Thursday 16th July 2009Today was a full day but we didn't really do much. As confusing as that sounds, you'll see what I mean in a moment. We tried to get up early again, but had to do some laundry (again) and we called Mel's mum so we didn't get out until later in the day. We really only did two major things - the Tower of London and the Tate Modern art gallery.
The Tower of London is one of London's biggest historical attractions - but it's so touristy (well in summer anyway) it's hard to see the history for all the people going through.
Us outside the tower with a mock siege engine in the background.
Nevertheless there are a heap of interesting things going on, the most interesting of which we found is the Crown Jewels. Unfortunately due to security we couldn't take any photos, but it's definitely worth going to see. Another interesting area near the Crown Jewels is the Martin Tower that holds all the old crowns. These crowns were usually made for a specific occassion and worn only once, but because of the cost the stones used were either hired or taken from an older crown, so these crowns have had most if not all of their stones removed. One of the crowns held over 12,000 carats of diamonds - it is empty now, but DeBeers has loaned 12,000 carats of diamonds to the exhibition and they are sitting in the case in a pile next to the crown! As Mel says... "oooh.... sparkly....".
A restoration of King Edward's private chapel (can't remember which Edward).
Other interesting areas of the Tower of London are the places where they kept the prisoners - usually those who were seen as a security threat but there were also religious prisoners (King Henry VIII banned the Catholic Church and declared himself the religious leader). Some were also held for practicing sorcery and I found myself wondering if they were actually Spirit Filled Christians just trying to preach the gospel! It's interesting to see all the graffiti left by these folk - often times they were allowed to have a chisel or even a mason to do it for them so some of the graffiti can be quite elaborate carvings in their own right.
Some of the graffiti in one of the prison rooms.
After the Tower of London we walked down to down to the Tate Modern art gallery. Along the way though we came across St Paul's Cathedral We didn't really have time to go in but from the outside it is huge - very imposing!
The outside of St Paul's Cathedral
Across the Millenium Bridge (initially when it was built it was swaying in the wind but has since been strengthened) was the Tate Modern, most of which is free to view. This is the first proper art gallery we have been to and we can honestly say we don't get modern art. Again we couldn't take photos but one of the pieces was a thick rope that had been dropped randomly on the ground, and there was also one that was just plain dark blue with a red triangle in it, but our all time 'what the...' was just a mirror - nothing special about the mirror, just a plain old mirror that you can pick up at Bunnings for a few dollars. We will however admit there were a couple of things we liked, like one or two sculptures and there was a giant dining table and chairs the size of a small cottage that was interesting as well.
After the Tate Modern we really didn't want to walk back across the bridge to the tube station so we took a boat ride up the Thames River and back as a shortcut to the station. It was a great little cruise - we went past the HMS Belfast, the Tower Bridge, the old fish market, and of course Big Ben and the London Eye.
The Tower Bridge
The handle on Mel's suitcase had broken when we got to London so we took the tube back up to somewhere near Harrods and bought a new one that we had seen on Tuesday. After that it was back to Matt and Nicki's for dinner.
After the Tower of London we walked down to down to the Tate Modern art gallery. Along the way though we came across St Paul's Cathedral We didn't really have time to go in but from the outside it is huge - very imposing!
The outside of St Paul's Cathedral
Across the Millenium Bridge (initially when it was built it was swaying in the wind but has since been strengthened) was the Tate Modern, most of which is free to view. This is the first proper art gallery we have been to and we can honestly say we don't get modern art. Again we couldn't take photos but one of the pieces was a thick rope that had been dropped randomly on the ground, and there was also one that was just plain dark blue with a red triangle in it, but our all time 'what the...' was just a mirror - nothing special about the mirror, just a plain old mirror that you can pick up at Bunnings for a few dollars. We will however admit there were a couple of things we liked, like one or two sculptures and there was a giant dining table and chairs the size of a small cottage that was interesting as well.
After the Tate Modern we really didn't want to walk back across the bridge to the tube station so we took a boat ride up the Thames River and back as a shortcut to the station. It was a great little cruise - we went past the HMS Belfast, the Tower Bridge, the old fish market, and of course Big Ben and the London Eye.
The Tower Bridge
The handle on Mel's suitcase had broken when we got to London so we took the tube back up to somewhere near Harrods and bought a new one that we had seen on Tuesday. After that it was back to Matt and Nicki's for dinner.
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