London - Day 2

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We got off to a late start...jet lag, time change... We headed out to the Tower of London and what a place that is. I'm very thankful we never had to live there. We learned that many kings were not great architects because not long after some of them built additions they would collapse into disaster. There was quite a menagerie of wild animals kept there until not terribly long ago. The foreign kings would give them as gifts to the people "who had everything". Lions were the favorite and the particular kind are extinct in the wild and only in zoos. Once the London zoo was built, they were transferred there. At the Tower, they were not adequately confined and killed and injured many.

The highlight for me was the Crown Jewels. Because the Monarchy was abolished in the 1600's and then reinstated, nothing much goes beyond that in age. All of the previous crowns jewels were melted down or otherwise destroyed. But, what they do have is FABULOUS! Unfortunately, you still don't get to see everything because the Queen has her private collection. I am hoping we get to see them on our tour of Buckingham Palace.

Larry loved the armory where all of the Kings' suits of armor are. King Henry VIII was quite proud of himself. See if you can figure out why.

We grabbed some lunch at a riverside cafe. The Thames is a muddy mess, much like the Missouri or Mississippi. There is a riverwalk on both sides that covers about 40 miles so we walked along that until we needed to get off to go to St. Paul's Cathedral. Unfortunately it was closed so we will have to go back.

Lots of meandering after that. We had dinner reservations at St. John which was a kind of bucket list thing form as I have followed the chef for years. I feel like he is the guy that started the farm to table movement. Needless to say the dinner was fantastic. And so was the beer at the pub prior to dinner.

We headed back to our hotel. If there weren't apartment buildings across the street, we would have a view of the river. There are shops and restaurants down there so we had a night cap and went to bed.

Things I learned in London today:

1. We need a sepulcher, a crown would be nice but a sepulcher is a necessity

2. Fishnet stockings are in style

3. London pigeons are very friendly

4. Ravens yell at you when you don't feed them

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