We got up early to catch our 6:30 am flight from Edinburgh to London. Since we stayed at a hotel at the airport, it was an easy walk across the parking lot to get to the terminal. (Although there wasn't really a set pedestrian path and we struggled getting our luggage across a few spots.) We thought we had allowed plenty of time (1.5 hours) to check in, but when walked in the terminal, it was PACKED with people and lines everywhere because of the Royal Highland Show. We would have really been sunk, but an airline employee came up (out of the blue) and asked for our online boarding passes. She checked us in and we walked up to the gate with plenty of time.
The flight to London was a quick one hour, about the same time it took to take the Picadilly Underground Line from Heathrow Airport into the center of London. We arrived at Kings's Cross Station, from Harry Potter fame, the station where they left to catch the train to Hogwarts.
Kings Cross Arrival Concourse
The Harry Potter Monument in Kings Cross. At any given time, there were about 20 people in a line waiting to take a picture like this. (It seems there are typical tourist pictures just about everywhere you go, and every tourist has to get one of them)
As we walked out of the station, you couldn't miss our hotel directly across the street.
I thought it was a nice looking building until they applied this awful paint scheme.
Our room wasn't ready yet, so they put our bags in the luggage room and we headed out to explore. We took the underground to Tower Hill where the Tower of London is located.
The entry gate to the Tower. The lions are sculptural interpretations of the exotic animals (monkeys, bears, lions, etc.) that were brought to the tower as a show of wealth. The animals became the talk of the town and everyone wanted to see them. (They even put a polar bear on a leash and let him go swimming in the Thames River to catch fish.) Some of the castle towers were actually higher and more imposing back in their day, but either they were dismantled for building materials, or they fell apart structurally (typical of many of the castles we visited).
Traitors Gate, just inside the main gate and along the river and was a boat access into the Tower. This is the gate Anne Boleyn entered when she was brought to be imprisoned as a "traitor".
Main walkway into the heart of The Tower. (The Tower of London refers to the complex of buildings, not just one building.) The White Tower (the main building is on the right and at one time was actually covered with white stucco) and was the principal royal residence, with chapel, presence rooms, etc. It was built in 1075. (Hard to believe something can be nearly 1,000 years old!) The building in the rear is the Jewel Tower where the crown jewels are kept on display. When we came to see the Ceremony of the Keys (Day 7), the location of this picture is where the ceremony took place.
The Jewel Tower within the Tower of London. You can see the barriers at the bottom to contain the queue of people waiting to get inside to see the jewels. We walked right in almost right up to the jewels and had time to walk around them several times. By the time we left the gallery, the line had backed up outside and was growing.
There was a moving walkway in front of them that keeps the crowds moving along. One of the things we found fascinating was the parallels between the crowning of a monarch, and temple worship. There were a lot of similarities both in the crowning of the monarch, and also in the layout and progression of the rooms in many of the royal palaces.
The display of the crown jewels. (Not my photo. Photos were
prohibited, and I didn't start taking illegal pictures until later.)
One of the legends at The Tower is that as long as there is a raven at the Tower of London, the monarchy will never fall. So as a precaution, they keep a group of ravens (with clipped wings) at the Tower. You see them wandering the grounds.
Our Beefeater tour guide through the tower. The position of Beefeater is highly honored and is awarded after many years of loyal military service. There are rows of apartments in the outer wall (and throughout) where the Beefeaters move in with their families and live within the walls. They also tell very corny jokes as they give their tours. (The pyramidal glass building behind him is a new building just being finished and nicknamed "The Shard").
The outer wall of the castle, with Tower Bridge behind.
Inside the White Tower, they have several displays, one of them is the armor of the kings of England. This is Henry VIII's armor from later in his life. He was very large.
After several hours walking through the Tower, an ice cream break was in order.
Memorial to Anne Boleyn on the location near where she was beheaded.
Becky on the front battlement of the Tower with the Tower Bridge in the background.
From the Tower, we walked out to the pier nearby and caught a river cruise boat to sail down to Greenwich. The weather was off and on, but mostly cloudy and cool. As we got on the boat, we caught a passing shower with a bit of light mist that lasted for 5-10 min.
Becky on the boat with the Tower of London in the rear
Going under Tower Bridge
Going under Tower Bridge we saw a set of Olympic Rings. They were
lowered and revealed to the public the day after we left London.
Arriving at Greenwich Royal Naval College. It's also the site of Greenwich Palace where Henry VIII was born, as well as his daughters Mary and Elizabeth. There are only fragments of that palace that remain, but Christopher Wren designed this set of buildings for the Royal Naval College and I fell in love with the site when we studied it in Art History in grad school. The Greenwich Observatory is located on the hill behind the Queen's House (center back) and is point zero for Greenwich Mean Time and longitude 0° 0' 0".
The Chapel in Queen Mary's Court at Greenwich Naval College. Beautiful detailing everywhere.
After walking around Greenwich (and the Greenwich Fair which was running), we went back to the dock and ate at a restaurant called "Byron Burgers" and they serve "proper burgers". I guess only in England can you eat a proper burger. (As if there could be an improper one?)
On our Thames river cruise back into central London, we passed under London Bridge. For all the hype over the London Bridge, its not very notable. It looks like any freeway bridge. Except for this inscription underneath, you'd never know it had any significance. Tower Bridge is much more impressive and memorable.
The London Eye. When we were discussing our itinerary, this was on my list of highlights, but Becky was unsure it was worth it. It became a running joke as I tried to convince her it would be worthwhile. In the end, I got to climb the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral and saw basically the same thing for free, so we skipped the London Eye (and $30/person and an hour or two of waiting in line).
Approaching the Palace of Whitehall, the Palace of Westminster,
or better known as the Parliament Buildings in Westminster.
Big Ben. And I can't count the number of times that we were told (or read) that Big Ben does not refer to the tower itself. It refers to the bell inside named Big Ben. While we were there, the tower was renamed Elizabeth Tower in honor of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.
On the back side of the House of Commons, a statue of Richard, the Lionhearted.
Looking up the Victoria Tower at Parliament under the Monarch's Gate
In the Victoria Tower Gardens behind parliament, Rodin's sculpture "The Burgers of Calais"
After walking around Parliament for a while, we took the underground to go to Tate Modern gallery. One of my peeves about London is that all of the Museums close at 5 or 6 pm and very little was open in the evening (except pubs). One night per week, the museums stay open later, but the only one open on this Saturday night was the Tate Modern Gallery, so we thought we would give it a try.
Becky on the Millennium Bridge (pedestrian link between
the Tate and St. Paul's Cathedral, behind Becky).
Becky on the Millennium Bridge over the Thames leading to Tate Modern. Becky is holding the cup of caramelized peanuts and pecans we bought from a street vendor because they smelled so good. The Tate Modern was a waste of time. I have a hard time with most Modern Art, mostly because it seems so lazy and talentless. (For instance, one work was a large piece of white paper attached to the white wall. Is it there? Do you see it? What does it mean? It's all bunk, I tell you...an emperor without clothes.)
We were exhausted at this point, so we headed back to our hotel, checked in and took our bags to our room, and ate some sandwiches we picked up at a store we grew to love while we were in London: Pret A Manger. They sold fresh sandwiches, soups and snacks made fresh throughout the day and were ready for sale. (They also had excellent crisps [potato chips] and croissants). We ate there several times during our stay because we liked it so much.
This was the view of St. Pancras (also featured in Harry Potter) out of our hotel room window.
I should note that on the other side of the world, Sara and Daniel were hosting Anna's birthday party for us. We had arranged for an inflatable bounce house to be delivered along with a snow cone and cotton candy machine. That sounded great, until just shortly before the party was to begin, the power went out, leaving no bounce house, no cotton candy and no snow cones. Sara improvised, got them the pizza from Little Caesar's, opened presents, etc. and then Daniel and Stuart dressed up providing some sort of entertainment. Fortunately, the power came back on a short time later and the party got underway.
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