Daily Life in Italy: British Museum and Tower Bridge

We started our day at the British Museum. This museum is considered by many to the the greatest chronicle of cililization anywhere.

One of the great things about the National museums in England is, they are all free. They do ask for donations, but there is no admission charge, except for special exhibitions. Some of the most popular sections of the museum are the Egyptian, Assyrian and ancient Greek sections.

Roman Mosaics

Clock

Brandon tells us about the exibits

The Crystal Skull. No sign of Indiana Jones though

The inner courtyard of the museum is under a wonderul glass canopy.

We really enjoyed this museum, but were a little overwhelmed. Like the Lourve in Paris, this museum is huge and has so much to see. I would really recommend breaking this museum into sections and do bits of it on different days.

We had a very nice lunch at a Thai restaurant just down the street from the museum. One of the great things about London is the variety of Asian and other ethnic foods.

After lunch we made our way down to the River Thames for a boat ride. We started near Big Ben and ended our ride near the Tower Bridge.

The London Eye

Big Ben, the clock tower (315 ft high) is named for its 13-ton bell.

County Hall

Shakespeare's Globe. This is a replica of the original Globe theater.

HMS Belfast, the last big-gun warship of WWII.

City Hall, designed by Sir Norman Foster.

30 St Mary Axe, designed by the same architect as a similiar building in Barcelona, Torre Agbar.

London Tower has served as a castle in wartime, a king's residence in peace time, and a prison and execution site for rebels.

Tower Bridge

We paid to see the museum inside the Tower Bridge, built in 1894. People often mistake the name of the Tower Bridge by calling it the London Bridge, which is actually a different bridge just down the river.

An elevator whisks visitors to the top of one tower where you can watch a short film about the history of the bridge. You can walk across the upper observation decks and see fantastic views of the city and the river. On the opposite side of the river, you can tour through the Victorian engine room that controls the lifting of the bridge. This bridge lifts for ships approximately 1000 times a year.

View from the top.

WC for gearheads?

Engine Room

It was close to dinner time, so we walked along the River Thames until we found Cote Brasserie, a French restaurant. It was fabulous. Very tasty!

NO PICTURES!

We wanted to see Piccadilly Circus, London's most touristy square. It is indeed a very busy intersection and square. You can reach many of the famous West End theaters from here, as well as very cheesy touristy places like Ripley's Believe It or Not. We took a few pictures and walked to Trafalgar Square. From there we hopped on the Underground back to Tower Bridge for some night photos.