Day 6: Friday, July 1, 2005

First stop: Tower Hill, where we caught a magnificent view of the Tower of London and the buildings that had sprung up around the castle over the ages. Public executions of prisoners of the Tower used to take place somewhere near here.

Tours of the Tower of London are guided by yeoman warders--guards who live on site. As our guide, Kevin, informed us, not just anyone can be a yeoman warder. One has to have served at least 16 years in the army and gone through a rigorous interview process before they can be considered for the job. The rate of being selected is about 1 in 6. No one has any idea why they are called "beefeaters".

Here is a view of Traitor's Gate. The water in the moat, like the river Thames, is positively brown, and therefore a natural defense for the castle: no one could possibly want to fall into it.

Free to explore on our own, we went first to the White Tower. Up until Henry VIII, the kings of England had lived here. At one time, the White Tower served as both a royal residence and a jailhouse. The thought of kings and queens living in the same building as political prisoners was a trifle strange--for one thing, all those narrow flights of stairs that monarchs had to climb in order to reach their chambers could not have been very convenient. For another, it must not have been pleasant to sleep in the same castle as the people that one was going to execute the next day. No wonder they worried so much about ghosts.

The Waterloo Block, home of the Crown Jewels and other traffic-stopping sparkly objects. In one room, visitors had to walk on conveyor belts in order to keep the crowds moving. At least we arrived early enough to avoid the queues. :-)

The Queen's House was built by Henry VIII for Anne Boleyn, but the only time she lived in it was during her imprisonment for adultery and treason. A pair of royal ravens sit in front of the Queen's House. There is a superstition that if the ravens leave the Tower, the monarchy will fall.

Tower Green, where Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey were each given a private execution.

Walking along the walls of the Tower...

The new armouries.

An interactive re-enactment of the Gunpowder Plot, starring "Guy Fawkes" as John Johnson.

The crowds at the Tower when we left.

A view of Tower Bridge, from the harbour near the Tower of London.

We could not find out the name of the building across the Thames, so we called it ineloquently, "the Egg Thing".

Our last glimpse of the Tower before heading for lunch.

Lunch was at a restaurant just outside the Tower that served authentic fish and chips with real tartar sauce. No more Highliner fish fingers for us!

Dark clouds stole over us as we went to St. Paul's Cathedral...

Unfortunately by the time we made our way to the Temple Church of St. Mary, where the effigies of the Knights Templar lay, the church had already ended its public viewing hours for the day. Every Friday at 1 p.m. throughout the summer, there is supposed to be a lecture on Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code at the Temple Church. If only I had found out earlier!

We ended the day with dinner with Elena's friends.

Day 7: Saturday, July 2, 2005

Mostly Hampton Court

Our guide, "Sir Anthony Denny", came to meet us at Clock Court.

Fountain Court, a Christopher Wren addition commissioned by William III. "Anne Seymour" kindly posed with Elena.

The East Front and the gardens.

We made it to the centre of the maze!

An aerial view of the garden

At Hampton Court Palace, we toured the King's state rooms and the Queen's chambers. In one of the rooms, a soprano, a trumpeter, and a cellist gave a noonday concert using period instruments while dressed in costumes of the 17th century. The gentlemen even wore long flowing wigs resembling the lustrous locks of William III. The best part of our visit to the palace had to be the Tudor kitchens, where chefs (also clad in period costume) prepared a juicy roast of beef that they garnished with rounds of piping hot potatoes. All the food was cooked over the fire. In the next kitchen, we watched a pastry chef grind chocolate beans manually; it took him forty-five minutes to process just two tablespoons' worth of chocolate! The smell was pungent. Back in Queen Elizabeth I's Privy Kitchen, we lunched on sandwich and cake. I had a slice of so-called Belgian chocolate cake, which was really just mouthfuls and mouthfuls of candied ginger, nuts and fruits mixed with a bit of cookie crumb. All of that was topped with literally an inch of chocolate frosting. What a sugar kick!

Returning to the city, we spent some time at Westminster Cathedral. The mosaics that adorned the ceilings of the chapels were rich and elaborate.

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