October 12, 2014

This morning there was a marathon going through the park across the street from our hotel. Don't ask me about the guy holding up the elephant.

Our first London Walks tour today was the Tower of London, with tour guide Tom, who was very good.

To start with, we saw the poppies. There are over 900,000 ceramic poppies in the moat around the Tower of London, representing the British soldiers who died in World War I. By November 11 there will be 1 million, to mark the 100th anniversary of World War I. Some of the poppies streamed over walls like soldiers going over the tops of trenches. Tom recited In Flanders Field. It was very moving.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The Tower of London was built in 1078 by William the Conqueror (aka William the Bastard). We learned about the gory history of this site - imprisonment, beheadings, torture, and more. 

In 1252 the King of Norway gave a polar bear to Henry III and it lived in the tower along with a menagerie of exotic animals. It was put on a long leash and allowed to swim in the Thames to catch fish.

We heard about the 6 wives of Henry VIII and how they met their ends: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, widowed. We saw the spot where Anne Boleyn was beheaded. 

We saw royal guards and beefeaters.

We didn't see the Crown Jewels because we didn't want to wait in line for 30+ minutes. We didn't see the torture exhibit or the Fusilier's museum. We didn't walk around the parapet. We didn't see the ravens. We didn't even go to the gift shop. We didn't expect that there would be so much to see here and we didn't allow extra time in our schedule.

We saw some of the oldest buildings in London, but we also saw the new buildings that dominated the skyline: the Walkie-talkie, the Beehive, and the Shard.

After this tour, we took the Underground to the Embankment and had a quick snack at a coffee shop called Costa, a chain we have seen all over Londn. Don't go there.

Then, while Ken wandered down the street toward Charing Cross, looking for an ATM, I waited at the Embankment tube station and found an ATM right inside the staion about 20 feet from where we had walked upon our arrival.

Shortly thereafter we met our guide, Andy, for our next London Walks tour: Westminster at War.

Churchill War Rooms

TO BE CONTINUED