BEYOND THE
  THEME PARKS

Water Parks
Blizzard Beach FAQ
Typhoon Lagoon FAQ

Downtown
Disney
Marketplace
Pleasure Island
-- Adventurers Club
West Side
-- Cirque du Soleil
-- DisneyQuest

Disney's Boardwalk
   and Epcot
   Resort Area
Introduction
Dining
Entertainment
Shopping

Tours
Descriptions and
  Reviews
Rate and Review

Sports-Related
   Activities
Fishing Excursions
Golf
Miniature Golf
--Fantasia Gardens
--Winter Summerland
Parasailing
Richard Petty Driving
   Experience
Running/Jogging Trails
Surfing Class at
   Typhoon Lagoon
Wide World of Sports
   (WWoS)

Disney
   Vacation Club

Disney
   Cruise Line

Community/
Gatherings
Sharing the Magic
--Meet Others in the Parks

MouseFest

MagicMeets

Other Fun Things
Audience
   Participation
Birthday Ideas: Adults
Birthday Ideas: Kids
Carriage Rides
Collecting Character
   Autographs
Grand Floridian
   Adventures for
   Kids
Hidden Mickeys
Overlooked
   Attractions
Photography
--Film Tips
--Digital Tips
--Videotaping Tips
Pin Trading Guide
Pixies at WDW!
Pressed Penny &
   Quarter Guide
Scrapbooking Magic!
Specialty Cruises
--IllumiNations
   Breathless/Pontoon
--Resort Park Cruises

Writers' Corner
Behind the Ears
Meet the Authors

AllEars.Net
   Feature Writers
-- Anita Answer
-- Debra Martin Koma
-- Brian Martsolf
-- Josh Olive
-- Michelle Scribner-MacLean
-- Mike Scopa
-- Jack Spence
-- Amy Warren Stoll

Orlando Area
    Information
Character Warehouse
   Outlet
Directions from
   Airport
Grocery Stores
Ground  Transportation
Orlando Area Outlets
Radio/TV Stations
Religious Services
Telephone Numbers

Disney is now offering a variety of unique vacation experiences with a little sprinkle of pixie dust, Adventures by Disney. Chris and Beci Mahnken, owners of MouseFanTravel.com are currently experiencing the Adventure of a lifetime… An Adventure By Disney to London & Paris! For more information about upcoming Adventure By Disney itineraries, visit: MouseFanTravel.com.

Day 1, October 6, London
Day 2, October 7, London
Day 3, October 8, London
Day 4, October 9, London to Paris
Day 5, October 10, Paris
Day 6, October 11, Paris
Day 7, October 12, Paris

**********

Day 3 - Royal Treatment

Day three (is it already day 3??) Before we jump in, a few observations. First, I have to point out that London is not an inexpensive city. As a matter of fact, London and Paris are frequently rated as the most expensive cities on the planet for travel so it really helps you appreciate the value of what you get for the money you spend on the Adventures By Disney package. Most of the meals are covered as are the ground transportation and admission to the scheduled activities. However you still have to wrestle with some of the extras like….. internet access. I know it's not easy, but if you can manage to leave the laptop at home and truly enjoy your vacation you can save the $30 per 24 hour charge at many hotels. OUCH! If you want to keep in touch for emergencies, check with your cell phone company and ask if you are or can be enabled for European travel. They discourage use of cell phones while touring but you can check messages and even text without any difficulties on some of the major carriers.

Our day started with a quick drive over to "the city". Turns out that most of what we think of as London is actually the city of West Minster. London proper is quite small and is mostly just the financial district, running from St. Paul's Cathedral in the west to the tower of London in the East.

Today the coach dropped us off right at the border between Westminster and London, and we walked up the gentile hill to St. Paul's Cathedral. They were doing a bit of cleaning on it round the side, but the front had already been polished up, and it hasn't looked this good since Christopher Wren finished it back in 1708. We didn't have an opportunity to enter St. Paul's as it was Sunday and services were being held, but it's certainly a must do if you have the opportunity. As a bit of an aside, the steps on the left side of the cathedral picture above are famous to Mouse Fans as the location of the "Feed the Birds" number in Mary Poppins. Its also the location of the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981.

From the cathedral it is a short walk down the hill to the Millennium Bridge - The newest bridge across the river Thames. (pronounced: temz) It's a pedestrian only bridge and has some wonderful views up and down the river, as well as back toward the city and St. Paul's. When it was first finished and opened, the foot traffic caused it to wobble back and forth so violently that with more than just a few people on it the shaking was so bad people could barely stand up. The designer pointed out that there was no problem with his bridge, people just didn't walk right. The bridge was closed after three days and two years later re-opened, sans-wobble.

Once across the bridge we walked east along what is known as Bankside, past the Globe Theatre. Back in 1599 thru 1644 the Globe was the site of Shakespeare's first run plays. It was destroyed in a fire once during that time, and rebuilt on the same spot. Eventually it was torn down by Puritans. The current theatre sits about 200 meters up river from the location of the original. The design follows as closely as possible that of the original.

Just south of the Globe our coach was waiting and we climbed back on and drove west to the London Eye. A very impressive Ferris wheel no doubt. During the summer months, the line just to get on can be as long as 3 hours or more, stretching back to where this picture was taken. The line was less oppressive today, but still, we got to skip it. Disney works its magic once again we were able to use a sort of "FastPass" line. Each capsule on the wheel can hold up to 25 people. We had a private capsule with just 16 in ours and it was quite easy to move around. The views are outstanding in all directions, and in particular there are great views of the halls of Parliament and the north bank of the Thames.

After the wheel made its way around 360 vertical degrees we walked around to the back of its complex and boarded a Thames river cruise. The cruise headed down river from Parliament to the Tower of London. The river was quite low, the tide being out, but the river still being fresh water. When the tide comes in the fresh water down river is pushed back up the river to London, so London never sees salt water, though it is built only feet above the high tide line of the North Sea.

Once we got off the tour boat we walked up a short promenade and entered just above the now bricked up Traitor's Gate. The White Tower was built in 1078 but the complex now consists of several buildings, centered around the White Tower. Just north of the White tower is the building holding the crown jewels. The prize of the jewels is the Great Star of Africa diamond at the top of the royal scepter. Weighing in at about a billion carats (actually just 530 or so), it's perfectly clear and about the size of a kiwi fruit, or a very large plum. Truly this is a massive and massively impressive diamond. You can also view various crowns including the small crown worn by Queen Victoria, the crown worn by the Queen Mother and St Edwards crown made in 1661 and used mainly for coronations.

There are also dedications to the seven people executed inside the tower grounds and several museums. You can tour the Bloody Tower where Sir Walter Raleigh was held captive, and where the two prince nephews of Richard III were murdered around 1483, handing the throne to Richard. Their bodies were found under a staircase in the white tower in 1674 and re-buried in Westminster Abbey. People sometimes report hearing children playing late at night in the white tower. Its October… had to toss in a ghost story... Or hey two!! Of the 7 people who were executed there 5 were women and most on the orders of Good old King Henry VIII. What a guy… anyway - Most notably, he basically grew tired of his queen and ordered Anne Boleyn executed in 1536. Folks have reported seeing her walk the halls holding her head.

Notably absent from the official list of tower executions are anybody who was not royalty. Traditionally non-royals were taken up to tower hill to be executed, as was the case with Thomas More, and Guy Fawkes. However, during the world wars, at least 12 German spies were executed within the tower grounds. The final execution, on August 15, 1941 was that of the German spy Josef Jakobs.

We were particularly blessed while touring the grounds to be with Steve, our local guide, as we had just our group of 16, and as a prestigious Blue-Badge Guide of London, he knows everything, or can find it out with a quick phone call to the appropriate friend. Only the Blue-Badge guides are allowed to guide in the tower grounds, everybody else must take the official tours which are lead by the very capable Beefeater guards. Unfortunately, they lead tours of large groups of people, so Steve was a particular blessing. The people facing the camera in this shot were part of our exclusive group, and in the background you will see the massive group of folks on the general tour. We still got to see the beefeaters and hear their tales, but we were privately escorted about and it was a real treat! Again, the a true testament to the Disney difference!

When we finished at the Tower grounds, our guides provided a voucher for lunch and we had a quick bite at the New Armory building on the grounds. After lunch we were give an afternoon out on our own to explore as we wanted so we went up to the Tower Hill tube stop to start our free afternoon in London. We took the underground west to the South Kensington stop on our way to the Victory and Albert Museum. There are two exits to every station, and we invariably pick the wrong one. The difference is usually a few blocks in the right or wrong direction. As always, we chose wrong this time and we ended up in a confusing warren of streets whose names didn't show up on our tourist grade map. A quick check of the location of the sun led us to the north to the museum. Chris never get lost, and when he does (which I've already pointed out never happens lol…) He easily gets unlost.

The V&A is known by some as Great Britain's Attic, because it's got a bit of everything, and the collections sometimes feel a bit like they came out of an attic someplace. We spent some considerable time in a display of popular clothing ranging from 1500 to 2004. The '70s by the way, still look ridiculous.

Our final stop for the day was Harrods. Really, I can't convey the size of this place. In Seattle we have what we consider to be a fairly gigantic mall called Bellevue Square. Harrods has much more in what seems to be a much larger space. Room after room of everything you can think of, ranging from furniture to electronics, to games, to clothing and accessories and food. It's an astounding display of shopping, and I get tired just thinking about walking thru it.

We did find the spot Beci was looking for. The memorial to Diana and the owner of Harrod's son Doti who died together in Paris that August night in 1997. It's a quiet spot tucked away with flowers, pictures of the two, a wine glass from their final evening and a beautiful diamond ring said to have been intended as an offering of marriage, purchased the day before their tragic end.
After that full day Beci went back to the hotel to try and catch up on the time change, and Chris went with several others from our group to The Prince of Wales pub for a pint of biter and a pie. Chris is a big fan of English pub food, and this was a nice casual dinner.

And oh ya… we got another exclusive Adventures by Disney PIN!!

Tomorrow, Camden and our Transfer to Paris.