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Published: October 15th 2007
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I got up and moving and checked out of the hostel by about 8:00. As I was walking out the door, the Aussies I had met the night before were walking back in (they had left to go out about 9:00), each with a girl on his arm. One of them said, "It was a good night." I grinned and said that I believed him.
I took the tube to central London. My directions weren't perfect, so I ended up a little ways from where I was trying to go, the Tower of London. That was ok though, because I really enjoyed wandering around the sleeping city and walking along the river. The Tower Bridge came into view through the morning fog (not the London Bridge- because it is ugly and boring) and soon I was at the Tower. I still had some time before it opened, so I walked across the bridge and back.
I was one of the first through the entry gates at 10:00 and bee-lined it to the building where the crown jewels are kept. They were absolutely amazing. I have never seen so many diamonds and gems in one place in my life. Everything
was so well preserved, all of the gold was shining and the diamonds shimmered away.
I returned to the entrance to have a guided tour with one of the Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters. It was fun to hear the stories of all of the famous prisoners and learn the history of the Tower with corny humor from a guy in funny clothes! After he showed us around, I did more exploring on my own. I visited the Armory in the White Tower, the Bloody Tower where Sir Walter Raleigh was kept, and walked along the top of the walls.
My next destination was the Tate Modern, but I was in no hurry to get there. I decided to skip taking the bus and walk it. I crossed the Tower Bridge and went past city hall. It was surprising that their city hall was a super modern glass and steel structure rather than an old historical building. I wandered along the Thames, stopping in Hays Galleria- where the Tea Clippers used to dock, now a shopping area. Then I stumbled upon a building with a photography exhibition and browsed through it. The Globe Theater (rebuilt at some point) where
Shakespeare's plays were performed was right near the Tate. I crossed Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral. Unfortunately, there was massive restoration work going on so there wasn't much to see outside, and it was Sunday so I couldn't go inside.
I crossed back and entered the Tate, which is housed in a converted power station- pretty cool. In Turbine Hall, which was the ground floor and absolutely huge was a piece of "art" called Shibboleth. Shibboleth is nothing more than a crack that runs from one end of the room to the other. It was recently "installed" by some Colombian artist and is supposed to represent something deep and meaningful. To me, it was just a big crack.
The rest of the displays were pretty cool, but a lot of the art was a bit too modern for my liking (I know, I know, as much as I have griped about Renaissance art I am now griping about modern art!). But seriously, one piece was a green neon light hung diagonally on the wall. Another was a canvas with a slash down the middle. I could have done either of those. Put me in a museum. There
were some Picasso's and Pollack's (pre-paint dripping) that I liked and several others that I recognized. The whole place was rather crowded though- the first crowds I have encountered this weekend.
The Tate was the last item on my itinerary, so I caught the bus to Liverpool St. I had some time to kill so I went exploring around the station. I ran into a cool open air market full of hand-made clothes and art. Then I grabbed a quick dinner and waited for my train.
The problem with traveling on Sundays is that is when they do "Engineering Works" a.k.a. they close sections of the tracks. I had to take the train to Marks Tey (don't ask me where that is, I have no idea) and then a bus to Ipswich, and then another train to Norwich. But I made it home safe and sound!
(I am in the library right now- I will post pics when I'm back in my room!)
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