Adventures by Disney - Emerald Isle - Pre-Adventure Day 2

London – Day Two

The next morning we were out front of our hotel at 9:00 am to meet the guide we hired for the next two days. If you go to London and take a tour with anybody other than a Blue Badge guide, you’re surely missing out. They are walking encyclopedias of all things having to do with the UK. The Blue Badge is “awarded by the Institute of Tourist Guiding, and is the highest guiding qualification in Britain. The training is detailed and comprehensive, the examinations rigorous and registration an achievement. It is possible that your guide has a university degree in guiding. These guides are highly suggested and were used during the London portion of the Adventures By Disney – Cities of Knights & Lights tour we took a few years ago.

Our guide, Russell, showed up right on time with one of the famous London black taxis to serve as our transport for the day, and we headed off for our first stop, Westminster Abby. When we arrived we learned that it was unexpectedly closed for the morning for a special service that hadn’t been announced ahead of time. Our guide did some quick thinking, and suggested we do a quick walk around the local area. He gave us tons of information on everything in the area, including the history of Whitehall Palace. The structure used to occupy all of the ground currently along Whitehall Street, and was one of Henry VIII’s many palaces. We also learned of the more recent history of many of the government buildings in the area, including 10 Downing Street (the residence of the Prime Minister- hence the ton of security in the pic below) and the War Department. Chris had loads of questions for him about World War II and Guy Fawkes and the Russell was just the guy to have around to answer them.

Parliament

Once we finished our circle tour we were able to move up our visit to Parliament. This was a particular treat because the company we used to contract Russell to guide us was able to use their contacts to get us in the back door (literally). We went thru the metal detectors and thru a few doors and found ourselves just outside the House of Lords room where we watched the procession pass thru carrying the Queen’s mace into the chambers. We then went up to the gallery where we were able to sit and watch the lords debate a number of issues of the day. From there we crossed over to the House of Commons side of the building and went into their chambers and watched them debate the matter of citizenship for members and families of the Brigade of Gurkhas .

Parliament is not in fact a building, but rather a body. The building is correctly known as the Palace of Westminster. Although it looks like it was built at the same time as Westminster Abby, it was in fact only built in the 1800s and designed to look like the Abby across the street. Between the street and the new building is Westminster Hall, which survived the fire which destroyed most of the original palace back in 1834. Westminster Hall is notable for being the place where in 23 August 1305 William Wallace was accused, tried, and dragged outside to be executed for treason against a country of which he was not a citizen. Unfortunately for Wallace, small details like citizenship were not of concern to King Edward.

Other trials that took place in the Hall include King Charles I at the end of the English Civil War, Sir Thomas More, and Guy Fawkes (“Remember, remember the fifth of November; The gunpowder, treason and plot”), a Catholic mercenary from York who tried to blow up the parliament, most of the Aristocracy, and King James I all in one revolutionary moment. Fawkes was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, quartered, pressed, starched, etc. He leapt from the hangman’s platform with the rope around his neck and broke his neck, avoiding the slow strangulation and disemboweling of his sentence. Smart guy.

Westminster Abby

By the time we finished with our parliamentary tour Westminster Abby had opened again. Unfortunately there are no pictures from within the Abby and to describe everything that is within would take weeks of writing and cost the lives of many digital trees. Suffice it to say that you can’t turn around without stepping on the grave of somebody famous, or bumping into the tomb of a king. Elizabeth I is buried right on top of her half sister Mary and you can reach out and touch history right in front of you. A long list of other Kings and Queens ended their tours here as well. In Poets corner rest the tombs of a veritable who’s who of English literature. If you ever visit here, plan to spend some time, and do a little research beforehand to so you don’t miss anything in this vast structure.

Lunch in a Pub

We left Westminster and headed for the Tower of London, but stopped first for lunch at the Lamb and Thistle pub. This is one of those great London finds hidden at the end of a no-cars lane. On the ground floor was a non-descript bar, but thru that and up a narrow stairway that I would never have found without our guide. It was another part of the pub where they also served a fantastic lunch – truly a hidden gem. After downing a plentiful serving of fish, chips, and mushy peas we continued on our way to the Tower.

Tower of London

The tower is still a working royal palace. It houses the crown jewels, and was used as a prison as late as during WWII. There is a common misconception that there were many executions at the tower, but in fact there were very few. Most of the people held at the tower who were executed were taken to the hill above the tower and executed in public. Only those of great privilege had the good fortune to be executed in private, within the walls of the tower. This includes two of Henry VIII’s wives (Anne and Catherine) who were both escorted onto the grounds by way of traitors gate.

Thanks to Showtime’s series The Tudors, I managed to catch the Henry VIII bug and really wanted to immerse myself in the real places where history was made, and of course the day did not disappoint. The Tower of London and other noteworthy sites are celebrating the 500Th Anniversary of the Kings accession to the throne, and this location had a vast array or Henry’s armor in the White Tower. This is one of the oldest buildings in the walls and is the location where they found the remains of the two murdered princes .

After the Tower visit we returned to our hotel to relax a bit before another full day tomorrow outside of the city.

Missed an entry? Here’s the link to the entire Emerald Isle Blog to date!

MouseFanTravel President Beci Mahnken is a veteran of 4 Adventures By Disney trips, more then 50 cruises including 18 with Disney and countless Walt Disney World and Disneyland adventures. Read her blog on the London and Paris Adventure by Disney. Here is her blog on the Backstage Magic Adventure!