Rain, Rain Go Away!

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Guess what! It's raining again today--even got some serious thunder and lightning in the late afternoon. But your intrepid travelers plugged onwards through the itinerary. First on the day's schedule was the Tower of London and Crown Jewels. We all were surprised to discover that it's not just one tower, but a large castle complex, with many towers, castles (one dating back to William the Conqueror), the Crown Jewels exhibit, armories, a chapel (containing crypts of Thomas More, Anne Boelyn, Jane Seymour, etc.), and the private homes of the Beefeaters and their families. There are even quarters for the current queen (originally built for Anne Boelyn), should she feel the need to leave the luxury of Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. We arrived when it opened, after snagging some Fast Track tickets at the downtown British Tourist Center first, and were able to walk right in and go through the Crown Jewels exhibit without crowds. The jewels and other royal paraphernalia were quite impressive, actually.
By the time we got out of the exhibit, the place was really filling up, despite the bad weather. (LOTS of school groups!) We took a guided tour of the complex led by a Beefeater (actually called a "yard warden"), who was hilarious and informative, then rushed through the remaining exhibits and buildings before heading over the Tower Bridge. We walked over the bridge--really striking and HUGE--to the Bankside area on the other side of the Thames on a search for the original sites of the Old Globe and Rose theaters, which we hadn't been able to find earlier. That pilgrimage took a bit of time, then we headed back across the river on the new Millennium Bridge through the driving wind and rain. We reached St. Paul's Cathedral just as it was closing, so we went on to the nearby "Old Bailey" (criminal courts), which also had just closed! We gave up and returned to our apartment to change and regroup before the theater. Les Miserables was incredible--great seats, amazing production, great voices, and Haagen-Daz ice cream sold in the aisles during intermission! All four of us thoroughly enjoyed our first experience with (contemporary) London theater.

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Photos

Memorial at Tower of London
to all who were beheaded there.

Grafitti by Prisoner Held in the Beauchamp Tower
which reads "hope in God departed in September", written by John Bullard, undated