Last of London (07-29-19)

On our third and final day in London, we had tickets to see the Tower of London.  There are several ways we could get there- we chose to go by boat.

The weather had finally cooled off, and of course, that brought the rain- but we were fine with that at this point. The “Ferris wheel” type ride behind us is called the London Eye, and a ride gets you a birds eye view of the city. At least, I assume it does- we decided not to take it.

We were happy that the rain subsided somewhat while we were on the boat...

Our  boat tour guide was great at explaining what we were seeing.  This is the bridge that replaced the bridge that is in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.  Not very pretty, but serves a purpose.

He also pointed out the decorative stone lions along the waterfront which are used as an early warning system for flooding. If the lions are drinking, London is sinking.

The tower of London is actually much more than “a tower”.  There are many towers, in fact.

Its an entire complex of buildings that have been used as a castle, a prison and a fortress.

The original building, White Tower, was built in 1100 A.D. to be used as a fortress. Back then it had “defensible” wooden steps… so, basically wooden stairs that could be kicked over in case of attack, making the tower inaccessible.  Of course, they were much less secure than the ones that are there today.

This tower now houses the armory, among other things.

Yet another tower has been home to the Crown Jewels since 1661.  Queen Elizabeth sends for her crown when she needs it for a state function, so sometimes it isn’t here.  But today it was, along with crowns from many past kings and queens, and many of the accouterments they needed for their busy, very formal, lives. (no pictures allowed so this is off the web).

Edward the first used one of the towers as a castle in the 1200s, although he rarely stayed here.

The trial of Ann Boleyn was held here………..She was the Queen to King Henry the VIII, but she was only Queen for 3 years, as she was accused of treason and adultery in 1536. Convicted, she was beheaded at the tower 4 days later.  It was actually considered to be a privilege if you were beheaded here, since no "commoners" were allowed inside to witness it.

Once we were done with the Tower, we split off from Mike and Julie-they were off to meet up with a cousin, and we decided to take a walk along the Thames.  Our destination was Millennium Bridge, known to the locals as “Wobbly Bridge” because it sways back and forth. 





This pedestrian bridge opened in 2000, and was only open for a few hours when when it was closed because it swayed too much. There was limited traffic allowed for the next two years while it was fortified.

We were distracted by a glimpse of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and took the slight detour to see it.  It had just closed to the public 10 minutes earlier, and just as we were thinking you “can’t win ‘em all” we saw that it was hosting a choir service in an hour, so it was open to worshipers. 

Since I just wanted a glimpse, and didn’t want to pay $20 per person for a tour, we walked in, looked around, and walked back out.

This is the same cathedral where Lady Diana married Prince Charles.

Then we walked across Millennium Bridge. On the other side we found a restaurant and grabbed an early dinner before heading back to our flat.