Tower of London - Part 1

A good night last night. Woke up once but went back to sleep. I did wake however at about 5am so got up at 5.30 after realising I was not going to go back to sleep.

Breakfast today at Prufrock, a local upbeat cafe up the street from us in Leather Lane. Run by a couple of gorgeous guys, it had plenty of nice looking people in there alongside us and excellent coffee.

Off to the tower. Like the Barbican, I did not realise just how big the Tower of London really is. It could be a city unto itself. We purchased our tickets and led ourselves through rather than a guided tour by a Beefeater or a self-guided tour with head phones and device.

It was a gentle tour for us I must say. We were not in a hurry and we had already deided that the Tower would be our one big thing for the day, so we just took it easy and moseyed through the various cavernous halls of the various buildings, reading some of the plaques, leaving others, following the laid out path, taking some pics on the way and making the occasional observation to each other.

A highlight for me was not the Jewel Room where are kept the Crown Jewels, but the beautiful Norman Chapel St John's Chapel in the White Tower. Streaming with sunlight through its front windows and enlivening the sandy coloured stone walls, it was just beautiful. I could have sat there for ten minutes and just soaked in the atmosphere. I can perfectly understand that the early Kings and Queens who used it might have been transported in reflection, prayer or even transcendence. There was a serenity in that space that touched me.

Given that I've mentioned the Crown Jewels, I should say something about seeing them. A small line-up in front of us shuffled slowly into the first room where we came upon a small throng of folk looking at various earlier crowns. It was difficult to get a good look as they were three and four packed in tight up against the glass. An occasional space would open and I would dart in to take a closer gander.

Eventually, we did get to see the late Queen's coronation implements and clothing, the crowns and sceptre and orb. Being thorough-going republicans, both of us were underwhelmed by the fabulous wealth and power these items of regalia were meant to evoke. They felt like they were for another time, not the 21st century. We did not linger, but left fairly quickly and left the gooing and gahing to the Americans who love monarchy. The memory did come back to me while in that darkened royal jewel tomb of the old maxim, "all that glitters is not gold" and I thought, "well, not in this room".

A coffee at the Raven Cafe in the Tower precinct. We heard a beefeater say that should the ravens disappear from the Tower, the White Tower will fall and crumble. The ravens are still there all right. They are huge and their caw is lower than our crow call. It sounds rather ominous actually.

Leaving the Tower, we hopped on a bus for the first time and rode through to Covent Garden where we went to the same Perfumery as we visited last year. Chris bought himself something very nice indeed with some birthday money.

A trip then to the laneway treasure that is the Nell Gwynn pub, a free house, a term used to describe historically an Englilsh public house that was not owned by the breweries and which could therefore sell any beer it wanted. A half pint for us each and a read of the the story that says there is a secret passage in the pub that leads to the Druy Lane theatres where Charles II would secretly meet up with the actress Nell.

Then a walk around Covent Garden, peering in the shops and looking at the beautful people and ultimately, lunch. We headed in to one of the pubs, The Prince of Wales, where we ate lightly. A trip to Foyles bookstore followed where I bought two small anthologies of W. H. Auden whom I decided on the plane over here, I would like to re-read, and Chris some historical fiction about Catherine Parr, one of Henry VIII's six wives..

So there you have it. A most enjoyable day. As a side note, the weather was sunny all day and the temperature reached 30°. Little breeze, so bloody hot 🥵Read more