Just outside of the Tower of London is Tower Hill, notorious for being the place many famous public executions were held. Henry VIII had his cousin Edward Stafford beheaded here and later Bishop John Fisher and Sir Thomas More were beheaded for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. Both men were canonized by the Catholic Church in 1935. Also beheaded here were Queen Anne Boleyn's brother George (along with four commoners implicated in Anne's downfall) and Lady Jane Grey's husband Guilford.
Remnants of a Roman wall
A very popular tourist attraction is taking a cruise down the Thames. Ours began near Tower Bridge.
City Hall has been compared variously to Darth Vader's helmet, a misshapen egg, a woodlouse and a motorcycle helmet.
Enjoying giving their feet a break
Passing under London Bridge. The current bridge opened on 17 March 1973 and is the latest in a succession of bridges to occupy the spot and claim the name. The previous London Bridge (dating from 1831) was dismantled, reconstructed at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and re-dedicated on 10 October 1971.
The Millennium Bridge is featured in
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, in which several of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters destroy the bridge as pedestrians scurry to safety. The film takes place in 1996 despite the bridge not being built then.
The bridge opened on 10th June 2000. Londoners nicknamed the bridge the Wobbly Bridge after participants in a special event to open the bridge (a charity walk on behalf of Save the Children) felt an unexpected (and, for some, uncomfortable) swaying motion on the first two days after the bridge opened. The bridge was closed later that day, and after two days of limited access the bridge was closed for almost two years while modifications were made to eliminate the wobble entirely. It was reopened in 2002.
The City of London School was where Daniel Radcliffe (and of course famous politicians, authors, scientists...etc.) attended high school. You can just see the dome of Saint Paul's Cathedral peeking over the roof.
Cleopatra's Needle is the popular name for each of three Ancient Egyptian obelisks re-erected in London, Paris, and New York City during the nineteenth century. Although the needles are genuine Ancient Egyptian obelisks, they are somewhat misnamed as they have no particular connection with Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and were already over a thousand years old in her lifetime.
The Palace of Westminster, built in the 19th century. Also known as the Houses of Parliament, is the seat of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster. Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock, but everyone calls the Tower itself Big Ben.
To give you some perspective on just how massive the clock tower is
The London Eye, the world's third tallest ferris wheel was opened to the public in 2000.
Once off the boat, the group strolled by Westminster Abbey. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English, later British and later still (and currently) monarchs of the Commonwealth Realms. An Abbey has existed on this site since the 7th century.
Here you can see the graves of most of the Kings and Queens of England (but not Henry VIII and only one of his wives, the German-born Anne of Cleves is buried here), but also famous authors, poets and thespians such as Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Laurence Olivier, and Alfred Lord Tennyson.
The Abbey in 1749
The Clock Tower with the London Eye in the background
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