Morning At Tower Bridge |

It’s a good thing this was my last full day in London since I’m exhausted and my legs hurt! 😀 Last night, other guests were extremely loud and traipsed up and down the stairs into the wee hours of the morning and then got up at the crack of dawn, so I didn’t get much sleep. I’m definitely ready to be in my own space again, and especially my own bathroom!

I spent some time on Google Maps last night trying to come up with an itinerary that would get me to Piccadilly for my 3:30 reservation for afternoon tea without spending a lot of time going between places and still allowing me to cross off a few things on my list of things I thought I might want to see while I’m here. I still had two big and expensive things left, the Tower of London and St. Paul’s. Having poked through ancient castles before, it was very easy to decide to just look at the exterior of the Tower of London. Plus, a fellow I met on the London Eye had told me that Tower Bridge, which should have been on my list, would be a great place to view St. Mary’s Axe/the Gherkin.

If I started my day at the Tower of London and ended it at Piccadilly, I could fit it in St. Paul’s and the Roman amphitheatre as they were right between the two points. So there was my plan for my last day!

To get to Tower Bridge, I rode the Bakerloo Line to Baker Street, then the Jubilee Line to London Bridge. There, I wandered around for a bit as the area was interesting.

The Shard rises above London Bridge Station.

This was an interesting foot path. Don’t want to misstep!

First glimpse of Tower Bridge.

The Gherkin at last!

A lot of folks think this is London Bridge, but it really is called the Tower Bridge.

The Tower of London.

Before crossing the bridge, I decided to explore this unusual street, Shad Thames.

So much history in these worn steps…

I think the Gherkin is rather beautiful…

I hadn’t had coffee or breakfast yet and was starting to get peckish. I passed this restaurant on the way to a café that looked promising.

Found a Café Rouge on the St. Katharine Dock and enjoyed breakfast while looking at the activity on the quay.

Pain aux raisins and an Americano count as breakfast when you’re on vacation and spending a lot of time on your feet! The pastry was not what I was expecting at all, but dang was it yummy! I was surprised when the bill came since the coffee was about £3 and the pastry about the same, but my bill was only £3.85 with the service charge. Must be a coffee and pastry deal. I’m trying not to freak out over prices (and doing a really good job of it), but that was appreciated.