Don't be naughty else I'll put you in the Tower....

Last stop on our whirlwind London tour was The Tower of London... Its is THE MUST SEE in London for me.. not only for the Crown Jewels, but the Beefeaters and the architecture... you can almost imagine yourself as a princess there, please visit if you get the chance... (although $30 for 1hr (all we had left of the day!!) is a bit steep!)

We sprinted in.. not a pretty sight ( two black eyes for me later) desperate to make the Crown Jewels which close an half hour earlier to make sure everyone in the queue gets in...and there was a queue of approximately 200 people... arrrggghh would we make it? And what were they all queuing for anyway, its just a bit of jewellery right?

Well not really...they are priceless symbols of the British monarchy found under under armed guard in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. You should see them because they are the greatest working collection of Crown Jewels in the world and priceless symbols of British monarchy They include the world’s most famous diamonds, the enormous Cullinan I (the biggest diamond ever found)  and the notorious Koh-i-Noor
23,578 gems that make up the Crown Jewels, including the glistening Imperial State Crown, which alone has 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 5 rubies.

And you men wonder why diamonds are a girls best friend!?

Any the Tower isn't all about the diamonds...Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England.  It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison since at least 1100, although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. The Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.
The peak period of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, were held within its walls. This use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower".


Anyway enough of the history lesson...here's the pictures... and tomorrow on to the frozen wastelands of North Devon with the family and dogs!

These are where the jewels are!

Armed guards!

Bye bye London it was fun, rushed but fun!!!


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London - Day 2

OK back to our Christmas trip to England and day 2 in London...

My husband must think he is a cockerel as he got us all down for breakfast at 7am.. I though this was supposed to be a vacation...

Order of day was..
1. Next Sale at Hays Galleria (well it was the day after Boxing day.. only the biggest bloomin sales day of the year in the UK!)
2.Walk down Thames to catch tour bus
3. Jump off tour bus at London Eye
4. Spend 1 hr 'doing the Eye'
5. Coffee & muffin (probably Starbucks as Brittany is addicted)
6. Back on Bus to Buckingham Palace
7. Walk from Palace to Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament
8. Back on bus to Tower of London
9. Late lunch (turned out to be Wagamama)
10. Last stop Crown Jewels at the Tower..

Somehow I was going to have to drive home after this lot too!

Well we made Next sale by 7.45am (after me having to return to hotel to get my glasses that I'd left by the bed (D'OH)..(I bought a new hat.. we'll see it in later posts!) and then I nearly fainted when Starbucks wasn't open until 8.30am.. so no coffee fix for us until later.. would we survive?

Walking down to London Bridge to catch the bus... some jobs worth driver wouldn't let us on.. he was reading the paper... we didn't know what to do and started walking back across the bridge.. only for a big red bus to stop next to us and ask if we wanted to get on... errrrrm though you were out of service?... 'that was then, this is now'.. like I said, jobsworth!



You know who you are....

Anyway as it was well below freezing we decided to sit outside (brrrrrr) and I mean BRRRRRRRR... thought I was going to lose something to frostbite



Take the picture already.. I wan't to go inside!

 It's amazing what you see when you are bus height though.. you get a different view of the city...

Tower Bridge from the bus

$100 million on City Hall...The building has an unusual, bulbous shape, intended to reduce its surface area and thus improve energy efficiency. It has been compared variously to Darth Vader's helmet, a misshapen egg, a woodlouse and a motorcycle helmet. Former mayor Ken Livingstone referred to it as a "glass testicle",

First view of the Tower of London

Can't remember what this one is.. but it's pretty!

Houses of Parliment & Big Ben....

I don't want to overload you .. so we'll hit the London Eye tomorrow.. figuratively of course...it's too big to hit of course!

Continuing on with our travels.....London!

Sorry I've been laid up with snot for a few days, but lets continue the trip to England.....

So I normally avoid London like the plague... overpriced and full of tourists (!), however with hubbies niece in tow it was only fair to have a quick sojourn to the capital.. and I mean quick. Because the miserable train drivers had decided to strike I would have to drive down and back, with us spending just one night there... and the journey down was nightmarish... accidents, hold ups and passengers desperate for a pee.. we were glad to eventually arrive at out London hotel..

A quick note on the hotel. I made out like a bandit on the room rate. We stayed at the Hilton Tower Bridge - a rather nice if business'y hotel.. should have been $300 + / night.. I got for $140 inc $50 breakfast buffet... score!!!! It ranks no. 9 of 1000+ London hotels on trip advisor and the location is the business - you can walk to the Tower of London!

Brittany loved it.. saying it was the best hotel she ever stayed in and took multiple pics... here she just looks like she's doing some mad dance in front of her floor to ceiling mirror!

not bad for $140 in London!

Anyway by the time we got ourselves out of the hotel it was approaching dusk and as the sun went down we took a few pics of Tower Bridge and the River Thames.

Bundled up!

HMS Belfast...

It was the coldest I've ever been and as much as we had wrapped up it was time to get inside for an early tea and a hot ALCOHOLIC drink.

Order of the day was fish & chips and we quickly found a pub on the river to disappear into...

The Horniman at Hays wharf... I childishly got a giggle from the name!

Britt & I.. unwrapping in the warmth

Yummo -
fish & chips!

The Horniman (great name!!) is located directly on the bank of the Thames next to the HMS Belfast and in between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and the London Gherkin are in eyesight (during the day!!) and it was warm and inviting.. the food was delicious and I fell in love with some Swedish pear cider called Rekorderlig (which we can't buy here ..!) it's like nectar!

We then decided to brave the elements and go for a walk in the dark along the bank of the Thames.. and within 15 mins we'd come across Southwark Cathedral. It has been a place of Christian worship for over 1,000 years, but a cathedral only since 1905. The present building is mainly Gothic, from 1220 to 1420. Mind blowing really!

In 1611 it looked like this (engraving)

In the day it looks like this

And in the freezing night air it looks like this....

Interestingly there is a monument to a Mohegan chief who visited London in 1735 to petition Queen Anne for their lands back. Unfortunately he dies of small pox whilst he was here and was buried at the Cathedral. At the unveiling ceremony in November 2006, present with the Queen was the tribal chairman Bruce Two Dogs Bozsum and other members of the tribe. An audience with the monarch that failed in 1735 was finally achieved..

The Queen unveiled this memorial to Mahomet Weyonomon

By this time I could no longer feel my fingers and in lieu of anything else to do (it was Boxing Day and everything was closed) we made our way back to the hotel to warm our extremities and watch a film..I fell asleep within about 5 mins which was either me being tired or the Guinness, cider and Jack & Coke catching up with me... I'll let you decide...

Tomorrow we were going to have a big day of sightseeing so I needed my beauty sleep anyway!