Our sightseeing bus tickets included a free river cruise. So we hopped off the bus at Westminster Bridge and crossed over the bridge to Westminster Pier to catch our boat. The only problem we had is that half of London was already in line waiting for the same boat! Well, maybe not that many but it seems that the majority of people who took the various bus tours that day also opted for the free cruise.
We waited for about 30 minutes and finally boarded our ship but were told that only 300 people could fit on the top deck and we would have to go below. I was hoping we could stand on top so that I could take some outside photos but I had to make the best of shooting inside through dirty windows.
Our cruise took about a half-hour. Our choices were to either exit at Tower Pier or go back to Westminster. Earlier boats also went as far downstream as Greenwich. Here are some of the photos I took during the cruise:

Many prisoners entered the Tower of London via the Traitors Gate — among them were Ann Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Sir Thomas More.
We decided that we had enough sightseeing for the day and so we hopped off the boat at the Tower Pier and walked up past the Tower of London to Tower Hill Station to catch the tube back to Stratford where we had dinner and then joined the hotel’s nightly wine and hors d’oeuvres reception.
Back at the hotel we raised our wine glasses and cheerfully agreed that our first full day in London (Wednesday, September 25th) was lovely.
So much history stored in these beautiful photographs. An obviously wonderful trip.