A step too far

Today everywhere we went there were steps and lots of them. Has been a big today that started early but this proved to be a good decision as we got to The Tower of London by 9.15 and definitely beat the crowds. Highlights were seeing the Crown Jewels by our selves and yes we went 3 times on the travelator going past the pieces. Once again the guide book lied and there was no way we could have got round in 2 hours. The White Tower was not what we expected as it housed the armoury and our timing was not quite as good as we got there with a school group. The first large number of steps were here and they seemed to go on forever in a downward spiral. This is our kind of attraction as it had not 1 but 4 gift shops! We showed restraint and only shopped in 2. Before leaving we had a yummy lunch of baked potato with chilli meat and beans and a pear, broccoli and Stilton tart. It was then time for a quick trip to All Hallows' church and then it was off to Tower Bridge exhibition where we went across the upper deck of the Tower Bridge and then down into the engine rooms, we were able to exit through the gift shop with no purchase. Next on the list was Southwark cathedral an amazing building but we had to purchase a photo permit to be allowed to take pics, 2 people came and checked I had a permit even though it was stuck on my hand for all to see. By this stage it was 3.00 and we wanted to do St Paul's so luck was with us and the tube got us there with 1 hour to view. Was a bit of a rush tour that started with more steps 260 plus up an upward spiral then through a very narrow corridor to the whispering gallery. The downward journey even seemed to take a long time. As part of our London pass we got a audio guide which was great as we found out there is a version of Holman Hunt's Light of the World - not as nice as the one at the Tate. We then found out Holman Hunt and Millais are both buried there so it was down to the crypt to find them, a poor choice of starting meant we went round the whole crypt before finding them. A quick trip to the gift shop had to be done as we were unable to take pics. A quick trip home then back out to do some shopping at Harrods completed the day. The stairs at the tube were demoralising to say the least, am hoping tomorrow will see less stairs.