So because Dirk hadn't spent a lot of time in London, we let him pick what we did today, with a little restriction...we had tickets for a matinee showing of the Merry Wives of Windsor. So he looked at the map and realized it was on the same side of town as The Tower of London, and we all were excited to continue our discovery of Anne Boleyn, the Lady Elizabeth and all those that were prisoners there!
I can just vision the Lady Elizabeth coming in this gate on the boat in her white damask dress....trying to appear as innocent and pure as possible.
The infamous Bloody Tower.
A beautiful memorial for those beheaded here....
It was in this area that the scaffoldings were erected for the beheadings... Anne Boleyn, the Lady Jane Gray and Catherine Howard who was one of Henry VIII's wives. When the Lady Elizabeth was imprisoned here, there was a scaffolding that was there from a previous beheading....she was so sure it would be used for her, but one day it was taken down and her dread was gone. Soon she was released. 
This is part of the palace that houses the crown jewels....one of the diamonds on one of the crowns was over 300 carats. What? Crazy.
The changing of the guard (outside the crown jewels)....just a lot of stomping and yelling....bot those are real guns and real knives on the end of them....yikes.
Seriously?
After the Tower, we went to a burger joint that Hans had been to before, pretty dang good for England. Then Dirk convinced us to take a water bus... pretty cool and pretty speedy.
Tower Bridge
Everyone who sees tower bridge usually thinks it's the famous London Bridge.... but no, it is a very unassuming bridge that someone told me was bought by a rich American and moved to New Mexico and then rebuilt here in London. I'm very gullible so who knows.
Shakespeare's Globe... In 1949, actor Sam Wanamaker came to London and was disappointed to not find a memorial to Shakespeare or his theater. In 1970 he founded the Shakespeare Globe trust, in 1993 construction started and then finished in 1997. It is a remarkable place. Built just as it would have been in Shakespeare's time. Timber frame with pegs and a thatched roof. Just beautiful! The play was spectacular....so funny and well done....those wives were so merry and hilarious, it reminded me of all my girlfriends!
Not super comfortable, but worth it! One of my most favorite things this trip and that's saying a lot because I have loved everything!
After, we walked up and over to Covent Garden, around Leicester Square and down to Trafalgar Square (on accident, got turned around). We hoped in a taxi and went up to Barbican tube stop where we were meeting our guide for the "Blood and Tears Walk." Another thing I had never done. We learned about serial killers, prison escapes, grave robbers...in general some pretty creepy stuff. He took us to the place where the alleged Jack the Ripper lived, where Sweeny Todd's shop was, where a Dr. Cream did some bad stuff....it was fun. Gretchen was a little creeped out and was convinced our guide was a serial killer. Mwahaha! We had a late Thai dinner, and even later, a My Old Dutch nutella pancake! Woo hoo, can't get enough!
I'm starting to get sad....can't think about it, only one more day left!
1 comment:
I'm loving your re-cap of your trip. I can't believe we were together for a whole night and I didn't hear a word about it! It makes me want to travel! Oh, boy!
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