As lunch at the hotel yesterday had been fairly ordinary, we decided not to do the in house breakfast, we thought we would pick up something on our travels. Our first port of call was The Tower of London (one of the 2 for 1 offers that came with our travel card). Tube took us there, arriving just after 9. Advice had said that if you want a good look at the crown jewels, you should be there early. We also hoped to do the first Beefeater tour for the day at 10. So, we made our way through to the jewels first, and there were hardly any people there, so we had a good look at the jewels, and went back again for a second go, but no photos allowed in this area. They are gorgeous, and many are very old - several date back to Charles I in the 1600's. We then investigated the complex until it was time for the tour. Even more exciting, we saw a squirrel - my first one!
Our Beefeater guide was great, and very funny. He told us history of the complex and some fascinating stories about the people who had been imprisoned there over the centuries, their crimes and their punishments. The Beefeaters, a doctor and a minister live on the premises with their families.
The church on the premises is the Chapel of St Paul, and when Queen Victoria was around, she decided it should be restored. But, when they took out the pews, they found that the floor was uneven. In attempts to level the floor, they found a few bodies/skeletons, so investigated further. Three years later, they had a total of 1500 sets of remains. But, there had only been a total of around 365 prisoners total kept in the Tower, some of them had been set free, and some executed and buried elsewhere!! They only managed to identify 9 of the bodies, the rest are in unmarked graves, and the mystery of their identities remains!
We walked out of the Tower to the river where there was a great view of the Tower Bridge, then on to check out St Paul's Cathedral - took some photos from the outside, but decided not to go in - we have seen so many churches in the past few weeks.
From there, we walked over the Millenium Bridge, and on to the Globe Theatre - a modern replica of the original Shakespeare theatre, and only a short distance from the site of the original. We decided to do the tour, which was very interesting. In Shakespearian days, only men were allowed to be actors, so the original Juliette, Lady MacBeth etc would have been played by a male. Plays were always performed during the day as available lighting was only candles, so night performances weren't an option. So, unlike modern theatre, where the actors on stage are well lit, and usually unable to see their audience, the Globe does productions the old way - matinees, or evening performances where the audience is lit up. Apparently it is a very different experience for the actors as well as the audience who often become part of the action.
Leaving the Globe, it was only a short distance to the Borough Markets where we hoped to find something for lunch - there were so many different types of food stalls, and the crowd, it was crazy. We tried a traditional pork pie, and a roasted duck sandwich, then Errol had a piece of Apple and Almond Cake, while I had fresh raspberries - yummmmm! The pork pie was probably at the bottom of our preferences.
Next, we were off to Greenwich, by the clipper service on the river (just for a change) this was again a 2 for 1 on the travel card. Greenwich was so much more than I expected. There have been royal residences here for ages, even back to the time of Henry VIII who held jousting competitions at his Greenwich estate. The Tourist Information centre was more like a mini museum, and the original Cutty Sark was on display outside. We walked on, into the Greenwich Park, heading for the Royal Observatory, and the Prime Meridian. When we stopped in the park for a break, we noticed more squirrels up the road - they are very cute, but wouldn't sit still for a photo! The view from the top of the hill was wonderful, we had a bit of an explore, but the queue to have a photo taken at the Prime Meridian was long, and they wanted £7 each just to get into it - we passed. Strolled back down the hill, and to the pier for the return trip on the clipper.
We hopped off at the Embankment pier, and walked up through to Leicester Square ticket box to see if there were any discount shows. There was nothing of interest available for tonight, but we booked to see The Bodyguard at a 3pm matinee tomorrow. It was a bit early for dinner, and I wanted to take a few photos inTrafalgar Square seeing as it wasn't raining today, and it was literally around the corner. There were so many double decker buses, and taxis, and people - it was so busy. There were several street entertainers too.
Errol had wanted to check out St Martin in the Fields church. The church was closed, as they have a classical performance on there tonight, but they have a restaurant in the crypt! It has a great reputation for food that is good quality, if a little plain, and reasonably priced. There weren't many options, but we had dinner including a glass of wine each for £22.50.
We left the restaurant, intending to walk back to the hotel, and were just discussing how we would like to ride the buses, when one pulled up that was going in our direction - jumped on and climbed upstairs :). Only went couple of stops, but it probable saved about a 10 minute walk. We walked around the corner to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament lit up - beautiful. Strolled across the bridge and around past the Eye for another view of the lit up buildings.
Time to write up blogs - I am a day behind already.
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