London

Got up and headed to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard which I’ve never seen.
It was pretty crowded considering it was raining quite heavily. We couldn’t get anywhere near the gates but lined on the road.
Started at 11 and we had left by 11:06 😆
We watched them march in from the side and one group went in and the other went marching away from the palace up the street. We watched them march and then saw nothing. Didn’t know if it was over or not so we left. Google has since told me it goes for 45 mins so still have not seen the changing of the guard hahah
We then headed to Westminster station and caught the tube to tower hill, got off and went to lunch at wagamama. We got Katsu curry which was good but nothing will beat CoCo curry in Japan.
We then bought our tickets to the Tower of London. (No donation tickets, have saved us $24 all up now 😆)
3rd time doing this for me. For whatever reason my brain does not retain this attraction. I’ve had a think and I think it’s because nothing significant happened here. Obviously lots of important things did but not some big shocking thing that makes me take note. It’s just really consistent through history and not that many people died here. Only 22 ever and 12 of them were during the world wars so not medieval. They were shot by the wall but most excexutions took place on tower hill.
Anne Boleyn was executed on tower green.
We went right, climbed up and in and began.
Lots of different rooms and sections built and used by different kings. King Edward I was featured a lot in this section. It had his bedroom and the chapel where he was murdered.
It had thick ceiling beams that King Henry VIII had restored.
We walked over the connection bit which gave great view of tower bridge then entered a bit that use to hold people and had inscriptions on the wall where prisoners had written.

Then a section on the The Yeoman Warders who are guards.

“In 1826, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington,
became the Constable of the Tower of London.
He thought that the Yeoman Warders were giving
the Tower a bad name and began to reform their
behaviour. Wellington declared that Yeoman Warders would only be recruited from ex-servicemen with long service and good records of conduct. He also reduced their number from around 100 to just 33. Wellington's reforms are still in force today. Today's Yeoman Warders have at least 22 years of military service. Each has reached the rank of warrant officer and been awarded the long service and good conduct medal. Yeoman Warders are now recruited from all three branches of the armed forces: The Royal Navy including The Royal Marines, The British Army, and The Royal Air Force.

“The Yeoman Wardens are the
guardians of many ancient ceremonies. The Ceremony of the Keys has taken place every night
for more than 700 years to lock up the Tower. It begins when the sentry cries out, "Halt, who comes there?" The Yeoman Warder replies, "The Keys." They are questioned: "Whose keys?" and
answer "Queen Elizabeth's Keys." The sentry answers: "Pass then, all's well."

They haven’t updated all the signage to King Charles.

We then went to a section on some Royal Beasts that were kept.

- King Henry IIl's polar bear was tied to a long rope so it could go fishing in the Thames.
- Snakes were wrapped in blankets and kept on a stove to keep them warm.
- King James I designed a nipple so sick lion cubs at the Tower could be bottle-fed.
- Uncaged monkeys lived in a room where visitors could walk among them. It was shut down after
a monkey attacked a boy.
- A Tower ostrich died, after swallowing a large nail. Visitors had fed it the pieces of metal,
believing ostriches ate iron.
- The artist Edwin Landseer, who later
designed the lion sculptures inTrafalgar Square, drew live lions at the Tower.
- The last Royal Beasts left the Tower in 1832 for the new London Zoo.

We then went to see the Crown Jewels.
Finally 😂😂😂
Didn’t bothered to brace the line the last 2 times cause they were a kilometer long but walked straight in today. 🕺🏻
One crown is missing along the conveyer belt past all the crowns in preparation for King Charles coronation.
There was also some ceremonial swords and a cloak thing that I got yelled at for taking pictures of cause I genuinely didn’t see the signs saying you couldn’t.
Then was the converter belt which I thought moved at a great speed. It was very slow but still moved. You could still see them without feeling rushed but it made sure people didn’t stop the traffic. (All crowns and the scepter)

Lots of big gold stuff used for banquets and stuff. I actually think the gold stuff looks really tacky.
Like I know it’s real gold but every other time I’m seen gold in my life it’s been an imitation of wealth which is cringy.
The fact it’s real doesn’t seem to change my opinion on it.

Walked around the corner and saw the Imperial State Crown which I enjoyed because I recognized it.

We then went and saw the ravens. One had escaped and was talking to its friends in the cages almost trying to get back in. 😅
They were very big.
They are fed lots of different things but once a week they are fed a whole rabbit lol.

We then went to the torture section which wasn’t that extensive, just 3 types.
A lot of people making the same joke that they would love a few minutes on the rack for a good back crack.
The other 2 was being folded in thirds and held in a ball called the scavengers daughter and manacles.
Then onto the armory. Will on the same page as me. The French was better and can’t be beaten. I don’t want to see replicas.
It had a king Henry VIII Armor but most were just examples or not old at all.
Then into a beautiful stone chapel and into another room of bits and bobs. Best bit was the executioners block and axe.
One cannons, gun, swords etc.
Finished.

We then caught the tube to Kings Cross.
Found the platform 9 3/4
ITS SO STUPID.
There is a professional photographer there and he literally took 5 minutes per person so the line didn’t move and was 50 people long. So I took a picture of the place but didn’t get the famous picture of running through the wall which is disappointing but wasn’t going to make Will wait lol.
I got Megs a Slytherin Christmas ornament in the shop.
We then went home.
Washed my hair and went out to China Town for dinner to a buffet.
Not great food but passable and a buffet so that’s an automatic extra 30 points.

At home now just watching the Telly.Read more