My feet have got very sore from all the standing and walking, so the first few days in London I decided to get the hop on/off bus to ease the feet. So on Sunday I got on the bus and just let it take me around all the main sites, while listening to the commentaries. Some have live commentary, some prerecorded, broadcast in different languages that you listen through headphones. The live ones are more entertaining, the prerecorded more detailed. It was a good way of getting a visual picture of the layout and matching it with the map. It gave a river cruise as part of the package so I got off at the Tower of London then caught the river cruise back up to the Houses of Parliament.
The highlight of The Tower was definitely the Crown Jewels exhibition. The quantity and quality of the gems in the crowns, sceptres etc is simply staggering. The Coronation robes were interesting, partly because a new stole was made for the present Queen. I have an image of a King or Queen in a couple of generations so weighed down by the various pieces that have become traditional that they can hardly walk. I was looking at the long train on the cloak, magnificently embroidered, and could see the rose, thistle and shamrock and suddenly wondered, what about the Welsh? At the same time, I overheard the same thought being shared between a mother and teenage daughter. So we approached one of the guards. She was happy to talk to us about it, after checking that we weren't Welsh! On the new stole there are leeks and the dragon, both Welsh symbols. She also wondered about the cloak but was told that a symbol that looks like a bent fleur de lis on the cloak is actually the three feathers, another Welsh symbol.
I was also fascinated by the 'graffiti' in the room where many famous prisoners had been held. Some of the coats of arms were beautifully detailed, apparently done by stonemasons brought in by the prisoners. The White tower display of armour and weapons was also interesting. I was struck by the sheer size of Henry VIII's armour. The 'codpiece' was equally huge, and a small boy near by was fascinated by it, much to his father's embarrassment. Some of the armour was extraordinarily beautiful: gilded, engraved etc. This was particularly true of any made for young princes.
It was getting dark as we made our way upriver, and it's a lovely sight. One of the big buildings is lit in blue and green, and the main public buildings are floodlit.
The architecture is magnificent but I have found photography challenging here because of the monumental size of so many of the buildings. To fit them in and have a reasonable perspective you have to be some distance away and then you lose the detail.
The highlight of The Tower was definitely the Crown Jewels exhibition. The quantity and quality of the gems in the crowns, sceptres etc is simply staggering. The Coronation robes were interesting, partly because a new stole was made for the present Queen. I have an image of a King or Queen in a couple of generations so weighed down by the various pieces that have become traditional that they can hardly walk. I was looking at the long train on the cloak, magnificently embroidered, and could see the rose, thistle and shamrock and suddenly wondered, what about the Welsh? At the same time, I overheard the same thought being shared between a mother and teenage daughter. So we approached one of the guards. She was happy to talk to us about it, after checking that we weren't Welsh! On the new stole there are leeks and the dragon, both Welsh symbols. She also wondered about the cloak but was told that a symbol that looks like a bent fleur de lis on the cloak is actually the three feathers, another Welsh symbol.
I was also fascinated by the 'graffiti' in the room where many famous prisoners had been held. Some of the coats of arms were beautifully detailed, apparently done by stonemasons brought in by the prisoners. The White tower display of armour and weapons was also interesting. I was struck by the sheer size of Henry VIII's armour. The 'codpiece' was equally huge, and a small boy near by was fascinated by it, much to his father's embarrassment. Some of the armour was extraordinarily beautiful: gilded, engraved etc. This was particularly true of any made for young princes.
It was getting dark as we made our way upriver, and it's a lovely sight. One of the big buildings is lit in blue and green, and the main public buildings are floodlit.
The architecture is magnificent but I have found photography challenging here because of the monumental size of so many of the buildings. To fit them in and have a reasonable perspective you have to be some distance away and then you lose the detail.
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