The tower of London is really well run. If you ever have the chance, I would really recommend the trip. I spent the day with a girl from New Zealand walking through the battlements and the Crown Jewel exhibit. Unfortunately you weren’t allowed to take photos in the gallery with the jewels but we walked through some hefty safe doors into the gallery and were able to look not only at the crowns and jewels, but also some swords, trumpets, dishes, the oldest piece in the collection, the coronation spoon and some scepters etc. I was surprised to see everything was just displayed behind glass, but there was pretty high security in the place. I love sparkly things, but won’t be conducting a jewel heist any time soon.
The fort itself was really interesting as well. Many prisoners were kept and tortured here, some being held for as long as 18 months before being killed. The tower has a gruesome history, but it was neat to see into the minds of some of history’s most infamous leaders.
The London marathon was being run today, so on our way across the tower bridge we were able to see some of the first athletes cross the finish line through the hoards of on-lookers. I spent some time on the South Bank of London and took the opportunity to see Shakespeare’s Globe Theater and the Millenium Bridge (more commonly known as the bridge in Harry Potter) before heading over to Greenwich.
The Greenwich Market is another really lovely market to visit. It has an absolutely wonderful food market with huge variety, lots of antiques and many artisans. Many of whom lightened my wallet considerably. Greenwich also has a nice walk up to the Observatory in Greenwich park and a beautiful looking maritime museum, which I didn’t have time to visit, as I was there after it closed.
Tonight, there was the Traditions of Home exhibition. More extremely talented individuals put on a wonderful show with a mix of dancing, singing and presentations of traditions from various countries. Some of my favourites were a Kenyan girl dancing a tribal dance, some Catalonian students doing acrobatics and an Indian song performed by a friend who is also 21!
Overall, a busy and wonderful day. Talk soon, T.
Thanks for the memories you have stirred. Waiting to here more.