London, United Kingdom

The train strike is confirmed for tomorrow which means that going anywhere that requires travel will need to be done today and we won’t get to do as much as we would like in London. There will be buses but our experience of the amount of people, both tourist and domestic that are here and will also be clamouring for a seat would just make it not worth the hassle.

We prioritised see the Tower of London today, and time permitting the Tower Bridge where you can walk over a glassed area, and perhaps Westminster but we both felt that would be pushing it. Its not only what time permits, but it is absorbing everything you see and doing too much can just make the day too much of a blur.

We got in quickly without a queue by buying the ticket near the subway exit rather than the main gate. This allowed us to take the ‘group’ entry which basically meant we walked right in. This was pure luck and not what we had read anywhere. We did however read and here that one should do the crown jewels first, and then the other sections as interested you. We headed there and found a small queue of about 100, but it only took about 10 minutes and we got in. I am again disappointed you cannot take photos and don’t know why they stop you but they were incredibly impressive – more so than any others we have seen.

When you first enter the ‘tower’ building you pass through a series of rooms with informative videos and information on the jewels that touch on the kings and queens who have worn them from William I the Conqueror (1066) to Henry VIII, to Elizabeth I and the current monarch. After this you enter a hall with exhibits (behind glass and serious ‘safe’ style metal doors) and see the actual coronation items in the order that they are used whenever a King or Queen is crowned. You also see ceremonial maces, swords and trumpets that lead the procession to Westminster Abbey.

You see the royal 20 lb robe, the eagle oil pouring flask, jewelled sword, and the gold spoon for anointing with oil, the latter being the oldest item there dating back to the 12th century. There are also various orbs and sceptres but the most exciting viewing of sceptre and orb is the ‘Sovereigns Scepter’ which is encrusted with the worlds largest cut diamond – the 530 carat Star of Africa. Seriously it was as big as the palm of my hand and so clear and perfect and had me dribbling …..It was cut from the 3,106 carat Cullinan diamond and other huge diamonds from that original stone also belong to the Royal collection.

The Queen Mother’s crown has the 106 carat Koh-I-Noor diamond in the front and the Imperial State Crown that the Queen wears has 3,733 jewels including the pearls from Queen Elizabeth I earrings, a huge “Black Prince Ruby” (actually a spinel) the size of a bantam egg, Edward the Confessors blue sapphire, the Stuart 105 ct Sapphire, and the Cullinan II diamond weighing around 314 ct. Wow, wow, sigh.

When you view the crowns and jewelled orbs you travel past a glass case – quite close and can hop off and do this as many times as you like, viewing both sides. I had to do it three times just to be able to take it in, and try I did but such bling is totally overwhelming.

Now to the rest of the viewing which we did after an average lunch in the cafe – of fish and chips, peas and a gammon steak with mash, cabbage and gravy. William I (1077-1097), built a stone ‘White Tower” (now in the center) to keep Londoner’s in line. It was also an effective lookout for seeing invaders coming up the Thames. His successors enlarged it to its present 18 acre size. Because of the security it provided, the Tower served over the centuries as a royal residence, the Royal Mint, the Royal Jewel house, and most famously as the prison and execution site of those who dared oppose the Crown.

We didn’t have time to do a ‘Beefeater’ (Yeoman Warden) tour (they still live here), but did a wall walk viewing the Beauchamp Tower where prisoners where kept, seeing the graffiti from prisoners who were held there. From there we climbed the stairs into the White Tower where there is an impressive armoury collection including the gruesome head chopping block, the chapel in the tower where Lady Jane Grey (cousin of Bloody Mary) offered her last prayer, and a general scoot around the area. The collection was huge and you walked through various levels to view it starting with collection of Kings Armoury including their matching horses outfits, to guns, swords, spears, lances, canon, shields and a display of wooden ‘heads’ of Kings made in the 1600’s. What I found fascinating with these is that they are like photos of the kings. Research indicated they were made for the armoury displays but were researched at the time to be ‘accurate’. They have done a lot of tests and current validation (research/comparison) and believe it to be so.

The Tower was a great visit and suitable for all ages and fitness. We didn’t have time to do the bridge walk but that didn’t worry us too much as the river cruise and bus ride had given us great views of it, and under it.

Time was moving very quickly – especially viewing the huge collections and we wanted to get back to the train before the evening business traffic (4pm), given they would probably start leaving early before the strike commenced at 6:30pm. Trains were busy but not ridiculous and we went home for a bit to rest before heading up the street and grabbing some good old chain food – BK and KFC wrap as lunch was more like dinner and had filled us up. BK have a ‘warm brownie’ pudding here which has a soft centre like a fondant and it was rather good. They also have nacho bites (crumbed cheese) which can be missed comfortably.