We arrived on Sunday afternoon, settled into our hotel in Bloomsbury, then walked 10 minutes to the Holborn Dining Room for dinner. We both had chicken pie.

Monday morning was the Easter Monday public holiday so G didn’t have to work. We went to Victoria House Coffee and Food which was around the corner from our hotel and had a yummy cooked breakfast with eggs, halloumi, tomatoes, mushrooms and a small salad with a chai latte. It was pretty popular, but they were able to squeeze us in (literally, the tables are very close together) and we made sure we booked for the Thursday morning when G was going to be back in London. Since this was only one of two mornings G would have to sightsee in London we decided to visit the Tower of London.

We bought our tickets online in the morning once we knew what time we would be able to get there. There was a queue to get in and it was very busy inside but had read a couple of posts that suggested seeing the Crown Jewels first then coming back to join a tour. I wasn’t sure whether this would work for us because we entered about 30 mins after opening but we went to have a look and there was no queue so we went inside. The jewels really are spectacular. The size of the diamonds in some of the pieces are ridiculous. Although we had no queue outside there were still plenty of people inside, but we were able to get up nice and close to the displays. No photos allowed though!

Afterwards we went and joined a Yeoman Warden Tour which is included in the entry price. Our Yeoman guide was the youngest current Yeoman Warden, and a woman. She lives there with her husband and 5 year old son. The tour was great and I consider it a must do when visiting.

The tour lasts for 45 minutes. Afterwards we went in the WhiteTower. The oldest part of the complex. The Royal Armouries are inside, with royal armour of several kings, as well as horse armour and the execution block and axe. Once I saw the axe they used I understood why so many executions required multiple blows.

Once we finished looking at the displays we had a bit more of a wander around. We went up onto the walls, saw the ravens and as we passed the Crown Jewels were very thankful we’d gone earlier because the queues filled up the barriers.

We spent about 2.5 hours visiting the Tower of London. Once outside G and I parted ways. G was going back to the hotel to pack up and head out to the airport where he was picking up a hire car so he could get an early start the next morning visiting clients. They are all scattered through various industrial areas in England, which is why I chose to remain in London. Meanwhile I decided to walk along the river for a bit on my way to St Paul’s Cathedral. Once in the cathedral I decided to join a free tour which was starting in 10 mins. These are run by volunteers and it seemed like the guides had some discretion to pick some of the things that interested them to talk about, but covered a fair amount of ground. I thought it was well worth my time. There is also free audio guides if you prefer instead.

The tour only covered the ground floor of the cathedral but afterwards I went down to the crypt and up to the galleries. I went all the way to the Golden Gallery which is 528 steps. My legs certainly knew about it the next day, but the views were phenomenal. It was fairly late in the afternoon by this time so I decided to rest my legs and hangout for Evensong at 5 pm. It was OK, I felt like the organ and choir weren’t quite as impressive as in some churches I’ve been in, although they have different invited choirs all the time so it would vary.

I decided to have dinner at Bao in Soho and they had a special menu for single diners—Classic Bao, Guinea Fowl Rice, Fried Chicken, Peanut Milk and Baozhong Tea. I enjoyed this. The surprise was the peanut milk which I’d never had before. It was really yummy and I’ll definitely have it again if I see it. With my tummy full it was time to get back to the hotel and get some sleep.

Steps: 26,926