We are lucky to be in a quite unusual situation in that we have a lot more explore-time than most tourists who visit this great city, but haven't yet hit the been-there-done-that threshold which (we assume) must exist for every resident. So we thought it might be interesting to give our thoughts on London's various attractions in an occasional series. For our first instalment we'll be reporting on The Tower of London.
First and foremost, it should be noted that The White Tower, the tallest and most readily-identifiable structure in the complex, is going to be swathed in scaffolding and plastic sheeting for the next THREE YEARS while it gets refurbished. You can still go inside - there are numerous rooms full of weaponry and suits of armour, including Henry VIII's hyper-codpieced mid-life-crisis sports model - but your exterior photos will not be quite as instantly recognisable. You'll still have a great angle on Tower Bridge though!
Of course, no visit to the Tower is complete without a stickybeak at The Crown Jewels - you'll be whisked past them on a travelator, but there's nothing to stop you going back for another look. Frankly, they're not the most impressive bit of royal jewellery on display. Queen Victoria's crown features a diamond comfortably bigger than a golf ball.
There is a MUST DO when you go to the Tower however. The Beefeater Tours are free with your entry ticket, run several times a day, and are definitely well worth hanging around for. On our visit, we had a real tough-nut ex-paratrooper who was also absolutely hilarious. He'd ask the assembled crowd a series of simple questions, to which we'd all dutifully reply "yes", "yes", "yes" etc until he'd throw in a trick question - we'd reply "yes" and he'd bellow "NO!!!!!" Terrifying but funny. He picked on Bec for being a "ginger" (like Queen Elizabeth) in between teasing Americans for being fat and stupid. Legend.
He also had a neat explanation for the "ER" on the front of his tunic:
"Would've thought it was obvious. It's 'cos I work for 'ER (jerking thumb towards Buckingham Palace) isn't it?"
Tuesday 15 April 2008
A Look at London: Ye Olde Tower Of London
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2 comments:
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Ah, the cod-piece. Still, doesn't compete with "The Black Russian" from Black Adder. :)
Our Beefeater was all about bagging the crap out of Aussies as much as he could during the tour. At the start of the tour it was "For all the foreigners, 'Welcome'. For all the Aussies 'Welcome home'." Classic.
See ya,
Brushy.
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