This morning on the tube was an advertisement for the ongoing affliction known as Les Miserables, not stopped playing in London since it first opened. "20 years and still like a first night", crowed the poster. What, dropped lines, missed cues and fluffed notes? I hope not, at those prices.
Tower of London first stop today, same idea as several other people on this Bank Holiday Monday. Arrived 90 minutes later than planned and joined the crowds with the 11.25 guided tour. Our guide was quite a wit. The Tower is in fact a complex of buildings, the oldest of which is the White Tower in the centre, and its history dates back to the Norman Conquest. The real crown jewels are back on display too, after replicas being used for some time, but for such a large building (Waterloo Tower) there seemed to be a lot of space in it and a rapid pass through each room was possible...no bad thing. The Tower complex now has four shops, all offering a few unique items of interest amongst all the usual I-heard-about-London-once-and-here's-a-tshirt tourist guff. Always buy a guidebook as a worthy souvenir, but here you have to buy two to get the picture! New Armouries Cafe a noisy modern room. The Medieval Palace area is an interesting attempt at restoration and produced some good photographs, although of course some of the wallwork was too far gone. Salt Tower impressively solid, nice views from the ramparts. White Tower four levels of congestion, gave up the first two times. Interesting collection of medieval armour and weaponry, and another shop. The weekend's VE Day special The Tower At War event consisted of three actors in period costume delivering character monologues linked by a period-costumed narrator, all rather good but no displays whatsoever, even though this was the reason I joined the heaving hordes today. Tower Bridge is still there, but the upper workings have only been open to the public since 1982. Two brief historical videos, and good views of the river and the city from up there but nothing London Eye wouldn't beat. The bridge's Victorian engine rooms proved more interesting. Pounding the pavement from Tower Bridge to London Bridge tube (via the WEEE Man exhibit) to get to today's last Thames Catamaran Cruise before the London Pass turns into a pumpkin at midnight.
Next
Previous
