This is the view from our hotel window, the spectacular Tower Bridge.

On arriving at our hotel: The Tower Hotel, we got settled in an enjoyed the Olympic spirit starting to permeate London (we arrived a week and a half before the Olympics began). Outside our hotel window is an amazing view of the Tower Bridge, adorned with the Olympic rings in honor of the London Olympic games. I wanted to go on a boat tour down the river Thames, and so my first day to explore I went on a ride down the river with City Cruises. These cruises are not truly “tours” as the guide makes it clear that he is not a tour guide, but part of the ship’s crew. Nevertheless, it is a tour in that the guide will point out the sights as we past by them on the river, and I enjoyed seeing the London riverside.

Big Ben

I traveled down to Westminster Abbey to start my trip down the river. The complete trip I made was from the Westminster Pier to Greenwich. I got off and walked around Greenwich, then traveled back to Westminster to see the other side of the river for photographs, then I rode back to Tower Pier to my hotel again.

Bridges of London

There were many interesting sights to see from the river, I’ll highlight a few of them. Please enjoy all my photographs in the gallery at the end of the post.

The Golden Hinde – a replica of the ship Sir Francis Drake used when circumnavigating the earth in 1580.

City Hall

Cleopatra’s Needle

House of Parliament and Big Ben

The Globe Theatre, built historically as it may have been during Shakespeare’s time.

The London Eye and County Hall and the Aquarium

The HMS Belfast – a battleship used in WWII to attack Normandy Beach, now a museum. Also, the new building which is still under construction behind, nicknamed “The Shard” is the tallest building in Europe.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London and the Traitors Gate, where prisoners were brought into the Tower of London.

Our hotel: The Tower Hotel

Greenwich

After floating down the river, I stopped in the village of Greenwich. Unfortunately, the observatory and where the GMT line is was closed to visitors in preparation for the Olympics, so I couldn’t see it. I did go by the Old Royal Naval College and into the museum. It was free and had some interesting things in it. Then I went back to the boat again and started for my temporary home.

All the Photos