Dublin and London for Business

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Saturday, 1 October 2011 - Started the day at the famous Portobello Road antique market browsing stalls and jewelry, then took an open-air tour bus around London seeing highlights like the Tower of London and its Crown Jewels, rode a boat up the Thames past Tower Bridge and the London Eye, walked around Westminster with views of Big Ben and Palace of Westminster, and finished with a relaxing stroll through Hyde Park.

uk2011 — Today started off with a visit to Portobello Road - which Virginia Ann read was a fantastic antique market. And it did not disappoint - wow. There were many, many little stalls with great antique jewelry. Virginia Ann was in heaven - and found a gift for her cousin.

uk2011 — The official street sign - the roads are so hard to navigate. This is a pretty big sign - but it is off the corner of the road so it is hard to see. A lack of streetlights due to roundabouts does not leave any room for overhead signs.

uk2011 — Thank goodness we did not stay at the Gate Hotel - only a few blocks from the market on Portobello Road.

uk2011 — We then jumped on a tour bus - open air - to see the city. This picture was taken on the bus - and I think it was from one of the large arches around town.

The bus tour was great - but a little confusing with all the various routes. You need to do some research before hopping on.

uk2011 — We hopped off the tour bus at the Tower of London. This is a view from the moat up on one of the Beauchamp Tower on the inner wall - there are two walls protecting the Castle and a moat. From here the defenders shot down on attackers - see the little archer up there?

It is here we joined a tour being given by a fully decked out Beefeater - or the official name for the guards - "Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman of the Guard Extraordinary" - who are all former senior NCOs of the armed forces.

uk2011 — The White Tower - which really is not a tower but a castle. The White Tower is a keep, which was often the strongest structure in a medieval castle, and, in this case, contained lodgings suitable for the king.

Of course, we also toured the Crown Jewels which are stored and on display in the Waterloo Barracks.

uk2011 — The top of one of the towers of the White Tower. Kind of confusing. It would be nice if the White Tower was the White Castle - football vs. soccer. Beautiful weather vanes adorn the tops of the towers.

uk2011 — The Tower of London is guarded by the Queen's Guard as it is an official royal residence. Also, the army has responsibility for protecting the Crown Jewels.

We did not know it at this time, but after a visit to the museum of the Queen's Guard, we would learn to identify the various units by the number of buttons in a cluster. On this soldier there are clusters of two meaning he belongs to the second unit to be named to the Queen's Guard - or Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards.

uk2011 — After the Tower of London (Castle of London) we made our way to the docks next to the Tower and boarded a boat for a trip up the Thames River to Westminster.

One of the towers of the Tower Bridge. The bridge consists of two towers tied together at the upper level by two horizontal walkways, designed to withstand the horizontal forces exerted by the suspended sections of the bridge on the landward sides of the towers.

uk2011 — The Tower Bridge from a boat on the Thames River. We were lucky to see the bridge open to allow a boat through.

The bridge is 800 feet in length with two towers each 213 feet high, built on piers. The central span of 200 feet between the towers is split in two and can be raised to an angle of 83 degrees to allow river traffic to pass.

uk2011 — Near the Tower Bridge is the MHS Belfast. HMS Belfast is a museum ship, originally a Royal Navy light cruiser, permanently moored in London on the River Thames and operated by the Imperial War Museum.

Construction of Belfast, the first Royal Navy ship to be named after the capital city of Northern Ireland, began in December 1936. She was launched on St Patrick's Day, 17 March 1938.

uk2011 — The London Aquarium from the Thames River.

uk2011 — The London Farris Wheel - or I guess it is called the London Eye. The red bucket is a special 'chair' for the sponsor of the Eye.

uk2011 — From the farris wheel we walked across the Westminster Bridge to walk around Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey.

Big Ben was getting a lot of attention - must have had its photo taken 100 times while we stood there. Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster, and is generally extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well. It is the largest four faced chiming clock and the third-tallest freestanding clock tower in the world. It celebrated its 150th anniversary on 31 May 2009.

uk2011 — Palace of Westminster with Big Ben on the far right. Westminster is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom - the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The first royal palace was built on the site in the eleventh century, and Westminster was the primary London residence of the Kings of England until a fire destroyed much of the complex in 1512. After that, it served as the home of Parliament.

uk2011 — Virginia Ann wanted to end the day by walking through Hyde Park so we headed that way on the subway - we were getting pretty good zipping from one location to another on the 'tube'.

This is Wellington Arch George IV both planned The arch in 1825 to commemorate Britain's victories in the Napoleonic Wars. The status is that of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, a soldier and Prime Minister.

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