London! part three

Once again, I proved that there's never enough time to do everything. But also that sometimes you can do a little that demonstrates a lot.

London has so much! I could have an endless of list of all I didn't do. But that also means that there are things left for next time. Among those, perhaps, is sightseeing. We saw a bit during the Sherlock Holmes Walking Tour. And we did a London by Night tour to see a bit more. Luckily for us, we opted for the 8p tour, so it was still light out. Our guide was very personable and, we thought, rather funny. But we like British humor.

Unfortunately, since I didn't do the walk-around-the-city-and-learn-where-you-are-and-how-things-fit-together-and-spend-time-at-sights-learning-about-them, I have a lot of pictures of things I can't identify. This one, however, most people should know. The bell inside is Big Ben; the tower is the Elizabeth Tower in the Houses of Parliament.  

This Ferris wheel on the south bank of the Thames is the London Eye. It's the largest such in Europe and one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city. There are 32 "passenger capsules" representing the London boroughs, and a revolution takes half an hour. Unlike most Ferris wheels, it's cantilevered (supported on only one side) and the cars are attached directly to the ring, not hung from a central support. And apparently it's called the eye because there's a panoramic view of the city from the top. Not sure I'm going to test that out.

Parliament. 

And driving over Tower Bridge. 

After, we wandered over to Buckingham Palace, since we were just across Green Park.  

Rather different from Kensington- this palace definitely has panache. 

I did wave to the Queen, but got no response. We also thought we'd be adults this evening and go for a drink. We were right next to the Ritz, but they wouldn't let us in, claimed dress code. True I was wearing sneakers but I was in a skirt and top, not yoga wear. Whatever. But they referred us to Brown's on Albemarle, which was really nice. It claims to be the oldest hotel in London. It was rather posh, and now I can say I've partied in Mayfair. 

Our last day we headed to the Tower of London, trying to do something historic and touristy. Two underground lines were down, so it was a bit of an adventure getting there. As we came out of the underground, Kati spied the dragons. Dragons mark the boundaries where you cross into the old city of London. Needless to say, I liked that. 

The Tower is actually Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London. It's a historic castle, begun back in 1066, along the River Thames. It's now a World Heritage Site. Oh, it's also home to the crown jewels.

Numerous kings lived here, and part of the old castle is a museum, describing life at the time. This stained glass window was part of the king's worship area by his chambers. 

This is the White Tower, the keep, built by William the Conquerer in 1078, the earliest stone keep in England. It was home to kings, a complete palace on its own. It became a powerful symbol of oppression. The whole complex, enlarged mostly by Richard the Lionheart and Henry III, is named after this tower. Once used as a prison (1100-1952), the complex has also been home to the Royal Mint, as an armory, the treasury, a menagerie, and a public records office. Some say there are ghosts; the most famous is reportedly Anne Boleyn, beheaded wife of Henry VIII, who is buried in the chapel here.  

Today you can walk along some of the ramparts and battlements of the inner ward, seeing how those exotic animals were kept, learning about the history of the complex including the famous peasant uprising and the imprisonment of the princes (believed murdered in the Bloody Tower in 1483). This is the Salt Tower, once the storehouse for that crucial commodity. Some of the complex was destroyed, by fire or other, and rebuilt, few parts are original. The complex is two concentric rings and a moat. There are arrowslits and a portcullis. I love this. 

One of the Yeoman Warders, the ceremonial guardians of the Tower, tour guides to the complex, keepers of the ravens, and guardians of the Crown Jewels. They are all retired members of the armed services, possessing a long list of specific credentials.  

 The Crown Jewels are under guard in the Jewel House in the Waterloo Block, and have been on public display since the 1660s. Members of the Tower Guard are on detachment from the British Army. The jewels are in active use for ceremonies. I expected to be very impressed, but sadly, I wasn't.

 

There are always six ravens onsite. This is Harris. One of the Yeoman Warders is also the Ravenmaster. The ravens' wings are clipped so they can't fly away, because the legend is that when the ravens fly away, the White Tower will fall. But they can roam the grounds. If you've never seen a raven, they are quite large. And also really smart. I like them.

One of the many gates. 

We then went to do some quick shopping. We wanted to see Selfridge's, having watched (at least some of) the PBS series. We had a quick snack here in the Brass Rail, and a very quick tour of the ground floor. Kati remembered the store merchandise section of Harrod's and wanted to get a few things there, so off we went. We didn't have a ton of time before they closed, and that area is now huge! She managed pretty well. Since I'm lucky enough to go back in a few weeks, I think I'll visit then when I've had time to consider a "list."

We then dealt with the not-fun-part of packing, and decided to return to "our local" pub for dinner. I had my second sticky toffee pudding, and still loved it. I had an early morning ahead, and figured it might be interesting as I couldn't check in online. Little did I know.....

Underground to the airport was easy and I had more than two hours. Good thing, as it turns out. I couldn't check in at the kiosk either. Wait in line for a ticketing agent, and he can't do it either. Turns out, my ticket had been booked but never issued. So he calls and they're working on it. We had a lovely conversation. Just when he thought it was set, he found I had to go to another area for "investigation" and (hopefully) resolution. Sigh. There I learned that my ticket also had been canceled the evening before. What? So that agent was in the back working with the code share airline trying to get it fixed. They did, so now I'm checked in. And it's less than an hour until departure. And the flight leaves from another terminal. So once through security, I pass by all the tasty-looking restaurants where I'd hoped to have a nice leisurely breakfast, all the duty-free and other boutique shops where I'd planned to look for last things for the office and/or family (so much for the Armagnac for my dad, since I had a direct flight), and head for the trains. I get to the terminal, and there is nothing there, just a news store and a Starbucks. How disappointing! But now I'm desperate for something so I stand in the long line at the Starbucks. And as I round the corner to the gate, they're making last call! Seriously. This was the time I had been told they would start boarding. And there were no calls over the loudspeakers in that small terminal. So I walked onto the plane, the kind people next to me held my coffee, I settled into my seat, packed my sandwich into my bag, and a few minutes later, doors closed and off we went. Those folks were really nice, coming from a two-week cruise of the fjords and coast of Norway, and heading back to West Virginia. Some day! But the flight was good, my bag came up in baggage claim, I found my bus into the city and only had to wait 15 minutes for it, I then had only two blocks to go to get a cab, and thus while it took a little longer, I only paid $30 to get home from Dulles instead of $90. 

Next up, back to London for a conference for my school work. Yay!