Around London

We set the alarm for 7:00 am. Today is for exploring London's Christmas markets. After getting ready we left for the Caffè Nero. We walked to the bus, but it was the wrong stop. The driver said up and to the right. We waited for a different bus towards London Bridge. When we departed the bus, our first stop was to walk along the Queen's Walk, which runs along the banks of the Thames. There were a number of Christmas stalls with some nice items for sale. While walking along, you see many iconic London sights: Tower Bridge, Tower of London, HMS Belfast to name a few.

For something different, we decided to get on a water taxi to go down the Thames a bit. When we got off, we walked and saw Cleopatra's Needle. The lamp posts along the path had fish swimming around the bottom of them.

Covent Garden was next. This is always a fun place to visit, and it is decked out in Christmas decorations. Found some fun t-shirts.

After that, we walked and found Trafalgar Square. The Christmas tree was tall and spindly. We saw the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben). The last time we were here it was still being renovated, but now the scaffolding is down. Went into the National Gallery. After that we passed through Leicester Square and saw the bronze statues in the park. Then we crossed the Golden Jubliee Bridge on our way over towards the London Eye where we would have our tour of the Christmas lights in London via bus.

The Christmas lights and decorations hanging over the streets and from the buildings was amazing. We had a small detour during our bus tour, as one of the streets that were supposed to take was blocked off by people celebrating the Portugal win in the World Cup. Cars were everywhere, and blowing their horns.

We walked back to the hotel after a really great day in London.