Today is England. We dock in Tilbury, but we're going to London.
Other events.
It's still called the London Cruise Terminal even though London is almost an hour away.
Many people will probably go to London.
One thing that's confusing with this stop is the time.
Because the ship didn't change its time to match local time.
Maybe it's because we're going back into the time zone we were in yesterday, but that also means if people get back to the ship by 6pm local time, that's actually 7pm ship time, and they'll be late. Seems like a bad idea.
Planning our route. It's a 20-minute walk to the train station.
Four minutes if we take the public bus.
But if you have to wait for the bus, it could be just as fast to walk.
Uber would be around 10 minutes for $10.
There are trains about every 20 minutes into London, which is nice.
The cruise terminal.
Us.
Close up on the name.
Pulling in the small rope.
To get the big rope.
It's pretty heavy.
But they got it secured.
There was a telehandler forklift on the dock.
They needed it to move this electrical box. First put the braces down.
The arm can go out a long ways.
Got it.
Release the braces.
And turn around to put it over there.
Another ship line.
The fence was in the way of this one.
Although just by a bit, so not a problem.
Heaving it up.
They have one gangway up.
But not the other.
And we're not touching the dock.
Strapping on the head cushion.
The second one is now on. We left the ship at 8:15 London time.
Walking into the port.
Mural.
A lot of tour buses.
And a lot of people walking to the train station.
Berries on the way.
Blueberries.
Raspberries.
Not too far.
We all had to run across the road at some point, but there wasn't much traffic.
Big crowd at the train station.
Everyone jamming through the doors.
Buying tickets. Good thing we had already bought them online.
Going through the stalls.
The trains are all on time. We're going to Fenchurch.
People asking the employee some questions.
He was very nice and helpful.
On the train.
There are bathrooms at each station along the way, but not much time to hop off and hop back on.
A happy mural.
Houses with small backyards.
In London. Nice taxi.
There was a lower area on the road here, and if the pedestrians weren't careful, they'd get splashed. Most cars slowed down, which greatly decreased the splash size, but not all of them.
The Tower of London.
First stop: bathroom.
Change is only for the toilet.
Only 50 cents.
You can use a credit card, too.
Ogii is happy to find a souvenir shop.
The Mayor's Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) is the cool round building across the river.
The Shard above the Tower of London. You can go up to the top, but it takes a long time.
We had to walk back north a bit to get to our tour bus stop.
Back past the splash area.
We took a hop-on, hop-off bus tour here because it's around a 10-mile round trip of everything we want to see, which is a bit far to walk, especially with a time limit.
The seats are a bit wet.
An extra map takes care of that.
We sat up on top so we had a better view. We have rain jackets just in case.
They have a whole box of earphones.
So you can plug in and listen to the guide.
It's in multiple languages.
Our planned route. Red hit most of the major sights, while blue goes much farther. Green is more limited and mostly goes north.
Stop on the red route.
All of the stops.
We headed west along the north side of the river.
The London Eye.
Cleopatra's Needle, erected in 1878.
War veteran memorials.
One for the Battle of Britain.
Big Ben.
The clock.
The spire.
Ogii and me with it.
The Houses of Parliament in Westminster.
Us with it.
From the other side.
Westminster Abbey.
The Houses of Parliament in one shot. It's huge.
Spires at the other end.
Mom and Dad with Westminster Abbey.
All of us with Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
Sculpture of Boadicea and Her Daughters.
From the front.
Crossing Westminster Bridge.
Lion and London Eye.
Looking back at Houses of Parliament from across the river.
With us.
Dad is prepared for rain.
Morton's Tower.
Crossing back across the river on Lambeth Bridge to the south.
Zoomed in a bit.
Westminster Abbey from the south.
Many large windows.
Many carvings.
Some guards.
At the back of Houses of Parliament.
Very tall.
Westminster Abbey from the east.
Statue of Richard I.
Me looking around.
Gargoyles.
Westminster Abbey from the west.
The building beside it.
A pillar which is a tribute to former pupils of Westminster School who died in the Crimean War 1854-1856 and the Indian Mutiny 1857-1858.
Westminster Cathedral.
Above the door.
Regent's Place shopping mall.
Someone inside waving at us.
Victoria Palace Theatre.
Ballerina sculpture on top.
The Clermont hotel.
More people got on and off at this stop.
What's all of these colored things on top of the bus stop?
Earphones from the tour buses.
English Tea Bus.
Nice little shops.
Embassies.
Statue of Sir Robert Grosvenor, First Marquess of Westminster.
Neat door.
Classic British telephone booths.
Hyde Park Corner.
Royal Artillery Memorial.
A worker on a roof.
He waved, too.
Plants all the way up the corner of the building.
The Green Park.
May Fair hotel.
The blue ovals write about someone famous who lived there.
Here's one.
And another.
Some expensive shops.
Interesting car.
Window washers.
Also waved at us.
As did this pedestrian.
Ritz Hotel.
Back to Hyde Park Corner with another view of the Royal Artillery Memorial and Wellington Arch.
The Angel of Peace descending on the Quadriga of War.
Bomber Command memorial.
Still Water statue.
Queen Elizabeth Gate.
Statue of Achilles.
People riding horses in Hyde Park.
Some more.
Joy of Life Fountain.
Animals In War Memorial.
Park Lane Island Tented Community.
Some traffic.
Real estate agency.
A castle for $2.5 million.
Expensive cars for sale.
Red buildings.
Modern and Contemporary Art Museum (MAMAC).
Many expensive stores around here.
Expensive cars.
Expensive watches.
Expensive jewelry.
Expensive bags.
Expensive clothes.
Expensive restaurant. I like the goat on the side of the wall.
I didn't know the East India Company was still around.
The t-shirts and sweat pants here are all over $100. I guess that's what happens when you're near Savile Row.
Hamley's Toy Store.
With a dancing princess.
Onto less expensive stores.
But still not cheap.
I thought we were going to be on the blue route, but I guess we ended up on the red one. That worked out OK, though, as there wasn't much else on the blue route, and it took another hour.
We're here now.
Dome at Piccadilly Circus.
Lots of magnets. Unfortunately this isn't a hop off location.
Eros (Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain).
Guards Crimean War Memorial.
His Majesty's Theatre.
Embassy of Kazakhstan.
A little ship on top.
National Gallery.
Lion sculptures at Trafalgar Square.
Fountains there.
Time to hop off for lunch.
Dad saw the Silver Cross restaurant.
It's been around since the 11th century.
The menu.
The back.
Downtairs.
Can be reserved for events.
Fish and chips.
Steak and ale pie.
Flat iron steak.
Cod sandwich.
All of us.
And a brownie for dessert.
Ogii found some magnets.
And pens and postcards.
Back on the bus and passing Whitehall.
The Royal Horse Guards.
The Women of World War II statue.
The Cenotaph war memorial.
King Charles Street Arch.
Closer.
Carving above the arch.
Back past the Palace of Westminster.
And Westminster Abbey.
One last shot of Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster.
With us.
Back across Westminster Bridge.
We're getting close to done; only a few more stops.
Nice sculptures.
Lyceum Tavern.
STK Steakhouse.
Waldorf Hotel.
Tina at the Aldwych Theater.
London School of Economics and Political Science.
These dragons mark the boundaries of the City of London.
Were were very lucky today; no rain. Although the clouds ahead look dark.
Sion Hall.
Stained glass.
The former City of London School, now used by JP Morgan, has multiple sculptures near the top.
Francis Bacon.
Drawing and Music.
Shakespeare.
Classics and Poetry.
John Milton.
Sacred History and Ancient History.
Isaac Newton.
Chemistry and Mechanics.
Dark clouds ahead.
College of Arms.
Little ship.
Old and new.
Crossing London Bridge.
Tower Bridge to the east.
Cannon Street Railway Bridge to the west.
Cool buildings.
Ogii is ready for the rain.
Here it comes.
Everyone else ran downstairs.
But we are fine with our raincoats.
Especially because Tower Bridge is next.
A few other people ran up to get pictures.
Under one arch.
Between arches.
The top.
Under another arch.
There are two upper walkways you can go on, too.
Looking west.
A video of crossing the bridge.
Back to the Tower of London.
All done.
I didn't know our bus driver has a camera to see the top.
I got a picture of this family...
... in front of the Tower of London.
Time to use up all of our leftover British pounds.
On snacks for the train ride back to the ship.
We want the middle one to Tilbury Town.
We ended up in a quiet zone.
Fields.
And small towns.
They really don't want people climbing that.
This guy had a lot of rings.
All of the other cruise ship passengers got off here, too.
Up and over the bridge.
We took a shuttle bus back to the ship.
There it is.
These people really like towel animals.
In our safe: cash, jewelry, and toilet paper.
Ogii and Mom got a lot of magnets and post cards.
Dinner in Los Lobos.
Cow skull carving.
And with beads.
There were a few people drinking at the small bar there.
I'm ready to order.
The menu.
Chips and salsa.
Tortilla soup.
Fish.
Carne asada.
Us.
The other side of the fish still had the skin. Ogii thought it would be funny if it were about to eat a piece of steak.
And a plantain.
Churros for dessert.
I had ordered a Coke and we didn't have the drink package, so that cost me $4.20.
But the rest of the meal was covered by one of our free dinners.