Day 3: London

12/29/10
We just got back to the hotel from a pub in Leicester Square that was straight out of a scene from a movie. It was packed, the line to the bar was about 5 rows deep of thirsty (mostly) locals. As we were waiting to order a pint the guy in front of us (pretty intoxicated) turned around and just started chatting with us.We have found just about EVERYONE to be extremely friendly in London, it's great.  When he realized we were from America he said, "Do you guys like Will Smith? I love the Fresh Prince!" Then he broke into the whole theme song and by the end had me singing along and banging on the bar with him to the beat of the song. It was quite funny, and so random. As we were singing the Fresh Prince theme song there was a group of guys in the corner chanting and clapping to their own song as they slammed flagons of beer (working on my lingo). It reminded us of the pub scenes from the movie "Green Street Hooligans" where they chant the West Ham United rally song. These guys went on all night, we even tried to sneak a video of it. We had such a blast we are thinking about coming back for another night or two before we fly home.
Today we toured the London Tower and walked across the Tower Bridge. Once at the tower we headed straight for the Crown Jewels. Yup, that's right, we saw the kings jewels. The most impressive was the worlds largest diamond, The Star of Africa, that sat on the end of the Sovereign's Sceptor. The diamond is 530 carats and is roughly the size of my fist. Wow. As you're waiting to see the Crown Jewels there are videos of the jewels up close and in action. There was a video of the current queens coronation as well as photographs of the Jewels being used in passed coronations. I look forward to someday watching the coronation of Prince William, knowing that we have seen those treasures up close and in person, as well as stood in the church where it will all take place. I definitely have a new found interest in the royal family and the centuries of tradition. After checking out the royal shimmers we took a tour of the whole tower led by a "Beefeater." He was very amusing and had a way of making us laugh even when telling the bloody, torturous history of the tower. We saw where the beheadings took place and visited the "bloody tower" where most of the torture took place. Lesson learned: don't ever piss off the royal family.
We have an early flight to Paris in the morning so we decided to end the party a little early. London has been wonderful and I think we got to do all the things we set out to do. Marcus even got his tri-fecta of English staples: fish & chips, meat pie, and bangers & mash. I think I've had my fill of fried food, though it's quite delicious, and am looking forward to the french cuisine. Mmmm crepes, cheese, croissants... I can't wait!