The team visited the Tower today and took the tour with a Beefeater guard who very kindly welcomed us Aussies "back home". Learnt about the violent and gory history of the British monarchy, the usual tales of internecine violence that characterise these dynasties. The highlight of this tour of course is the Crown Jewels collection, a treasure that must rival in value the entire Aussie GDP. Holiday season is over so thankfully the crowds are thinning, the Tower is a huge magnet and more or less compulsory for all visitors.
The Tower is a deceptively large complex, on the Thames, ringed by multiple walls and a large moat, very close the Tower Bridge and surrounded on 3 sides by modern London.
Amazingly fortunate so far with the weather, balmy with clear blue skies. Where's that Sherlock Holmes' pea soup fog that London is famous for?
2 comments:
Did you get the chance to meet the first female beefeater?
Didn't see the Beefeater-ette but was keeping an eye out for her. I actually saw a TV crew outside the ToL early last week, when I was walking the Thames Path. The next day I saw the report in the media of the first Female Beefeater appointment.
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