A Week With My Brother

My brother was visiting last week and I was able to go to a lot of places I haven't been to yet. We packed a lot in to just one week! We started off with a trip to the Sky Garden and then went to the nearby St Dunstan in the East church. This beautiful church was heavily bombed during World War II and what is left of the church is now a public garden. 

Saturday night we attended the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. The red coat worn by the Yeoman Warder in the photo below has been worn by the guards at the Tower since the 1500s. We all really enjoyed the ceremony and would highly recommend it, especially since it is free. Unfortunately, the tickets are typically sold out six months in advance so we won't be able to get tickets for anyone coming in the next few months.  

Sunday morning, Jared and I went to St Paul's Cathedral during one of their services. Going on Sundays means you can't walk around or tour the inside but you also don't have to pay to get in. I am always impressed with this amazing building.

We had reservations Monday morning at Duck and Waffle. Jared got the Full Elvis and I got the Duck and Waffle. It was just as delicious as last time but was much easier to get to the restaurant (last time I went was during the tube strike).

After breakfast, we headed to the Tower of London and were there right as they were starting a parade to welcome a visiting navy. The Yeoman Warders closed the gates and called out "Who goes there?" and the visiting navy presented a cask of beer. Then they all marched back into the Tower. There was actually a lot more to it than that but these were the main points that I remember. 

We headed over to the Tower Bridge Experience where you can walk over a glass floor and look down at the cars on the bridge and the river below. I really liked going inside Tower Bridge since I love it so much from the outside. 

We happened to see Tower Bridge lifted while we were there. This isn't too rare as they lift it multiple times some days but I've never actually seen it before.

Another day we headed to Windsor Castle and I was excited to see the special exhibit about Queen Elizabeth's reign. She became the longest reigning monarch in England on September 9th and this exhibit was in a part of the castle that is normally off limits to tourists. 

We went on a guided tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and had a great guide. He was really knowledgeable but also quite funny. We went during a time when they were rehearsing for a new play so we couldn't take photos with actors on stage but he took us in a second time to get photos. 

Jared was interested in going to Camden Market so we headed there one day. We happened upon this group of buskers with a set up for photos at a tea party with the Mad Hatter. I haven't seen anything like this before and thought it was very clever. 

We ate lots of delicious food during his visit but one new place we tried was The Shed in Notting Hill. They do traditional British food and change their menu based on the season. We tried the chorizo with crisp bread, truffles, cider cheddar fondue, goat's cheese with hazelnuts, hake, and honeycomb with mascarpone. 

I had a great week hanging out with my brother in London. I can't believe how many cool things we happened upon by just being out in the city. The time went by really fast and I was sad to see him go. It is always so nice to have visitors and it encourages me to get out and do things I typically wouldn't do on my own.