The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge

We had a rainy day when we went to the Tower of London.... but we couldn't let a little rain (sometimes a lot of rain) stop us from seeing this famous landmark.  Right in the middle of the city of London, there sits the Tower of London....... just amazing.  Right next to it is Tower Bridge, which is just beautiful, and very ornate... standing outside on the sidewalk, you didn't know where to look first.... but no matter where you looked from that point, the views were unbelievable.

We walked into about 4 or 5 of the towers within the complex there.... saw the Crown Jewels, which are in glass display cases.... we ooohed and aaahed over them three times... after the moving walkway in front of those cases takes you from one end to the other, you can re-trace your steps to see both sides of all the historic crowns and jewels. Absolutely breath-taking.... we looked at them all three times...... and then moved on to the display cases holding the silver and gold items that are used for coronations and ceremonies.

One of the towers is filled with weapons and shields, and metal armour used by the soldiers, knights, and even the horses. Guns and cannons and equipment for torture.... it's all there in the towers.  Lots of steps, most of which are uneven, so you have to be careful as you walk to the upper floors in the towers.  I kept touching the walls, wondering whose hands had touched those same spots in the centuries and centuries before London was a tourist destination.

There was a beautiful cafe in one of the towers, and we had lunch there. The food was presented so nicely, everything fresh and hand-made, and served on real china with real forks and knives... no plastic plates and forks and paper cups in any of the London cafes, no matter where we stopped to eat.

The rain went from a drizzle to a downpour, so we left the Tower grounds, but stopped at Southwark Cathedral.... it's 1000 years old, and still open to the public for services. There are tombs within the church grounds, dating back to the 1500s and 1600s.

Under the London Bridge (just a bridge for cars, and definitely not ornate in design like the Tower Bridge).... we found the Borough Market... an outdoor market filled with mostly food vendors..... fresh and home-made foods that looked delicious (representing every country you can think of)... but we had eaten lunch at the cafe within The Tower complex.   We did buy some chocolates (handmade) from one of the vendors and saved them for later on in the day.

The banking district of London had a small clock museum on the ground floor of one of their buildings.... we stopped there and looked at all the clocks and pocket-watches... an amazing collection, and free to anyone who wants a look-see.

We had dinner that night at an Italian cafe in Holland Park (near Notting Hill) called Mr. Pumpernink's..... wonderful little cafe, its owner originally from New York..... he moved to London 40 years ago and opened the cafe........ and they have the best pizza we've had since we moved out of NY twenty years ago.  The manager of the cafe was very nice, we could see our pizza being made, the waitress was very sweet when she brought my teapot on a small tray with the little pitcher of milk..... we felt like it was home, back in NY, and we had dinner there quite a bit during our stay.  Every time we walked in, the cafe manager seemed both happy and surprised to see us again. By the time we left London, we felt like we were saying goodbye to old friends in that cafe.  We knew we would never find pizza so delicious once we got back to the States, unless the plane stopped in NY first.

We also discovered a French pastry cafe (a patisserie) called "Paul."  Delicious home-made pastry and cakes, rolls and breads, cookies and sweets of all kinds... everything freshly made, presented so nicely on pretty plates..... and of course the tea was delicious.  We usually had dessert and tea there at night, sitting at the tiny tables and talking about the day's adventures and just enjoying the tea and the atmosphere.