A bit of London

Took a week to go to London. We've gotten used to a more leisurely timetable and we had to get used to walking again.

In years past, on trips to London with Jon, we visited Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle and saw sights like Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Oxford St., Buckingham Palace (outside only). We'd tried to see the Tower of London but the lines were always way too long. Winter is the time to see the Tower. You pay your money (£13 each) and walk right in.

There are dozens of houses on the Tower grounds.
These are occupied by the Beefeaters.
They were once used to hold prisoners including Lady Jane Grey and Rudolph Hess.

They raise ravens because of an old superstition that
when the ravens leave the Monarchy will crumble.

Update. Just 5 days after that picture was taken the ravens were all moved inside to protect them from bird flu. For national security reasons, the BBC news said, possibly tongue-in-cheek.

Across the river is the HMS Belfast - a WWII frigate that saw action in the Falklands.

The old Armory now houses the crown jewels. No pictures allowed.
This old crown is in another location.
They stripped the stones from old crowns to make new ones for each monarch.

Behind this door they found the bones of Edward the 3rd and his younger brother. Killed by Richard III?

Sir Walter Raleigh's desk where he wrote the History of the World while a prisoner in the Tower.

An experimental steam-powered gun from 1840. The father of all spud guns.

Execution block used until 1746.

The Geffrye Museum on the north side of London is located in an old alms house. It displays period rooms typical of English life.

The Victoria and Albert Museum is called the "Attic of Great Britain". Accurate - because it's full of all kinds of junk and the organization leaves something to be desired. A grand place to wander dead-end corridors.

Two giant rooms are filled with plaster casts of statues, towers, edifices,
burial crypts, doorways from around the world.

Chandelier over the front entrance hall.

Thomas Gainsborough dabbled in miniatures on glass. He invented this back-lit "showbox" in 1781.

Peek in and see a landscape.
"The effect produced is truly captivating, especially the moon-light pieces, which exhibit the most perfect resemblance of nature".

The original observatory building ordered by Charles II.
To the right is a camera obscura to study the sun.

The Queen's House. The first Greek Revival building in England.
Designed by Inigo Jones for Henrietta Maria in 1616,

Every day since 1833 a ball on top of the observatory is dropped at 1:00pm. Originally designed so ships sailing from the Thames could set their clocks. Now a tourist photo op.

The Cutty Sark was launched in 1869 as a Tea Clipper for the West Indies route.

Now in dry-dock, the Cutty Sark is undergoing a complete refit.
The first job just got underway - stripping the iron and wood plating off the ribs.
They are popping the rivets off with heat but the bolts have to be drilled out.

Took a cruise up the Thames from Greenwich to Westminster. Most of the bank is lined with old warehouses now converted to really expensive apartments. Spent the rest of the day wandering London via the Underground and New Balance.