Friday, September 17, 2010

Day 66: The Tower of London & The London Transport Museum (9/16/2010)


Davin and I got up at 9:40am. We had breakfast and were out of the apartment by 11am. It took us an hour to commute in to London. We took the metro to Tower Hill station which is located right next to the Tower of London. We bought our tickets to the Tower (18.50 Pounds, 2 for 1!), and then waited for the 12:30am guided tour to begin.


The tour guides are Yeoman Warders who live and work in the Tower. It seems like an interesting job. You have to be in the service of the Queen for twenty two years to qualify, and also get some special award. Then if you are accepted you live in the Tower of London until you retire. Apparently, they are locked in the castle overnight as well. There are apartments in the castle walls that they live in with their families.

Our tour guide was really funny. It was impressive how well he knew his history. He entertained us with the terrible, bloody history of the Tower for an hour. When the tour was over, Davin and I visited the exhibits in the main castle keep, quickly walked through the exhibit of the Crown Jewels, and walked through some of the more infamous castle towers and read the stories of the prisoners. I enjoyed my visit this time better than the first time I saw it. I think the guided tour by the Yeoman Warder made all the difference.



For lunch we had Fish and Chips (3.99 Pounds each and it was quite a lot of food). Then we decided to visit the Golden Hinde, a reconstructions of the English Galleon famous for circumnavigating the globe in the 1570s. We had to walk back to the London Bridge, cross to the southern side, and go a little bit further east along the river to find it.



We were able to get 2 for 1 entry to this exhibit as well (6 Pounds). The ship is amazingly small for making such an grand journey. I can’t imagine how 60 crewmen fit on this thing. I think it would have totally sucked to be stuck on such a ship for any length of time!!


Next we went back to the London Bridge metro station and made our way to Covent Gardens. Covent Gardens is a popular shopping area of London. We didn’t go there to shop though! (Duh ;p) We went to visit the London Transport Museum which is in the same area.


This museum (2 for 1 [surprised?]entry for 10 Pounds) was really interesting. It was the history of transportation in London from 1800 to the present. We learned about the first horse drawn buses, and how the rail system was slowly built over the centuries. It also talked about the lives of the people who worked on the trains, or helped dig the subway tunnels. It was all around a really interesting museum. We wouldn’t have minded having another thirty minutes more to visit, but the museum closed at 6pm and we were naturally kicked out. :p


We then took the metro back to our apartment. For dinner we finished out leftover Chinese food from Monday night. Then we watched an old Whoopi Goldberg movie that happened to be on TV, and I uploaded updates and pictures to my blog. Then I watched a Star Trek: Voyager, and went to bed at midnight.

3 comments:

  1. Why do the tour guides have to/ get to live in the tower?

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  2. Apparently it is tradition. To become a Yeoman Warder you have to meet strict qualifications and be chosen. It is probably a huge honor to become one, and part of the duty of Yeoman Warders is to live in the Tower of London. They also serve as the ceremonial bodyguard of the Royal family during various ceremonial occasions. I don't understand the attachment to royalty myself, all the smart countries either kicked their kings out for good or simply cut their heads off. ;) But the English cling to these symbols of an ancient and unjust class system. It's so backwards! :p

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  3. I think England has kept their royal traditons because it reminds them of when they had a lot of power, eventhough most werent in a position of power. The royals dont really make any important decisions anymore, I think.

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