After the London Eye, we took the Tube over to Tower Hill. Despite wanting to go right there, after the War Rooms, "Cleopatra's" Needle, and the London Eye, we needed sustenance, or, as Americans call it, "lunch." So we popped into The Minories. It was an underwhelming pub, at least at lunch, but it got the job done. There was also an international cricket on the telly, so that both got Carol's attention and thoroughly confused her.
I did my best to remember what I could about cricket from my five months in England (39 years ago) and my six weeks in Australia (34 years ago). My efforts were akin to Mr. Magoo leading the blind, but I'm certain some of my explanations were correct. But some were likely incorrect too, which means the next time Carol watches a cricket match, she'll be as confused then as she is now.
When we started watching, Australia had a healthy lead of something like 81-3. When we left it was 121-3, which blew Carol's mind. I'm pretty certain that the "3" runs by India (or wickets, or whatever they call the score) means they had a historically bad first at-bats and were well on their way to get smacked down.
Turns out that was just the first day of a four day ICC World Test Championship final. For those of you haven't skipped ahead to the next post, Australia won 469-296, which means my in-depth analysis that three runs is a pretty terrible first inning (or whatever) for India and would probably doom them. My cursory search of the Internet does not yield a score by innings, but suffice to say, India never got back in the game.
(Editor's Note: Are you actually going to the Tower? Writer: Huh? Oh yeah. Whoops -- forgot all about that, was so taken with the cricket match.)
Anyhow, we headed into the Tower, and relatively promptly joined a large group following along with a Yeoman Warder tour. He was an excellent tour guide (taking nothing away from him, but if you aren't an excellent tour guide, you don't keep the job), telling some of the more famous, and infamous stories of executions and prisoners at the Tower.
First view from Tower Hill.
The north and west walls.
The moat is now filled with a stunning
array of colorful flower that I don't
know the name of.
Barbarianette at the Gates.
Yo, man, he was our Yeoman Warder guide.
He's much funnier and interesting in person.
A couple of. . .
Tower selfies.
After the tour ended, we wandered around the Tower, including into the Bloody Tower, the chapel, additional buildings, and finally ending with a stroll along the whole Northern Wall. We didn't linger long, as we had to be back at the Thames Embankment by 4:15. We did cover some ground in the Tower, but skipped both the Crown Jewels (the lines were too long) and the White Tower.
The Tower has such an interesting and in-depth history. Murders of young princes, executions of queens, imprisonments (including Sir Walter Raleigh), and double-dealings galore. It's a keystone of British history. The building of it started in 1066, shortly after William the Conqueror, well, conquered.
(I must say his name makes it easier for British schoolchildren to remember the name of the Norman King who beat the Anglo-Saxons. The equivalent for American kids would be if Lincoln's full name was "Abraham the Guy Who Kicked The Confederacy's Ass," or Reagan was named "Ronald the Slayer of Communism").
The centerpiece, the White Tower, was built in 1078 under the direction of William the Conqueror, which means he should be known as "William the Conqueror and Architect," but that doesn't just roll off the tongue now, does it? Parts of the whole Tower served as a prison from 1100 to 1952, which is 852 years, which, for some reason is longer than any U.S. prison has been in service.
Anyhow, the whole history is pretty cool. It even has its own Watergate. People who entered the Watergate there didn't just go to prison like the D.C. Watergate, they often were executed. For example, if Anne Boleyn, Henry the VIII's second wife, could talk about the circumstances of her beheading, it would be fascinating. Of course, she can't talk because not only was her head chopped off, but she's also dead.
Anyhow, you get the idea. The Tower is bloody amazing to visit.
Two tan people, and The White Tower.
Part of the Bloody Tower.
A Tudor part of the Tower.
Yeoman Warders live there
now with their families.
Tower Bridge from the Tower.
The White Tower.
If these houses in the Tower were
bigger, they'd be called "Fordor"
style instead of Tudor style.
The North wall of the Tower.
Iconic picture.
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