Trip to London: Day 2

Day 2 (March 22)
We started off the day with the big English breakfast. Today we decided to make good use of the Big Bus Tour ticket.
The idea with the Big Bus Tour is that you can "hop on/hop off" any number of stops they make. This is quite convenient when you want to spend some time at any number of London's attractions.
We decided to get advanced tickets for the tower of London. We purchased them from the Big Bus Tour agent at the stop. We hopped on and went for a ride.
We decided to hop off at the National Gallery first. Having a need for coffee we took a quick spin around Trafalgar Square there thinking we can find a Starbucks (and there were quite a few in London). But amazingly we couldn't find any! Oh well.
One thing any tourist or local should appreciate is the fact that just about all the British museums and galleries charge no admission fee. They do kindly ask that you do give some sort of donation to help maintain the museums. If the museum had a special exhibit, it might charge an admission for that exhibit.
At the National Gallery, we perused some of the halls on the main level. After about an hour or 2 we were starting to get a bit pooped from walking around the museum. Time to go back out into the brisk cold weather (it was sunny but nippy!).
We went back to the bus stop and caught the next bus. Next stop: Tower of London.
It was recommended that we partake in the free tour given by one of the Wardens/Yeoman at the Tower of London. So we did. And I thought it was well worth it as the Warden was quite animated and funny to listen to. He related some interesting and at times bloody history of the Tower of London.
With the close proximity of the bird flu to the UK at the time, all of the ravens were put away in a more protected area. So, we didn't get to see them. :-(
After visiting the various buildings on the grounds, we were starting to get a bit hungry. Again, after that big breakfast we were good until about mid-afternoon.
There were some eateries not far from the Tower of London. We found one that served fish & chips! So fish & chips is what we had. It was pretty good actually.
We caught the next bus back, which turned out to be one of the last buses on that route (thank goodness!). We got off by Marble Arch and walked back to the hotel.
That evening, as we weren't too famished after having that late lunch, we went to a pub around the corner. The Charles Dickens I think. The food really wasn't that great, but at least the brew was okay.
Thus ended day 2.