Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London September 8, 2006

This morning we took the Tube to Trafalgar Square. The National Gallery is here along with the Lord Nelson Monument. It is a busy place with traffic buzzing around constantly on this Friday morning, but it was another beautiful day with blue skies and temperatures in the 70s.

From there we walked down the Mall to Buckingham Palace to watch what every visitor to London must see, the changing of the guard. We arrived at 10:40 AM to see hordes of people already lining the high wrought iron fence that surrounds the palace. The guide books tell you to be there early or all you will see is the “backs of heads” and any later and that would have been our view. We squeezed in on one side and waited for the event to begin at 11:30. With much pomp and ceremony not to mention horses and brass bands the change came off without a hitch and the Queen was safe for another shift. It is quite the spectacle.

We left the Palace and meandered through St. James Park toward the Tube station of the same name but decided to stop for lunch as Holly spied a pub that was not yet inundated with midday diners. Holly ordered fish and chips while I the sausage and mash. We shared the plates so we could both get a taste of authentic London cuisine and I’m happy to report that we were not disappointed in the “Old Star Pub”.

We reached the Tower of London after a short Tube ride and bought our tickets to another of London’s “must see” sights. The Tower is a listed UNESCO site and houses some of Britain’s most sordid history.

The original tower, the White Tower, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 after the battle of Hastings as both a palace fortress and a message to the people of England that he was now the man. By 1285 two walls with towers and a moat had been added but very little alteration of these medieval defenses have been made since that time. The complex has been used as a residence, an armory, a repository for the Crown Jewels, a barracks, a prison and a place of execution. The likes of Sir Walter Raleigh and Ann Boleyn were executed here just to mention a few. One of the legends of the Tower is that the future Richard III ordered the murder of his nephews 12 year old Edward V and his younger brother in order to gain the crown. The White Tower now houses a massive collection of arms and armor while the Waterloo Barracks, now known as the Jewel Tower, contains the Crown Jewels. Both are well worth seeing. Another legend concerns the ravens that are on the grounds of the Tower. It is said that if they leave the Tower will collapse. The clever keepers have clipped their wings to prevent this from happening. I would recommend either taking the guided “Beef Eater” tour or renting an audio tour head set. Both will give you the background you need to understand the significance of this place.

Just outside the walls of the Tower is the Tower Bridge. A Thames River walkway gave us an excellent view and a kindly Londoner agreed to take our picture with the bridge in the background.

After the tour we headed back to the Tower Hill Tube Station. Tower Hill is where the less well connected were publicly executed. As we waited on the platform an announcement was made that there were delays on the Circle Line, our line of course, and the trains would be moving slow this afternoon. The trip back to Bayswater where our hotel is located took about an hour or twice what it should have. The joys of big city touring.