Today was actually hot here - I didn't think it ever got hot here, but I'm glad they get some summery days. Anyway, the girls were hurting this morning because I woke them up early so we could get to the Tower of London early to beat the crowds to the Crown Jewels. I had read on a couple of travel sights that you want to get there a few minutes before it opens at 9. So, with getting to the tube and travel time, we needed some time. Since we were still in morning commute time on the tube, it was busier than most mornings we've ridden it, so as we were all trying to get on, we didn't make it all together. Mom got on one car, I got on another with Abs and Suse, and Mark and the other three didn't make that train, it was too packed. It was kind of stressful watching the doors shut and quickly making sure all kids were with some adult...there are a few hectic tube moments that are a little scary at times when it's really crowded, but we all made it safe and sound. Anyway, the little travel tio really paid off - there was hardly anyone there at the tower when we arrived and all met up - phew! We could really see the Crown Jewels and got to ride the conveyor belt past them a couple of times to really take them in. They're amazing.
We spent a few hours at the tower and saw the main building known as White Tower which houses a weapon display now. It also talked about the many uses of the Tower of London over the centuries - a palace, prison, mint, armory, record safekeeping, a menagerie, and I'm probably forgetting others. What an interesting place with so much history! We saw a chopping block like the ones they used to behead some of their famous prisoners, and we saw the legendary ravens that guard the tower. They say if the ravens ever leave the tower, it will fall. Lu brought her summer reading book on this trip which is called "The Raven Master's Secret," and is historical fiction all about the Tower of London - how great is that? She got Mom into the book, too, so they were both reading it together, which was really fun. Anyway, she finished it the night before we went to the Tower, so that was a great little detail that added to this day. Another thing we really liked was walking around the castle wall so you could see the river and go through some of the various watchtowers.
By early afternoon, the kids were fried, so we walked across Tower Bridge (so pretty!), and went back to Borough Market. We all picked out our favorite things and ate at the church yard next door. We will miss this fun market! We decided to head back to the flat after this so people could rest and change into cooler clothes. Then late that afternoon, we left Mom home packing and nursing a sore foot while we went on the walk back to Battersea Park and the awesome playground we discovered Sunday night. As we walked through the park tonight, we saw lawn bowling in action, some cricket and some field hockey. It was fun to see people playing different things than we do at home. Field hockey looks really fun to me...We had fun with the kids at the playground for a couple of hours, then hoofed it home. We had hardly any food at the apartment for dinner, so we just cooked up the eggs we had and that was dinner :). Another wonderful day. We are pinching ourselves that we get to do this!
No comments:
Post a Comment