Tower of London and Westminster Abbey

Monday, August 12

Yesterday’s breakfast at our hotel was a bit on the expensive side and not very good, so we headed out to a little café that was up the street and around a couple of corners to find something more to our liking.  It was quaint and personable and had good meals at a much better price.  Food in London is expensive but here the four of us could have breakfast for approximately $75.00—yeah, expensive!

 To get around the city, we are finding the Underground or the “Tube” (subway) to be very easy to use and fast.  

Our first stop today is at the Tower of London and we are there when it opens.

Tower of London was built in 1077 by William I (“the Conqueror”) to keep the Londoners in line and as a lookout for seeing invaders coming up the Thames.  Because of the security it provided, the Tower served over the centuries as a royal residence, the Royal Mint, the Royal Jewel House, and as the prison and execution site of those who dared to oppose the Crown. 

 

The Coronation Crown (from the internet)

Our "Beefeater" tour guide

After a visit to the Crown Jewels (where cameras are not allowed) we enjoyed the Yeoman Warders tour.  They are called the “Beefeaters” and their original duty was to guard the Tower, its prisoners, and the jewels.  Their nickname may come from an original perk of the job—large rations of the king’s beef.  Today they no longer need to protect but they do entertain the tourists through the Tower.  At night they ritually lock up the Tower in the Ceremony of the Keys.

The spot where a few of Henry VIII's wives and others lost their heads.

The chopping block.

A narrow opening where arrows could be shot down on enemies.

Prisoner carvings on the walls.  This one seems to reference Lady Jane Grey, who was executed.

We saw an extensive display of armour.

A tribute to former kings

After leaving the Tower of London, we take a river cruise to Westminster Bridge. We relax on the boat as we cruise past monuments, skyscrapers and cathedrals on our way to our next point of interest--Westminster Abbey. 

The monument for the Fire of 1666.  It started at this spot in a bakery.

Westminster Abbey is greatest church in the English-speaking world---where kings and queens have been crowned and buried since 1066.  A thousand years of English history—3,000 tombs, the remains of 29 kings and queens, and hundreds of memorials to poets, politicians, and warriors---lie within its stained-glass splendor and under its stone slabs.  Photos are prohibited so I did grab a few off the internet to post on the blog.  This is the church where Charles and Diana were married many years ago and the Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066 and is the final resting place of seventeen monarchs.

Tomb of Edward the Confessor

After our tour of the Abbey, it was time for a relaxing dinner in a pub.  We had been on  our feet all day and we still had more to do.  There are pubs everywhere and they have the most reasonably priced meals.  We seem to be tired of Fish and Chips already, which is on every pub menu, so we try a burger!  This one was about a mile high.

Our day is not over as we have 9:30 pm tickets to the Ceremony of the Keys at Tower of London.  This ceremony is held every night at precisely 10:00 pm when the Tower of London is locked up, as it has been for the last 700 years.  Again, no photos allowed.  Tickets for this are free.  All you have to do is write a letter requesting tickets for a certain date.  There is a limited number of tickets available for each night and we were lucky to secure 4 of them.

And with the Tower of London securely locked up, we called it a night and headed to our hotel.