The day began bright and early catching the metro in to central London to hit some of the usual highlights. The Tower of London was first off the rank, and we shuffled in with all the other early birds. Kylie was so amazed by the lack of crowds that we hit the Crown Jewels first… no line up! Does that happen anywhere in London? The jewels were back in place after the coronation and just amazing to see. Practical thoughts come to mind… like, “that’s got to hurt your neck”, “I didn’t know rocks came that large” and “What would you ever need a golden punch bowl that can take over 120 bottles of wine for”? (Also, never used, George died before he got to use it), as well as “do you really think its ALL gold”?! It’s also a stark reminder of how these jewels came to be in these particular pieces and it’s understandable that the far flung members and former members of the Commonwealth want them back!
The Tower is the site of many of the most famous executions, Anne Boleyn, Jane Gray, Guy Fawkes to name but a few. Being a castle and a prison in the one site, really tends to put a dampener on the up sides of royalty you’d think!
Our Yeoman Guard was hilarious and informative. Given that after they qualify for the role, they also pay some type of complicated bond to be IN the role, you’d think that the last thing they’d want to be doing is dealing with the unwashed masses! Requiring over 20 years of military service, and then also having in unblemished record, chatting to the thousands of people that amass for a tour every half hour, there must be some amazing perks (other than guarding the king and his stuff!). All Yeoman Guards live onsite at the Tower with their families (so there’s that Central London accom rent free… a pretty good perk), though I’m not sure I’d be that keen on the crowds peeking through my windows!! There is a saying “never die a Yeoman Guard” and the reason for this is, just like all dodgy nursing homes, if you die before you retire from being a Yeoman Guard, you don’t get your (substantial) bond back, making it well worth retiring before you’re feeling the old chest tickle.
We spent a significant amount of time at the Tower, but I’m quite sure you could spend much more time there. The crowds were starting really freak me out (and it was a quite day apparently), so we headed off to walk across Tower Bridge and get some lunch on the south side of the Thames.
Tower Bridge see’s over 40,000 pedestrian’s cross it per day, so if you were looking for a people free zone, it wasn’t it. But it was good to get out in the fresh air and watch the Thames go by. Whilst on the south side, we had some wet weather gear to go shopping for (for the next adventures to Norway and hiking with Lesley!). So we ventured off on a the standard double decker London bus. Sitting up the front of one of those things is quite a surreal experience, especially as you go over speed humps… you feel like you’re about to be launched off the front of it! Purchases acquired, we headed back to Tower Bridge to do a tour of the internals and top of the Bridge. It’s hard to believe that they can lift the road ways up within 60 seconds, for the late 1800’s it’s an amazing engineering feat.
Tomorrow we are up bright and early (literally, 3:30am!) to catch a flight to Marseilles in France to then begin our time in Provence. So more sunshine and cheese shots will be on their way, until then…….
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