Queen of Tourism

When it comes to bang for the tourist buck, the Tower of London is not to be missed while you're in England. It's expensive (about $25 when you factor in the current, crappy, exchange rate), but well worth it.

There's truly something for everyone: Stories of criminals and murder, cool architecture and history, myth, nice park-like areas for a picnic, plenty of giftshops, and for the Princess within the opportunity to see the Crown Jewels.

As an added bonus, you get a little taste of Disneyland when in line to see the jewels. First, the line takes you snaking through a room with a seat for each of the monarchs of England, which shows the dates they ruled and a copy of their emblem. Then it leads you through three rooms showing videos. Room 1 shows the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II, room 2 was so unimpressive I can't remember what it was (the lines were short enough we could walk straight through, and chose not to stop and watch). Room 3 shows close-up video of the crown jewels. I was afraid that was the end of the show, and was completely underwhelmed. But then you get on a moving walkway which takes you past a case with a whole bunch of crowns in it. It's really cool, because you get a good chance to see everything, and it moves slowly enough you don't really miss out.

I wanted one of the beer steins they had on display, each one looked like it would hold a pony keg.