It has rained all day today. Not driving rain just constant mist. We didn't get drenched, just made things slightly uncomfortable. First up we were off to Tower Bridge. We wandered through the massive structure and into the bowels. The views from the top deck were something to behold but the best part, for me anyway, was definitely the engine room. Built to harness the power of steam, the ingenuity of it was impressive and reasonably simple. Even though it used counterweights to manage the load the boilers were humungous.
We left there for the short trip down to HMS Belfast. She was one of Britain's flagships during WW2 and the first ship to fire a shot on D-day. An amazing piece of history it was impressive to see how sailors live. It is almost a shame that the era of big gunned ships is over. Today it is all about missile frigates and aircraft carriers but they will never match the glamour of these old ships.
After Jac had had enough we moved on to the design museum. I won't waste your time because it is 20 mins that we will never get back. Very happy we didn't have to pay.
From there it was the old operating theatre museum and herb garret. In the 1800's the place was used for public viewing of operations. No anesthetic really makes you appreciate the time we live in. The place was full of the instruments and herbs of the era. As scary as it is looking back you realize these people were the pioneers of medicine and we really do owe them a lot for discoveries leading to the quality of medical care we have now.
The Shakespeare Globe Theatre was up next. We went for a tour of the open air replica where they hold plays today. We will definitely get to see a performance during our next 2 years. I've never been into the whole Shakespeare thing but to learn why he wrote that way was interesting. His plays were written specifically for his theatre and the way he wrote had a lot to do with the fact that a fair few people watching could not see the actors. As such his plays were very focused on describing exactly what the actors were doing on stage. For example "is that a knife I see before me?" or "we should fight", "now we are fighting".
As most things are closed by about 5pm with the London pass Jac picked bowling. Upon the whipping she received she didn't really enjoy it. She gets a little frustrated when the ball doesn't stay out of the gutter. Needless to say by the end she is massively frustrated :)
After that we had a few free games at Namco video game parlor. It was near Westminster Bridge so we finally got some night shots of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
We are back at the hotel now with Jac's ankle very sore. I have given my diagnosis and it will probably have to come off at the knee. She's a tough kid though and will soldier on.