20260331 Viking Vela Northern Lights and British Isles - Day 16/32

Viking Vela In Search of the Northern Lights and British Isles Explorer Cruise Day 16/32 – London, England, United Kingdom - Bussing around the city

St. Paul's

I took a look from the balcony this morning and noticed quite a change in the landscape.

Those pilings under the terminal were completely exposed - the tide had gone out on the Thames

The Thames is a tidal river, so when the tide in the ocean changes, so does the Thames, up to 23 feet twice daily. To get a sense of how much it went out, check out these photos.

This is the area where we walked yesterday, and Arlona touched the Thames, just a few steps from the vegetation - look at the building with the red side and graffiti below

Here is a closer look - look at the two orange cones below the graffiti

Arlona's footprints are still there

It was an early morning for us because our tour, the included tour, Iconic London, departed promptly at 8:00 am. We boarded bus #5 and started our five-hour tour. The trip to London took about an hour, so that meant today was really a three-hour bus tour of London with an hour on each end to get from/to the ship.

This was our third time in London. We spent a few days here back in 2015 on the front end of a Royal Caribbean Mediterranean cruise. We visited again in 2022, toward the end of our Viking world cruise. We've seen most of the sights we saw again today, but it was still an interesting tour with an entertaining guide.

Tilbury is London's largest and most active port. There is a huge Hyundai vehicle distribution center at the port. We weren't surprised to see this just outside the port.

A huge Amazon warehouse was just outside the port, receiving all the goods coming in by ship

A monument dedicated to sporting heroes, featuring sculptures of figures such as England manager Sir Alf Ramsey

Church of St George in the East, located in Wapping

The former Mint building, now sold to the Chinese for an embassy

London has an amazing blend of architecture

Tower Bridge

The Tower of London

Tower Bridge

A view of the Thames

H.M.S. Belfast

Crossing Tower Bridge

Southwark Cathedral

The start of our walk around St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's dome is a London landmark

Nearby was a sculpture called "Nail"

Yup - looks like a nail

Nail and St. Paul's

Royal Courts of Justice

Crossing the Thames with the London Eye in view

More of the skyline

London nicknames many of the buildings, like the Walkie-Talkie, the Scalpel, the Cheese Grater, and so on

Somerset House and iconic double-decker buses - many are now electric

Zimbabwe House - the Zimbabwe embassy

A Scottish restaurant - Mc-something - I didn't catch the name

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square

Horse Guards, a historic building in London that serves as the headquarters of the Household Cavalry

Monument to the Women of World War II

The gated entrance to Downing Street in London, which houses the official residences of the British Prime Minister

An iconic London phone booth - some do still work

Methodist Central Hall in the City of Westminster

Westminster Abbey

38 of the 40 monarchs since William the Conqueror in 1066 have been coronated here - only Edward V and Edward VIII were not

Another view of Methodist Central Hall

This inscription was near the entrance to Westminster Abbey

Ornate fencing around Westminster with Elizabeth Tower, home of Big Ben, in the background

Westminster Scholars War Memorial

Renovations are being done at Westminster for a new entrance

The Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London, specifically featuring the statues of modern martyrs installed in 1998

The new entry will be called The King Charles III Sacristy

Middlesex Guildhall in Westminster, London, which currently houses the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

Another view of Westminster Abbey

Elizabeth Tower - Big Ben is actually the name of the massive bell that chimes the hour

Parliament Square, featuring Elizabeth Tower and the Houses of Parliament in the background

Statue of Millicent Garrett Fawcett in Parliament Square - she campaigned for women's voting rights

There was a huge line of folks to get their photo by this phone box because you could see Elizabeth Tower as well - the ultimate London Instagram moment

Abraham Lincoln Statue located in Parliament Square

Horse Guards Parade in London, a ceremonial ground that serves as the entrance to St James's Park

Horses were out

 Approaching the Victoria Memorial and Buckingham Palace on The Mall in London

St. James's Palace

Buckingham Palace

Front gardens at Buckingham Palace

Part of the Queen Victoria Memorial is located outside Buckingham Palace

More gardens

Canada Gate, which serves as a ceremonial entrance to Green Park

Wellington Arch, located at Hyde Park Corner

Our driver noticed the approaching police motorcycle

A motorcade of Range Rovers followed the police

Several of them went flying by

They were followed by police, as well - our guide speculated that it was likely the Prime Minister or one of the Royal family

Marlborough Gates, leading into St. James's Park

Such ornate decoration

Part of the wrought iron gates surrounding Buckingham Palace

Palace guards

At the gates

Queen Victoria Memorial, located in front of Buckingham Palace

Duchy of Cornwall Head Office, located at 10 Buckingham Gate

An iconic London black cab - many of these are electric

Passing the London Eye

Dragons of the City of London boundary markers

Vintners Place

It was home to the Vintner's Guild

Their crest had three wine barrels on it

Vintners' Hall

We passed part of the original Roman wall around  Londinium when it was founded around AD 43

With that, our three hours in London were complete, and we made the drive back to Tilbury and our waiting ship. After lunch in the World Café, we spent some time in the room before our usual Explorers Bar and World Café evening experience.

The clouds split as the sun started down

We got a nice view of the River Thames

After dinner, we went to the room to watch the recorded port talk for tomorrow and the Captain's welcome celebration. We attended the last one, so we decided to just watch this one from the room.

We will dock in Dover, England, tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. We are taking Viking's included tour, Deal & Dover Castle, tomorrow morning. We may take the shuttle into town in the afternoon.