Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Europe 2013 Day 5: England - Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral,

A tiring day! And a cold and wet one again.I started off the day with the Tower of London. Originally wanted to get there when they opened, so that I wouldn't have to deal with any lines.  Got there about half an hour later instead.

Part of the Royal Beasts Exhibit
Before even going inside, you could see the large scale of the towers and palace.  The first stop I made was the Crown Jewels.  I had read that long lines will eventually form, so it is best to go there early and see it first. And what great advice, as there was no line. The crowns were so impressive...the jewels were beautiful. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed. In addition to the crowns, there were swords, dinnerplates, orbs (which I don't actually know what their purpose is).  One piece stood out to me - a gold punch bowl, made in 1829, measuring 3ft wide.

Line for the Crown Jewels
Every half hour, a tour with a beefeater is offered, so I joined the 10am one after my crown jewels visit.  It was a huge group, maybe 80 people.  The beefeater spoke very loudly though.

My homies
 I spent a lot of time in the White Tower, which houses artillery, weapons, armor. The canons were huge.

The Royal Beasts exhibit had some interesting info as well.  The exotic animals that were brought to the Tower suffered so much due to the lack of knowledge of care. Apparently for the ostrich, people thought the bird was supposed to be fed pieces of metal. The ostrich died after eating some nails.
I had spent over four hours here. As I was leaving, I walked along the Thames side, and the view of Tower Bridge was great.  Unobstructed, so unique.

I was really starting to feel under the weather, walking around in the rain and cold had finally taken a toll on me.

My original plan was to take the last, guided tour of St. Paul's Cathedral.  However, I spent so much time at the tower that this was not possible.  Still, visiting the cathedral was a must.  The dome, moldings, paintings on the wall...everything was so grand and impressive. I wish I could have taken pictures.  I climbed up the first set of stairs to the whispering gallery, and rested my feet here.  In this area, you can whisper at on end of the dome, and the sound waves bounce to the other side of the dome and your message is delivered to someone at that end.  
View from top of St Paul's.  Overcast!

I climbed up the additional steps, to both outdoor areas.  The views were stunning.  It was a bit cloudy, but could still make out iconic buildings and places I had visited.  It was very cold and windy up here, and it was not helping with my runny nose.  Must get indoors!  I barely spent any time in the crypt, as they were closing.

 





Across the street is a shopping center called One New Change.  I walked around there and window shopped.  Stopped by M&S grocery store, which has a lot of ready-to-eat food items. Bought some snacks for my train tomorrow.
View from One New Change
I love Percy Pig.
Later on, I needed to get back into the city center for dinner, as I was meeting some colleagues from the London office.  Wow.  Riding the tube during peak time...I have not experienced anything like it.  I only needed to go one stop over to Bank, but had to skip three subway trains because they were packed.  You squeeze yourself in when you see the smallest opening.  And must be aggressive about it.  If you take too long and hesitate, someone else has just taken that spot.

 Eventually I took a quick walk around Bank station area.  Such a fast paced area.  Seattle does not compare.  Everyone here is dressed very sharply, and walking around in a rush it seems.  I left and headed back to Tower Hill station, as our company's office is literally next door to the tower.

Headed to a popular pizza place near Liverpool station.  Even on a Wednesday night, we waited around 45 minutes.  

Got back late..hope it doesn't make me feel worse...tomorrow is an early day with a 8:30am train to York.

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