring the view and taking many pics, we set off to walk across Tower Bridge.  Just as we got across, they raised the bridge to allow a boat to pass.  Exciting!!  (and providential! Also hilarious was the guy taking a selfie in the middle of the bridge, and guards were yelling for him to notice he was the last pedestrian on the bridge – right in the middle at the break point, too – before he sprinted off. Good fun!  -Kim)

Kim had bought online tickets for the Tower of London, so after picking those up we were able to walk right in.  I remembered liking the Beefeater’s guided tour back in ’77, and once again it didn’t disappoint.  He was witty and informative.

We stood in the long line for the Crown Jewels, and walked a bit along the walls.

We had some time after that, and decided to take a cruise on the river.  From the Tower docks, it went as far down river as Greenwich, which we would have liked to see if we’d had another couple of days.  As it was, we stayed on the boat.  Some highlights were the Mayflower pub, affiliated with the ship that brought the Pilgrims to America, and another pub where Charles Dickens lived for awhile in the garrett (and the Cutty Sark, round the world record setting Clipper Ship –Kim).

In the financial district was a lot of new construction, which was interesting and quite a contrast to the antiquities we’d been looking at all week.  We rode the boat back up the river and got off at the stop for the London Eye.I was thankful we were able to get the tickets for the Eye, because I really wanted to ride it. There was a very long line, but it was so worth it!  In spite of its great height, there wasn’t much sense of movement and I wasn’t scared at all.  It was fun and fascinating to see the view and try to pick out the places we’d been to.

The biggest surprise came when we got off.  I recognized a young person standing nearby, and realized the Pepperdine group was there!  And suddenly there was Meridith with a big smile.  What a great little treat that was. They were just about to get on the London Eye, so the timing was again really providential.

After saying goodbye to the group we headed back to pack and sleep, as we had a 4:30 start next morning.  It was a fun and satisfying last day in London.