Tower of London
On Tuesday morning, we had to get moving relatively early, departing at 7:45am so that we would arrive at the Tower of London ahead of the opening ceremony.
While we were queuing up to enter, we had an excellent view of Tower Bridge.
The opening ceremony was hosted by a yeoman of the guard, also known as a “beefeater”. His uniform had the letters “CR”, an acronym of Charles Rex, for King Charles, who had recently had his coronation. Under Queen Elizabeth II, the uniforms had the letters “ER”, standing for Elizabeth Regina.
After the opening ceremony guard change, the beefeater strongly advised us to queue up to see the Crown Jewels before everyone else got admission into the tower, to avoid a longer wait. Sadly, no photography was allowed of the Crown Jewels.
The Crown Jewels vault rooms were very dark inside with lighted displays of crowns worn at different events, ceremonial raiments, and bejeweled weapons.
Once we saw all the gems and crowns and scepters, we were free to explore the Tower of London, and get something to eat.
I. Saw. Everything.
The armory in the White Tower was like an IKEA store for muskets and medieval armaments, in that there was no way to leave until I had looked at everything.
In the Bloody Tower, I learned the fascinating story of King Richard III probably murdering his young nephews to seize power.
I walked through the torture exhibit, learned about the royal menagerie, the medieval palace, and saw where Queen Anne Boleyn was executed!
The City Walking Tour
We met back up about noon to do the walking tour of the City. And by “City” I mean the part of London that existed within the Roman walls of the city of Londinium, which in modern times is filled with skyscrapers and neo-classical style buildings that form the modern financial district of London.
We saw the Gherkin, the Shard, the Walkie Talkie, and an intriguing building that was built in a conceptual style with the ductwork on the outside of the building, for easier access.
We passed through iconic Leadenhall market, which might seem familiar to Harry Potter fans as a filming location for Diagon Alley.
At about 2 pm, we detoured into the Guildhall Art Gallery, and got access to the basement to see the remains of the old Roman amphitheater foundation built over by modern London.
Then we stopped for a rest at a cafe across from St. Paul’s Cathedral and had coffee and croissants. I talked to some of the other group members about previous trips they had been on, and what they were enjoying the most so far.
St. Paul’s Cathedral
At 3 pm, we were handed over to Gillian. She took us through St. Paul’s Cathedral and the crypts, highlighting things that would be of particular note to a group of Americans.
There were some interesting stories about the building process and the dome of the cathedral. Apparently, the architect, Christopher Wren’s, original design included the dome, but that feature was rejected. Wren was instructed to build it without a dome, but the contract allowed him to make any changes he thought necessary. So Wren just built it to his original spec, keeping the dome secret until it was obvious for all to see, at which point the doubtful were won over.
We also learned about the difficulties of St. Paul’s cathedral during the London blitz in World War II.
After the tour of St. Paul’s Cathedral, the group went to PaterNoster, a local pub for a drink. I had a half pint of one of the beers that was on tap.
The tour was over at this point. Some of the group, including me, returned to St. Paul’s cathedral to see the Evensong, an approximately 45 minute choral performance and psalm reading.
Then I went to dinner at Pasta Brown. I had the spaghetti pomodoro e basilico. It was good, but the atmosphere was a bit crowded. I tried to order the banoffee pie also, but they were out, or it was not ready yet, so it was not to be.
SIX: the Musical
“With Henry, it isn’t easy.
– Katherine Howard, “All You Wanna Do”
His temper’s short and his mates are sleazy.”
After dinner, I went over to the nearby Vaudeville Theatre to see the performance of Six, the musical about the six wives of Henry VIII.
I loved it! It was banging! It starts off strong and doesn’t quit. The songs range in style from soaring ballads to bubblegum pop to hip-hop.
It was very much like a concert, but with some humorous dialogue between the actresses playing the wives. Each queen has a feature song telling her story.
It had a strong girl power message, and re contextualizes how we think about these women. I can’t recommend it enough.
I also had a greater appreciation for this part of English history, having visited the Tower of London earlier today, the site of the execution of wife #2, Anne Boleyn.
Total steps: 16,770
Staycation No More 