Day 6: Blitz Tour and Nando's

Today, my class took a tour around what we thought would be only East London. That's what it had been in the past, at least. When we met up with the tour guide, he said he had changed up the tour. We started the tour at a mural.

It depicts 1940's London. The Jewish community set up a barricade in the streets to keep out the fascists.

After the mural, we walked through a garden to get to St. George's Church. It wasn't destroyed during the Blitz, but everything around it was. 

Outside

The inside was destroyed though. When it was rebuilt, it was rebuilt modernly

After that church, we got on a bus to the docks. We saw St. Katharine's dock, but I didn't take any pictures. From the docks, we could see the Tower Bridge and The Shard. We got to walk closer.

We had to walk through this park on the way. It was an awkwardly placed park due to the high cost of land in the area. We found out the park had been built over the crater that a V2 rocket left.

The Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe. It's about 900 feet tall. For around £25, you can go to the top, but our guide said there were a lot of better, cheaper spots for a good view.

We walked right under the Tower Bridge. This bridge was destroyed during Harry Potter 7!

After that, the Tower of London snuck up on us. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't what we saw. It was beautiful, but I didn't expect a castle. I hope I get to see the inside!!

It's a castle!

Me and the tower

From there, we walked to a memorial site. It was beautiful. Everyone who died on a ship was remembered, and then some.

This small area is in remembrance of all who were executed at Tower Hill.

It was a circle with that same view all around. It was really pretty.

After that, we walked to another church, St. Dunston's. I don't believe this church is in use anymore, as it's been turned into a garden. The walls were still standing, but a garden grew all around.

The steeple was beautiful.

From there, we headed near Bank Tube Station. During the Blitz, people took cover in the tube stations. At Bank Station, a bomb managed to pierce the ground and it ricocheted inside the station, down the escalator. When it exploded, the gush of power blew people into the tracks of an oncoming train. Over 100 people died.

The Royal Exchange 

The Bank of London

The final stop on the tour was St. Paul's. We'd all seen it before, but we got to walk through the gardens to get to the place he would tell us about.

St. Paul's survived the Blitz when everything around it was destroyed. One night was bad in particular. Everything was gone. St. Paul's survived due to the work of volunteer firefighters who were stationed on the roof. Their job was to kick off, throw off, or throw sand on every incendiary bomb that landed on the roof. They sure did their job.

St. Paul's

The tour was only supposed to last an hour or so, but with the new route, it took three! Patricia and I were going to go to the Science Museum, but time didn't allow. I was walking to find dinner when I ran into Morgan and Clarke who were also hunting down food. They were going to Nando's, so I went with. We ran into Patricia on the way and she joined us. They had sweet potato mash! It was very tasty. After that, me, Patricia, and Morgan headed to Sainsbury's for some groceries, stopping for ice cream on the way.

I didn't take pictures of that part. Sorry, I did think about it though.