This was my 5th trip to London. I am quite enamored with this City for many reasons, it’s quaintness, history, friendliness, and of course, its Olde Book Shoppes up on Cecil Court, just off of Charing Cross Road. Get off of the Piccadilly Line at Leicester (pronounced Lester) Square, drop down three lanes and you’re there! As an aside, you all remember “You’ve Got Mail”, well that story was taken from an older 1940’s movie entitled “The Shop Around the Corner” and that shop was located on Charing Cross Road which is the epicenter of book sellers in London and back in the day, around the world.
We started our first full day in London dressed in our clothes from the day before. I guess that it was a good thing that we did not hoof it around on the Underground (instead of the limo) as we would have been quite ‘sweaty’ and probably unable to nicely re-dress in the same come the next day. So, all we had was an airplane ride, and short walk around the block for some really good pizza (yes, it is true) then Zzzzzzz.
Since we knew that BA would cover reasonable expenses when it came to getting some replacement clothing, we inquired of the Front Desk about where we might find a bit of good shorts, etc. We were directed to Tottenham Court Road (about a 15-minute walk) and we found all that we needed there. This was also a good warm-up in the Steps Department as we knew that walking was definitely on the schedule for the next few days.
Back to the room to change (round-trip about 3800 steps) and then off to our local Underground station, Russell Square. I chose this hotel because of its proximity to the Russell Square Station as I had used it once before on a previous trip. I found it very convenient as it is on the ‘Piccadilly Line’ and one stop away from the exchange to the ‘Central Line’, both of which are good starting points for Underground travel.
Some things have changed in the past twenty-five years since I was over there. One is the way to get into the Underground System and the other is me (us), more on that later.
In the Olde Days one needed to obtain a photo ID and a Weekly Pass that worked in the turnstiles. Nowadays all that is needed is a credit card that has that ‘Tap’ symbol, and the system does all of the tracking of your On’s and Off’s so it can bill correctly. It was nicely efficient!
On the subject of ‘us/me’….. I conveniently forgot that I was about 45 years old the last time I was there and admittedly a bit spryer than I am now. So, my visions of running helter-skelter around London, hopping on and off the Tube and jamming in as many sights as we could on a day went out the proverbial window, which was already open, because there’s no air conditioning!
Our destination for that first full day was the Tower of London or just ‘The Tower’ as it is known around there. 959 years ago, there was a really big battle with enormous consequences, and I am positive that all of you know which one I am talking about!
The year was 1066 and it was the Battle of ….. Hastings!
Yes! I knew that that date was engraved into your brains by Mr. Dooley, Junior Year World History teacher! William the Conqueror came across the Channel and pummeled the locals under good ol’ King Harold (last of the Anglo-Saxon kings). William became known as William I and the next King after Charles will be his son William, Prince of Wales, who will be known as William V (the 5th)
Back to the Tower. A few years later William started construction of a castle on the Thames (pronounced Temz, I tell you this because for quite a while I thought that it was Th-ames!) and it has grown ever since. The Tower is one of the Must See’s on any good London Itinerary. It is here that the Crown Jewels are secured, and it is here that Henry the VIII had two of his six wives executed. Catherine Howard and Anne Boleyn were both beheaded there for ‘Treason and Adultery’. Interestingly, Henry married Jane Seymour just ten days after Anne’s death. Hmmm…. I wonder….
One of my favorite sayings is ,”You can’t make this stuff up” meaning that truth is stranger, and just as good as, fiction. I am waiting for the right Director/Producer/Studio team to begin Season I of The Monarchy and have the guts to see it through, do it correctly, no need for embellishment, stick to the facts, Mini-Series. This may take several years to complete as there are almost 1000 years to cover, but I do know that the entire span is absolutely fascinating, and I don’t just mean Henry VIII!
When we visited, it was still quite warm and was relatively un-crowded as the Heavy Tourist time was not until a few weeks away. But still, the line to see the Crown Jewels was about an hour long! We decided to forgo the Jewels for now, check out some other parts of the Tower, and make our way back to the line later on when it would normally drop off as folks left to go home. In the meantime we went through the White Tower, the first building raised here in 1078. The Tower was once a fortress, a Castle, an Armory, has a (the) small Chapel of St. John the Evangelist, and of course, the basement Torture Chamber. It’s an interesting subject this torture stuff. Gibbet cages, tar and feathering, the Rack, and the list goes on….. long ago I visited Warwick Castle, (pronounced War-ick) a splendid example of medieval English Castle Architecture. It was originally built by our old friend Bill the Conqueror in 1068, just two years after he ran roughshod through the Anglo ranks. Originally a wooden stockade, it was eventually rebuilt in true castle, tower, and moat style during the 12th century and is considered one of the best examples of that castle style in Britain. I was eager to see it! The grounds are great, the Castle, quite imposing, but…… I decided to go down to the dungeon and check it out. It was a weekday, not in tourist season, and I was the only person down there. I lasted about a minute before I felt uneasy and had some ominous feelings creep up inside me. Time to go! Out I went and I have resisted the temptation to return to other examples of this type of room ever since. I don’t think that I was mistaken in my feelings. Haunting is a good description for sure.
We did not get to see any type of torture equipment, not even the pillory, which is quite harmless, except for one’s dignity! Inside the White Tower we saw great examples of armor, both for horse and for men. Swords were abounding in their supply and some early muskets were also on display. Suits of armor for Kings were quite ornamental if not downright gorgeous! Multiple colors of metal were used for adornments and from their looks, I believe that they were rarely used except for ceremonial purposes.
Noted by the fact that they are mostly in Crowns but also, they belong to the Crown as is in the Sovereign (King or Queen). I obviously did not take this photo as NO PHOTOGRAHY was allowed and I never would have had the wording not centered! But they are very magnificent and are for the most part, several hundred years old and have been used in the Coronation ceremony since the 1660’s. One of the Pieces, the Coronation Spoon, used for the oils, has been used since the 12th Century!
The views of the Tower Bridge are great from here! This bridge is sometimes confused, as it known (incorrectly) as London Bridge. London Bridge is just a regular, ho-hum, pedestrian and motor vehicle bridge over the Thames. The Tower Bridge is far more ornate and is unlike anything else around, hence its exceptional notoriety.
FYI, the original London Bridge was a wooden one started by those guys that built stuff wherever they went, the Romans. Several iterations of this span have been on the same location since that time back in 50 AD. One of the coolest is the Medieval one (no surprise there!) it was alive from the early 1200’s to the early 1600’s and it had businesses and lodgings and some gruesome Spiked Heads of Criminals (warnings to Bad Persons) at its entrance. Seen here.
The best-known version follows that one and it’s the one that Robert McColloch (McColloch Chainsaws, etc.) bought back in the ‘60’s. McColloch had it moved piece by piece to a new resort town he was constructing on the shore of the lake formed by the Parker Dam on the Colorado River between Arizona and California named Lake Havasu. Seen here when we visited it back in January of 2021.
Enough about London Bridge!
More importantly, the Tower of London was the site where Paula was able to fulfil one of her two Travel Desires. They both are food related, this one is for original Fish and Chips served authentically in that wrapping and eaten not in Texas, or New Jersey, but in London itself. Mission Accomplished! The second request will not be realized, or revealed, for a day or two! Stay tuned.
He did not care that we were this close to him. He did not care that his photo was being taken. He did not care about nothing. He is a Raven of The Tower and possesses the ability to bring the Crown down. Read on.
We will end this day’s Notes of Importance with the Ravens of the Tower. There are several story lines that underscore the importance of having the Ravens at The Tower. They are mostly rooted in the 1600’s and Charles II. It is well known that killing a Raven is bad luck and for folks back then this was even more believed than it is today. They (the Ravens) were making a nuisance of themselves and several folks wanted then banished (not killed) from the Tower, but Charles II was told that if the Ravens left, his reign and the country itself would fall. Hmmm…. he decided that the Ravens could stay, and they are still there, tended by one of the Yeoman Warders, the Ravenmaster, whose job it is, is to see that these flighty big black birds are watched over nicely. In thinking about it, the Ravenmaster may have the most important job in the entire Realm…. it is a lot of responsibility to have the fate of an entire nation resting on your ability to keep some Birds from flying the coop (as it were!)
We made our way back to the Underground and repeated the three-line change in order to get back on the Piccadilly Line and our station at Russell Square. Back to the President Hotel, Collapse (it was a 13,000-step day…. a lot of them stairs!) and I forget what we did about dinner. The next day we intelligently decided to do a HO-HO Bus and try and at least do Drive-By’s of some of the sights and maybe keep walking at a Recuperating Level.
But, that’s the next post!
2 replies on “London 1st Full Day”
Trust your instincts in the dungeon. I had an interesting tour years ago with a Beefeater and most of them have interacted with ghosts at some point during their time at the Tower. Evidently that is one of the most haunted places on earth.
I want no part of an ‘after dark’ scary visit to these places!