So having arrived and made it to London and our hotel in good order and with the hotel holding the luggage and time on our hands we decided to head to the Tower of London as it was only 9:30 am and we could beat the crowds to see the crown jewels.
The Tower of London is not a tower per se, but a fortress, and an infamous prison as well.
In fact it's not one tower but a collection of Towers - the White Tower; the Salt Tower; the Bloody Tower; the Constable Tower; the Wardrobe Tower; and the Martin Tower, which is the home of the Crown Jewels.
We were able to see the Crown Jewels without having to wait in line at all, and as we left the exhibit, a long line was forming so we had timed things well. The Crown Jewels were amazing. Sadly you're not allowed to take any photos of video inside the Crown Jewels area. The crowns and many large diamonds were awesome as were the ceremonial swords.
The crown jewels are well guarded.
The guards do get annoyed if you lean on the fence that is between them and the walkway. A few people got shouted at in command voice to "Get off the Fence!" they got the point rather quickly.
We then visited the Royal Mint at the Tower and got to see the history of coinage made there.
Including a feature role by Isaac Newton:
We also saw the Tower Ravens.
Quite Cool.
The Royal Fusiliers Regiment museum is also located within the Tower complex.
Lots of neat artifacts up to the present day on display.
Interestingly enough, David Ben Gurion, the future first Prime Minister of Israel, served in the Royal Fusiliers in World War One.
The Tower complex could take an entire day to just by itself to explore.
Afterwards we went to Hobson's for Fish n Chips and beer for lunch:
Absolutely fantastic and it sure hit the spot,
It was a most excellent and auspicious beginning to the trip.
3 comments:
That's a light colored beer for being in England
Smart to get out early! Y'all did good!
MatthewW: It was a pale ale, not bad at all.
Old NFO: Yep, it worked out well time-wise for sure.
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