Day 5 – Sunday, Nov. 30th – last full day in London

Mer had us directly on the Tube on a different line from the Jubilee, so no mall-cafe breakfast this day. We were trying to get to the Tower about the time it opened. This would allow us to see other sights in the afternoon, and it would also let us beat crowds. We figured we could grab food on the way from the Tube to the the Tower, and we were correct. We found a Starbucks and ducked in for a hot chocolate and breakfast pastries. It seems to me that there is about one Starbucks every two blocks in England, probably by law. Some tourist places have even more – St. Paul’s has a Starbucks on the square at each end of the church so that you don’t get exhausted walking the one block from one Starbucks to the next. It really is amazing. Still, the Starbucks stop did the trick, and we continued on our several-block walk to the Tower.

For those who do not know (and I used to be one), the Tower is actually a whole castle complex surrounding the original keep. I always used to picture just a tower, with maybe a moat. Nope – it’s a castle, and the moat is dry and now houses an ice skating rink. I think there used to be one main tower, and maybe that is where the name came from – I get a little sketchy on the history of the Tower. I think it was built around 1067 by William the Conqueror as a reminder to the locals as to who was in charge. In the 1,000 years since, it has been modified a few times, so it gets confusing to keep track of it without a history book.

We queued/lined up for our tickets, and discovered we were behind a group of Italians. Oddly, in cold, dreary, rainy London in late November, there were Italian tourists everywhere we went (except Starbucks – I expect a real Italian would not be caught in a Starbucks). The Italians were loud and enthusiastic, and, of course, looked good. Italians, both men and women, somehow manage to put themselves together, even when being tourists in a cold and rainy country. We got our tickets and proceeded to the entrance of the Tower. On the way, I smiled at an Italian man yelling at his son to come for a picture. The boy was busy trying to kick a pigeon one instant, and then was looking sweet for a picture the next. Boys will be boys, even when Italians in England.

We entered at the drawbridge, which allowed a good view of the ice rink. The ice rink made me happy. It seemed like a good use for a moat. We made our way into the Tower, and made a beeline toward the building that houses the Crown Jewels. Mer’s ever-present Rick warned that the line for the jewels can become very long, and recommended going straight there. Obediently, that is what we did. Along the way, we walked up on an unkindness of ravens. I figured they would move out of the way, and most did. One stalwart fellow would not move, and squawked at me right from my feet. I was very startled – it was a really big bird, and by the time I recovered my wits enough to think about a picture, the raven had wandered away –  “a picture nevermore,” quoth he (I was able to get a picture of some ravens later in the day).

It began to gently rain, and so we continued on to the crown jewel building. We walked right in, and discovered an elaborate Disney-esque line system that wound back and forth through several rooms. Each of the rooms had films telling about the history of the Crown Jewels, but we flew by these to get to the real thing. We basically wandered right up to the display area.

Mer had seen them before when she was about 7. She had remembered them being in a basement vault-type room, but now the jewels are displayed well in glass cases with moving walkways on either side of them. Mer inquired of a very helpful guard, and he confirmed they used to be in a vault, but it was not a good space to display them, especially for the handicapped. He proceeded to tell us about the jewels in the crowns (including the largest cut diamond in the world), and some of the history of the crowns. There are several crowns on display. The main crown is worn by the monarch for just 20 minutes on his or her coronation day, and then is put back on display until the next coronation. There is a (slightly) less elaborate crown that is ceremonial and is used by the monarch to do official things, like opening Parliament. I asked the guard how they moved the crowns since they are priceless. He told me in great detail, and it was amazing, but I was sworn to secrecy. Actually, and not surprisingly, they are not allowed to talk about moving the jewels.

Mer and I went back and forth on the moving walkways several times. The Crown Jewels really are beautiful. Being American, I do not like or approve of monarchies, but even I had to admit the pomp that these crowns and garments would instill would be very impressive.

We finished in the updated vault area by looking at other treasures, including a huge gold punchbowl and serving implements, and wandered outside. It was a soft day, as the Irish would say – a gentle rain was falling steadily now. After a bathroom stop, we headed to the main keep section of the Tower complex. This was used as an armory in the 15th and 16th centuries, and now displays arms and armor, including Henry the 8th’s armor from when he was fat and old, with a famously large codpiece. There was also a suit of armor for a huge man (I think he was 6’8″ or something like that – it was really big). One room had some interactive displays, including a chance to see what it would look like looking through a visor in armor (you can’t see anything), and a display on pulling back a longbow (not too hard) and a display on handling a sword, which got heavy in a hurry. There was lots to see and read, but we mostly blew through just taking in the general atmosphere. We both liked a small chapel that is in the keep – it was simple and quiet, and probably could only hold about 20 people.

We then headed over to what I think is the Tower proper, but I’m not sure. It is the cell rooms that Sir Walter Raleigh occupied when he was in the Tower, and a room that is dedicated to the two crown princes who disappeared from the Tower under the reign of Richard III, and presents various theories as to what happened to them. These rooms were interesting, and I liked the narrow windy staircases to the second-floor rooms.

We headed on over to an old palace section where one of the early kings kept his residence (Edward? 1200s?). There were rooms describing how the Tower probably looked at the time, and the history of the king at the time. It was interesting looking, but we pushed through, since we did not have lots of time. We did take a few minutes in one room that had actors in character from the period (except they did speak modern English). I was delighted when they singled Meredith out because of her enormous coat. The coat never lacks for comment, even from 13th-century nobles! They inquired into the origin of the coat, and Mer gave me credit for killing and skinning a snow leopard. One of the nobles rebuked me for working on the coat on the Sabbath, but the other noble pointed out that I could not hunt, kill, skin, and make the coat in one day, and so probably had not made the coat that day. They were playing some game that involved lining up pieces of colored stones, but I did not quite follow it. Mer asked if they should be playing a game on the Sabbath, and the actor looked uncomfortable and explained they were not gambling, and which point a period lady exclaimed she would wager a ring on the noble’s victory. It was quite delightful.

We headed out on to the walls to wander around them, and we took them halfway around the castle. You could get great views of the Tower Bridge, which everyone (including me) always thinks is London Bridge, but it is not. It also surprised me to find out that the Tower Bridge is fairly new – it is a drawbridge from the late 19th century, but looks (to me) to be much older. It is pretty cool.

We could not get a guided tour (they do not run them in the rain for safety issues), so we decided to leave the Tower and head off toward the reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. I asked Mer if we could walk, and cross using the Tower Bridge, and she gamely agreed. Even though I am scared of heights, I like climbing things, and I was looking forward to crossing the upper level of the bridge. Sadly, the upper level was closed for repair work, so I had to satisfy myself with just getting to cross the bridge.

It turns out the Globe is a bit of a hike from the Tower, but it was nice to walk in London for a decent amount instead of Tubing everywhere. We got to see a cool church along the way, and we saw a recreation of the Golden Hind, the ship Sir Francis Drake used to go around the world. It was stunningly small. It is amazing they did not all go crazy on the ship. We made it to the Globe and paid for admission to the museum section. A tour was leaving shortly, so we rested (for my back) while watching local college kids learn stage sword fighting. It was interesting to watch. Our tour commenced with a group of about 20, and our tour guide was a funny older lady who loved the Globe. She even bought a square in the pavement for her name (as part of a fundraiser), but could not show it to us because it was under scaffolding – the Globe thatched roof was being repaired (the first and only thatched roof in London since the great fire of 1666). We went into the theater, and sat in the benches and listened to stories of the theater, The theater can hold about 1600 people, 600 of whom stand on the main floor (they are called “groundlings”). Last season, the director staged a sword fight among the groundlings, who simply had to get out of the way. It must have been pretty exciting. Groundlings can lean on the stage, and occasionally can get commented on by the actors. The entire theater is lit at all times, so the actors can see the entire audience. It looks as if it would be some pretty intimate theater.  I would love to see a play there.

Shockingly, the tour ended at the gift shop. I decided to throw caution to the wind since I figured it would be awhile before we got back, and I ended up with about $150 worth of stuff for Mer’s classroom. So, you can see it was all for the kids at CVCA.

We did go back into the Globe museum, but my back was acting up again, and it was about 4:00, so we did not look around too much. We did take time to listen to some recordings of various actors doing famous speeches from Shakespeare. Most were good, but I would have thought some were parodies – the over-the-top, semi-pompous, rolling “r”s kind of Shakespeare that can be pretty mock-worthy. Still, many were fantastic, and some were amazing. What was funny is that the same actor could be silly-sounding in one role, and moving in another.

I wanted to catch an Advent service at St. Paul’s, which was just across the river, so we left and took the handy and cool pedestrian bridge and made our way back to the church. Along the way we met a very friendly man who was either slightly drunk or slightly mad, but he was kind enough to say hello and wanted to take a picture of us. He seemed pleasant enough, so I let him try. He got a picture of us with St. Paul’s in the background, but the picture was really blurry. He was quite proud of it. I’m still not sure if he was on the drink or just mad. He was very nice though.

We got to St. Paul’s at about 4:20, and I thought the service started at 5:00, so we joined the line/queue and waited. About 4:45 we heard the news that the doors opened at 5:00 and the service started at 6:00. Ooops. Still, I figured I would not get another chance to be at an Advent service at St. Paul’s again, so we stayed. We did get in at 5:00, and Mer and I headed to the front, hoping to sit under the dome. Sadly, you needed special tickets to get that far up front, but we did sit in the second row of free seats, which was still quite a ways in the church. By the time the service started, the church was full. I do not know how many people were there, but I am guessing it was well over 1000.

The service was beautiful. There was a large choir that moved all about the church. There were several congregational hymns and carols, including one of my favorites, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Roughly speaking, the service went “choral music, modern poetry reading, scripture reading or prayer, hymn” – and repeat several times. The service went for a little over an hour, and the acoustics were amazing again. I really am a big fan of St. Paul’s. As an added bonus, they opened the main doors to the church which are only used on special occasions. The doors are huge (about 30 feet tall), and it was wonderful to be able to look straight back into the church from outside. As we left, Mer commented on how while she loved New Baltimore Community Church, there is a part of her soul that loves formal liturgical services. I have to agree.

We were quite hungry at this point. I though about walking back to the Eye to ride the merry-go-round, but when I got to the river, I saw it was a long ways off. So, we popped into a pub to have a real English meal. It turns out the kitchen had closed, and since a supper of beer did not strike us as appetizing, we went back to the square around St. Paul’s and popped in to a pizza place for supper. Once again, we had some really good food, including dessert, and then we caught the Tube back home. Happily, I was able to catch a few minutes of American football on the TV while we got ready for bed.

Thus ended our last real day in London. We still had some Tubing to do to get to the airport, but that was all we were going to be able to do the next day. I think we did pretty well given the time we had!