TOWER BRIDGE IS NOT UNATTRACTIVE

The LLDD-Hyphen-L and I don't ask much from a tourist attraction - easy access, short lines, great views, and a place for picture-picture. We're that easy.

Tower Bridge readily met those requirements, and threw in some history, mechanical engineering and an aerobic workout for good measure.

Needless to state, I was all "Bad Tower Bridge! Bad! Bad!" for sneaking in education and exercise into what should have been a purely pang-friendster photo taking session.

Truth be told, our original plan was to visit The Tower of London (not to be confused with Tower Bridge, London Bridge or Victoria London), but once we saw the long lines and the price of admission, we quickly changed destinations. Anyway, as we walked towards Tower Bridge, we already got glimpses of The Tower of London's famous authentic medieval walls, medieval moats and medieval, um, tennis court. (don't ask me what it was doing there, I didn't pay the entrance fee)

As you approach Tower Bridge, you begin to appreciate it's beauty, size and height. That last one's of particular note, as the tower's elevator actually broke and fell several meters just the day before we went. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, and I still got to repeatedly use my "Hey! London Bridge! Falling down! Falling down! Get it? Get it?" jokes on the LLDD-Hyphen-L.

She got her revenge by simply walking up the stairs. Well played (gasp).

Once you do get to the top, you're rewarded with views of (from top) Central, South and East London. Simply breathtaking.

(or still out-of-breath; hard to tell which)

Some unsolicited tourist advice: the long climb up Tower Bridge is well worth it because of the interesting exhibits along the staircases and the wide viewdecks once you get to the top which allow you to take in the panoramic sights in an uncrowded, unrushed setting. I cannot say the same for the climbs up the Statue of Liberty and the Washington Monument. For those two, you're kept moving in a single file within a claustrophobic space, and once you get to the top it's like looking through a bunker fitted with a thick car windshield that's not even facing the right way.

After the highs, of course, come the lows. In this case, way below, in the Tower's engine rooms. You can't help but be amazed at the scale and complexity of the engineering involved for the coal to create the steam to power the cylinders to move the gears . . .

. . . to make some damn fine cups of cappucino.

Finally, it wouldn't be a London attraction if there wasn't some kind of wild weather mood swing. There was a bright blue sky as we took pictures on the south side of the bridge (top), but in the short time it took us to cross over to the north side, it was already cold, windy and rainy.

Some of that cappuccino would have been really be good right about then.