Touring with Tom and Colette

I’ve known Tom and Colette since I was five years old! They were in London on the weekend, stopping through on their way to Ireland, so we met up with them on Sunday for some touring through London.

Our first stop was The London Eye. The last time we took a flight on the ginormous ferris wheel was when we popped over to London to surprise Team BaM.

Of course, we enjoyed our flight back then, but we had absolutely no idea what we were looking at; so it was great to see it with a fresh perspective on everything! Being equipped with a larger zoom lens was also quite helpful – this shot shows Buckingham Palace, and as you may have guessed, my work building as well (which overlooks the palace’s back gardens).

Next up was the iconic Tower Bridge. At only six pounds for a great view over the Thames, plus a short history of how the bridge was built, it really was fantastic value. Still, they must have had something against empty corridors, as there was also a rather strange floor exhibit which showed various articles from the Victorian era. Partially interesting, sure, but it really didn’t fit in with the rest of the place!

One of the highlights at London Bridge had to be the engine room. Now, my Dad would have thought the same thing, as he no doubt would have been fascinated with the machinery required to raise and lower the roads. But for us, it was the face-hole thingy just before the gift shop. Knowing full well that Julian and Shelley have quite the penchant for face-hole thingys, we had to oblige them by stepping up to the plate.

Needless to say, Tower Bridge has now stepped well up on Team Lewis’ things to do in London.

After grabbing some lunch (a Sunday roast at the pub, of course!) we hit our final attraction: The Tower of London. It seems like quite a mish-mash of things to see and do – full of history, prisoners, and executions, but also the storage vault for the crown jewels! I tells ya, there is a lot of money’s worth of stuff there, including the Sceptre with the Cross, which is set with one of the world’s largest diamonds – 530.2 carrots carats! Photography was strictly prohibited inside the vault, so unfortunately, nothing to show except a photo of these guards that were patrolling the joint.

We finished off our day of touring with dinner at Fire and Stone. I had the New York which was excellent, and probably my new second favourite after the Capetown.

It was wonderful to see Tom and Colette in London, and I think they enjoyed their day as much as we did. Now, if only they could convince their kids – each of whom has an Irish passport – to make the jump from Brissie…