Yesterday was the second day-trip into London. Here are some highlights, and the pictures have been posted on the Gallery.

Short List: Financial District, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Globe Theater, Millennium Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, The George Inn, Royal Courts of Justice

Extended Thoughts:
Financial District – I had to get off the Tube here because the train line we were trying to use to get to the Tower of London was shut down. It was a Saturday , and the whole area was very quiet.
Tower of London – A complex of buildings revolving around the White Tower, a fortress built by William the Conqueror in 1078. I didn’t go in because the tours cost a fortune, although I might go back. It’s been used for all sorts of things, including “a place of execution and torture, an armoury, a treasury, a zoo, a mint, a public records office, an observatory, and since 1303, the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom” (Wikipedia). It’s also home to a random tennis court, which was built in the moat that surrounds the complex.
Tower Bridge – This is what most Americans know as “London Bridge”. London Bridge is actually a smaller, less awesome bridge upstream from Tower Bridge. I got to the bridge right before a boat was passing through, so I took a few shots of the bridge up (along with the throngs of other tourists there). I also went up to the observation decks that connect the two towers together. Unfortunately, the sun ducked behind some clouds while I was up there, but it was still a beautiful site.
Globe Theater – Shakespeare and a few of his actor friends formed a company that invested a bunch of money into a playhouse to be build on the Thames. In 1613, the place went up in flames after a stage cannon sparked a fire during a performance. In 1989, the discovered the remains in an archeological dig and in 1997 they built a replica of it near the same site.
Millennium Bridge – As a correction to my first day-trip, what I reported as the Millennium Bridge last week was NOT the Millennium Bridge. This week, I went on the actual Millennium Bridge.
St. Paul’s Cathedral – HUGE cathedral built in the 17th Century. Famous for surviving The Blitz (bombing of the UK by Germany during World War II).
The George Inn – See Sidebar on food review.
Royal Courts of Justice – Home to the High Court of Justice. It was already after sunset, so I didn’t go in.

Sidebar: The George Inn
My flatmate and I walked literally for miles trying to find a pub that both served food and had sports on. We found plenty of pubs that had games on, but were only serving drinks, and we passed a ton of restaurants along the way. Finally, we found a place on The Strand (a road in Central London) called The George Inn, and it had food and TV, but all the TVs had some game show on, and the Rugby World Cup match for that evening didn’t start for a few hours. We were very hungry though, so we decided to deal with it and eat there. It’s a typical pub, except that it was a much older building and had a rustic old-world feel to it. I don’t remember the exact address, but it’s located on The Strand near the Royal Courts of Justice.

And it’s delicious. I decided to get chicken parm (does that surprise anyone?) and it was amazing. The piece of chicken was perfectly cooked, and was very tender inside. It was topped by a sauce that was chunkier than I prefer in my sauces, but the flavor of it was very robust and the tomato bits had a much sweeter taste than what I’ve had in typical sauces. Layered on top of the sauce was a slice of ham and a thick helping of melted mozzarella cheese. The whole thing was placed on a bed of thick-cut french fries and accompanied by a simple side salad of sprouts and cucumber slices with balsamic dressing. If that doesn’t make you hungry, then you don’t have a stomach. Or you’re a vegan.

After that fun day, I went back to my flat in Ealing and watched Rubgy at the pub near me. All in all, a great day