We were gone 13 days, and i'm on Day 7 (technically Day 8 but i didn't think you wanted to hear about the "real" Day 1 since it was allllll about traveling...)
Anyway!
The day began with breakfast at our hotel. Have i mentioned that we loved our hotel? It was great!
Anyway, next we took the Tube to go see The Tower of London, but just outside the Tube Station there is a wall that the Romans built waaay back in the day:
Roman Wall outside the Tube Station
which is just down from
The Tower of London.
The history here is AMAZING!
This wall is somewhere around 3000 years old!
Our Yeoman Warder ("Beefeater") Chris,
though he said if you didn't like the tour, then his name is 'Bob'.
The Yeoman Warders and their families live at The Tower of London.
There was more than one "tower" there,
and this is one of them.
I guess technically it should be called
The Towers of London...
But it's not.
And nobody wanted to change it on MY say-so...
The Bloody Tower, where people convicted to die (by be-headings mostly) walked through on the way to their deaths.
Just outside The Tower of London.
This was the fortress wall around it.
One of the Yeoman Warders' jobs is to guard the Jewel House.
This is where the Queen's crowns and jewels and other valuables are kept.
The Queen says she leaves them there so "the people" can see them whenever they want. (hmmm...)
There are so many Crowns in there!
Also the Queen's (King's) Coronation Robe (which weighs
20 pounds!) is guarded there.
Check it out on Wikipedia. This place is fascinating!
Outside The Tower of London
We went in by a different way, but we exited through here.
Yes, we had to pay to get in.
The Tower Bridge
(spanning the River Thames [pronounced 'tims'])
The fortress wall surrounding the Tower of London (on the left)
and the Tower Bridge (on the right).
Boyfriend and i on the Tower Bridge.
It was chilly and we were getting hungry.
Well, *i* was anyway. Boyfriend kept hanging around
snapping pix of everything!
(Thanks Honey, really!)
The Tower Bridge
We ate at a place at the end of the bridge called, oddly enough, Tower House. I got the Shepherd's Pie (made with lamb). YUM!!
Shepherd's Pie
That's what everybody calls it, but it's short for
The Tate Modern Museum of Art.
Love!
Jackson Pollack
Salvador Dali
(We couldn't get a shot "straight on" because there was this little girl,
about 9 years old, perched on the floor in front of it with her sketchbook, copying the egg. We didn't dare disturb her!) =-)
Andy Warhol hanging on
an Andy Warhol wallpapered wall
Rodin
(It was MUCH bigger than the cheap imitation copy
that props my bedroom door open.)
I was kinda surprised that this modern museum
doesn't look modern at all from the outside, but rather like
an old industrial factory.
It's right on the Thames.
The picture is taken from the Millennium Bridge that crosses the river.
The Millennium Bridge from inside the Tate Modern.
Me and Boyfriend beside the Millennium Bridge
just before we got on to cross it.
I really like this bridge.
It's one of only two "pedestrian only" bridges
that cross the Thames in London.
It was good to sit, and really good to have a nice glass of wine. =-)
Il Portico.
Italian restaurant not far from the Kensingon/High St Tube Station.
VERY good food and servers!
As a "reward" for all the walking we did, we treated ourselves to dessert.
A lava cake with "molten" chocolate inside, and ice cream on the side.
Yummy!
W & C had Creme Brulee
De-lish!
Another wonderful day!
=-)
The Tate Modern was originally a power station (Bankside Power Station) which is why it looks so industrial - just so you know....
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