2nd Day in London

A very, long, long day today!
Took off with a hiss and a roar - up to 29degrees C - so warm and sunny!
1) Tower of London - firstly - not a tower! more like a huge castle so not the quick looksee we thought it would be. Lots of people, started off as part of a Beefeater tour (he was hilarious) then had own audio guide (great contraptions)  so off we went.
Saw the Queenie's jewels, very tight security, and quite awesome jewels on the crowns etc.
Went into the main section, which was the Royal Amoury, so lots of guns, and killing things, and even Henry 8th's armour. (thought the tower was mainly used for killing and imprisonment, but was also the Armoury, Mint, archives etc as was so secure).

this is the Traitors Gate, actually used mainly to bring in supplies to the tower, not traitors!

Saw the ravens, keep them there in cages with only a few out and flying around. One was chasing the pigeons away being rather a bully.
Went to the Killing and Torture area, and was very disappointed! expected lots of gruesome torture instruments and beheadings etc. not much at all. Tho there was a chopping block and axe that had been used (suppossedly!) Learnt that if you were going to be be-headed (and this was mainly done by Henry 8th to his wives ) you got walked out of the gate, up to Tower Hill for the ceremony. You carried abag of money with you to give to the executioner to pay him so he would be kind and chop your head off in one stroke. (the Beefeater said it was the first 'severance pay'! and that the Americans would probably call it tipping! thought this was funny .....) Hardly any deaths and mayhem at the tower at all. Most done at Tower Hill nearby so thousands could see the blood and guts. Charming.

This was the chopping block and axe. No blood tho.

T

This is the torture rack made from a design they found! Imagine making it!

They had one poor guard guarding the Queen's jewels - he had to march up and down.

This is where the Queen's jewels are kept.

Strange, but they actually had houses within the tower to house the guards, and sometimes even the prisoners. This is where Anne Bolyn? was kept on her last night at the tower. App. these houses are the last real tudor houses from before the Great Tower of LOndon. They didnt get burnt.

The last person to die in the Tower was actually in 1941, and it was a German prisoner who parachuted into the Uk to kill the PM or the Queen (cant remember) so was a spy, and got shot by firing squad within the tower walls.
Did you know they also kept 'exotic' animals in the tower until the 1800's? like lions, tigers, snakes, monkeys and even a polar bear - to keep the monarchs amused. After that they decided the animals were unsafe to visitors ????? duh! and started up the London zoo with them.
They have kept the cages etc to show the conditions the animals were kept in - quite disgusting. this upset me more than the killing stuff!

2) Tower Bridge this was close by, so we went. It had just got the Olympic Circles put on it, which will be lit up every night. It's quite cool, cause you get to go up the the joining pathways across the top and look out over the city . They have a good informative guide that tells you all about how it got built, how it worked (Dave liked that one) and what it has been used for in the past. The bridgie parts go up and down about 3 times a day to let big boats through, mainly at night these days. We saw a video of how one goes through, and there is not a lot of room each side for the big boats to get through. They show you the origional steam engines that were used to lift the bridgie bits up and down, so Dave was telling everyone how they worked (including me! rather complicated) think they work differently now.

Along the pathway across the top.

The so very interesting steam enging - yeah right!

This was a street just off the tower on the other side. Notice the little bridges joining the houses overhead.

  What is this???

Then we went for a walk along the Thames a bit and saw .....

a building everyone is proud?? to call the Gherkin! not joking.

Police boats - for Ev

3) the London Dungeons It is now 4.30pm and suddenly down a side street we saw the London Dungeons sign. They have been around a while, but decided you have to be strange to go - and go we did! I thought it would be a up-market ghost train or tour of the crypts or sewers, but it isn't. It is set in the dungeons of the All Hallows church, and you go through this maze of dark, dingy corridors covered in all grisly, gruesome stuff (like a skeleton hanging with guts falling out of its innards etc. In each little area there are actors who pretend to be part of LOndon's dark side, and act the part of a scene from it. confused? me too! such as .... torture chamber of Newgate Prison, 1500's - lots of torture instruments not for the faint hearted! they get a person from the audience group - no asking just "you up here - sit down - don't move" and pretend to torture them with great detail to the audience of what they are doing and what would be happening to the prisoner etc. or they did Jack the Ripper, stalking behind women, or the Great Plague, or dissecting live bodies for medical research, (again used a person from audience) . It was really great! lots of blood and guts and mayhem and screaming and more blood ...! I guess you can say, we were disappointed in the torture and killing aspect of the Tower but it was all covered down here. There were rides on a river through sewers of 1700 London, or killing ghosts in a haunted house.
 The last one was hanging at Newgate, and you were tried and convicted (actor judge and court who pretended you were the criminal - tried for dancing naked on the table!) then you needed to be hanged. So you all got put in these row of chairs pulled up really high to the ceiling of a tall 2/3 story room (not kidding) where you face a priest, hangman who read out the last rites and all of us then heard a bang (dim room) and literally got dropped down fast to the floor as if we were hanged! You didnt know what was going to happen, just warned the ride had a fast drop element to it! I screamed and hung on to Daves shoulder and he was laughing his head off! Did not like it at all! Put me off hanging for life!
(sorry no photos of this, as no photography allowed! would spoil the scare factor I think)
Well, all of this took 2- half hours! so very late when we left inner London for home. got back about 8pm and stuffed.