The Concert

Last night we attended the Surbiton Royal British Legion Youth Marching Band concert, which my relatives play in. It was such a great event to see such a vast range of young people participating and enjoying themselves.

The Surbiton Royal British Legion Youth Marching Band

Yazmin Sinclair

 Jamie Sinclair

Ross Millard

Tower Bridge

There is an exhibition in the top of Tower Bridge and as this is the most well known bridge in the world (even if by the incorrect name, it isn't London Bridge) we had to see it.

The exhibition covers all aspects of the bridge, why the bridge was required, requirements of the bridge construction and now how the use of the bridge has evolved into a tourist attraction.

It was also great to see so many different school groups attending and learning about this bridge and also other famous bridges throughout the world.

As the Thames River was also at low tide we also spotted a man scavenging for items along the shore.

The Exhibition is in the upper area of the bridge and provides great views both east and west.

Katie up high in the Exhibition

Looking west with The Shard (the highest building in Europe) on the left hand side

The final part of the Exhibition was looking through the old steam driven machinery on the south side that raised and lowered the bridge.

Down in the Machinery room

Katie with the Tower of London on the left and Tower Bridge on the right, in the rain.

Tower of London

There is no point me trying to sum up the history at the Tower of London, so I won't even try. Our time at this place was wonderful, we were able to see some of the history we have both only been reading about over the years.

We were able to see the crown jewels and if I recall correctly Katie did say
she would love to take them, but wouldn't as that would be stealing.  I didn't tell her that there was about an inch of glass she would need to get through, the many guards, security cameras and who knows what else.

We were unable to take any pictures inside the vault which is a shame, the photo below was taken from http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/crownjewels and is Katie's favourite. If you see her wearing it then she has gone back on her word and broken into the vault.

We also saw the ravens on the grounds and thankfully they were all on site and healthy.

We explored the site and the many towers and the many stories inside. It is truly a great place.

London Eye

Sometimes i wonder where the names come from for new attractions, and the London eye is one.  The first thing I think is back before my time would the term London Eye have meant anything?

Would the name have once been an optometrists business, a newspaper who knows, I don't.

We visited the London Eye today by chance really.
Originally we planned to use our London pass and ride the London ferry included in the ticket, but when we arrived to redeem, the ticket master advised the specific boat was not running as the Thames was on high tide.

We figured at this point we would go on the London Eye again. Last time we had our wonderful local guide Norma back in 2010. This time however we just had our little map and some new touch screens (Samsung Galaxy tablets).

The timing for us was just brilliant, last time it was daylight, however this time we had sunset and then dark.

Many photos were taken, here are some.