Our day started reasonably early, getting up around 7am, to be ready to jump in a cab at around 8.15am. Our itinerary had changed at the last minute yesterday as we were supposed to have been doing a private VIP pre-opening tour including the opening ceremony (ooo - fancy!) at 8am, but unfortunately our guide was sick and couldn't take us. Also, unbeknownst to our travel agent, there's also construction going on in the Tower right now which meant that the opening ceremony wasn't happening either. Dammit. So instead, we were reassigned to another tour guide called Leonie and told to meet her directly at the Tower at 9am, at regular opening hours.
Of course, the whole point of the VIP early exercise was to make sure that we didn't get snarled in horrendous queues to see the Crown Jewels, so we crossed our collective fingers and hoped that being there at opening time would be enough to get a jump start! We arrived a little early, so hung out in Starbucks for a few minutes, re-caffeinating, and then walked across the street to the Tower and to find our new guide. We were told to meet her at the Group Ticket office and, when we got there, it was already heaving with people. I couldn't immediately see Leonie so called her - and then spotted her already in line for us, and number 2 in the queue to collect our tickets! Yey for Leonie!!
We waited in the warm in the information office while she finished queuing (feeling a little bit like VIPs again!) and then she came over to introduce herself and take us round the tower. Like our guide from the day before, she was absolutely excellent and kept us thoroughly informed and entertained as we went through the whole Tower - I certainly learnt a ton of stuff I didn't know, so it was definitely money well spent!!
So as soon as she scooped us up, we headed straight for the Crown Jewels. I'd been to see them about a year or so ago, but again, having her commentary as we went round, explaining the history and role for each piece we were seeing just brought everything to life! Unfortunately you are not allowed to take any pictures inside the tower where the jewels are kept, so i can't share any with you (that's one rule you figure the consequences of breaking would be bad) but needless to say, they were as impressive as I remember.
Anyway, so it took us about a half hour to do the jewels and, by the time we came out, there was already a line stretching out the door that hadn't been there when we'd arrived. So we felt really good about that!! And - by the time we left the Tower itself just before noon, the line not only stretched out the door, but all the way down the hill leading up to the door and double-backing on itself! The line was probably at least an hour and a half long - and it was cold today. So thank GOD we weren't stuck in that!! Leonie said that there have been occasions when she's conducted her entire Tower tour while waiting on line with people! Yikes!
So, that was that. After the Crown Jewels, we then went round the rest of the castle in turn, checking out the White Tower (of course) which has served many functions in its time including the Armoury where weapons and ordinance was kept. But did you know that its also where the maps were drawn, giving rise to the term "Ordinance Survey"? The Normans who built the White Tower were considered very advanced for the age with such luxuries as indoor toilets and fireplaces & chimneys along the walls (rather than just dumped in the middle of the room) considered luxuries and innovations not seen before! There was also the expected impressive amount of armor and weapons, including those of Henry VIII (from smaller to bigger sizes!), Charles I and James II. All pretty old and impressive stuff. We also saw the ravens as well as Tower Green out in the courtyard next to the chapel where both Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard met their fate. Off with their heads!! Anyway, as you'd expect, I took a ton of pictures - here are the edited highlights, so enjoy!!
http://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/
We said goodbye to Leonie at just after 12pm (after a quick rest and refuel in the coffee shop for the last 30mins while she told us her final stories) and by that time, our brains were full, so we decided to head out of the Tower (no pun intended!). The next stop on our itinerary for the day was the London Eye for a 2.30pm "flight" so we too Leonie's advice and wandered over towards Tower Bridge. Its been a while since I've been on the bridge, so you forget how impressive it is. ManpanionTM was trying to figure out how the bridge operated (gotta love an engineer!) and was thus helped immensely when we stumbled across the Tower Bridge Experience tour of the Engine Rooms!! So we paid to go in there and spent a happy half hour or so looking at very large pistons and flywheels and regulators and other stuff I only had a fairly vague understanding of (basic summary though - coal - burned to produce steam - drive pistons - convert to mechanical energy). But it was warm and, by the end of our visit, I could actually feel my feet again, so we all left happy.
Finishing crossing the bridge, the river bank was lined with Christmas stalls, selling various knick knacks and gifts, as well as lots of delicious smelling food!! But - we'd just filled up on cheese sandwiches at the Tower - dammit!! Anyway, we didnt have all that long to wander about as it was time to jump in a cab and head over to the Eye.
And that's when the heavy fog that had been shrouding the Tower turned from "atmospheric and spooky" to "bollocks - we're not going to be able to see anything!". And that's exactly what happened!!! We had the VIP Fast Pass tickets so were able to bypass the line (despite the fog, there were still a TON of people around!) and hop into one of the pods within a few minutes. For the first quarter turn we could see a little of the surrounding view but, as we got higher and our pod disappeared more completely into the heavy fog, we could barely even make out the pods to either side of us!!! So, to be honest, it was a bit of a bust but c'est la vie! Win some, lose some!!
After our Eye "experience", it was time to get out of the cold for a bit so I found us a nice pub called the White Hart, about a 15 min walk away. It was off the beaten path a bit, so we could take some respite from the crowds and we spent a very pleasant hour or so, playing Euchre and devouring bowls of poutine, mac and cheese with a horseradish crust and mushrooms on toast with Stilton. Yum!! At just before 4pm we decided to take a cab for the short 4min drive back to the London Dungeon (situated right near the Eye) as it was cold and we were feeling lazy. Unfortunately our London cabbie took us instead to where the London Dungeon used to be (ie back near the Tower) rather than where it actually is today (ie right next to the Eye, where we'd just been!). We didn't realize this until we'd hopped out of the cab and were wandering the street looking for it, and ended up asking a security guy. So, back into a cab and race back the way we came, so that we could make our 4.30pm entrance time! (I was also dying for a pee, so all the driving at high speed over cobbly streets was not going over well!).
After a heroic dash and sprint, we actually made it in time - hurrah! I've been to the London Dungeon before many years ago and, from what I recall then, it was a series of exhibits of torture devices and gruesome exhibits. This time? Well, not so much. I guess I should have paid more attention to the fact its now billed as an "experience" as it was basically a walk through a series of staged vignettes with actors role-playing various characters (think Sweeny Todd, an executioner, a judge etc). We were jammed in with about 30 or so other people, so it was very herd-like and not what either ManpanionTM or I were expecting. There were some mildly entertaining moments (G.Squid kept getting picked on by the actors, including being locked in a cage!) but mainly it was a bit of a drag, if I'm completely honest. If I'd have known what it was, I probably wouldn't have chosen to do it. And I also understood Leonie's lukewarm reaction earlier in the day when we said we were doing that in the afternoon - on reflection, our time would have been better spent looking at the torture exhibition in the tower!
But, live and learn - it was OK but not the same heights of awesomeness that this morning had hit! After the Dungeon, everyone was pretty knackered (there's something inherently exhausting about getting shuffled about in large groups), so we just headed back to the hotel for a nice relaxing evening in, enjoying yummy food from M&S! Tomorrow, we have another fun-filled action packed day ahead of us - plus its New Year's Eve! Need to mentally prepare for the madness of NYE in the center of London...... eek!
(ps just running out now (writing this on Sat am!) so will add photo captions later!! - til then feel free to use your imaginations!!)
