#SwaninLondon - Day Five

So on this day I had planned to wake up early to catch a bus tour out to Stonehenge and watch the sunrise. It was not the typical ticket to go see Stonehenge, but an exclusive one that took you up to the stones as the sun dawned on the day. I thought this would have been the perfect opportunity to capture some amazing pictures. I’ve heard that this place gives you chills at points. 

But alas, I slept through my alarms. I was horrified! I woke up and was jolted out of bed trying to figure out if I could salvage the situation. The bus left at 5am and it was 8:50am… My stomach sank. I had missed the chance to see Stonehenge. The drive on the bus was going to be a 2-3 hour trek, so there was no chance I could even meet them there. I started crying. Of course something had to go wrong on this trip.

After being upset, I decided to turn this loss into a win. I went back to bed and slept in then opened my notebook of all the locations in London that I wrote down to visit. I knew I wouldn’t have time for all of them on my trip, but I’m glad I kept it around for a clear day like this day. I chose to go back towards Tower Bridge and visit the Tower of London.

One of the beefeaters gave a tour and gave a hung long history lesson. He joked at the Americans saying “I’m going to use words that you might not understand, like “history.” I laughed, but the more the tour went on the more I understood how much I did not know the word. We have nothing as old as the places and events that occurred there. It was incredible.

Interestingly enough, the Beefeaters, or the Royal Guard, actually live at the Tower and help guard the Crown Jewels.

YES. The Royal Jewels that the Kings and Queens of England have worn and held. Whoa. Just amazing that they have been highly guarded since the 1600s. I got to go in a see them, but why would you think I could take pictures of them? They were really spectacular and worth seeing.

Then, of course, I roamed around London some more and just HAD to take pictures of Big Ben again. I mean, I was only going to be in this city for a few more days before I left for Scotland. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. This country is beautiful.