London Afternoon Adventures

Hope, the blue whale skeleton, was the main thing Chris wanted to see
You kinda can't miss her ;)

So after spending the morning doing our own things, Chris and I met up at the Natural History Museum, for which we had purchased tickets in advance, and went in with no problem.  This one does not have AC and was *hot*.  Hot enough that we were mildly selective about what we wanted to see and how long we wanted to see it.  But we caught some good stuff and it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re around.  Lots more people here than we’ve seen most places - but it was also like 2pm, so that could’ve added to it! 

I've been fascinated by giraffes ever since our trip to Tanzania
So this was super cool.

Once we’d seen what we wanted to see, it occurred to us that if we were quick, we could get in the Tower of London today as well.   So we hopped on the subway and were on our way!  When we got there, the ticket person warned us there was only 2.5h till closing and they recommend at least 3h.   Since we weren’t sure we’d have time on our trip back (or energy!) we decided we could definitely make that work.  We walk fast ;) 

Also, we were late enough a lot of people had cleared out!

Chris’ priority was to view the Crown Jewels.  I actually had v little interest in that but was super curious to see what else there was to see.   So the first thing we learned is “the Tower of London” is not, in-fact, one tower but rather multiple buildings and much larger than either of us had expected.   So we found the one that housed the Crown Jewels first and there was *zero* line which was lovely given that we could see the path set up for where people are supposed to queue when there is one, and it was most definitely NOT short lol.   Photography is prohibited in there, so once we were past the door, no pics.  

The last photo we could take

You follow a set past through several rooms, all the rooms are quite dark, which really lets the jewels sparkle.   They do all have info plaques, and while it wasn’t crowded comparatively (see “no line” above) it was still cozy and you would have to be a little patient to see every piece in detail, esp from multiple angles.  The display with the primary jewels had moving sidewalks on either side which made me chuckle and is a highly effective way of keeping the crowds moving.  Although I learned later C looped back so he could ride the other sidewalk and see the other side of the jewels lol.

You can get a bit of an idea of the expected queues....

Suffice to say, I lost C in there early on and got out well before him, so by the time he came out I had read the map and had some idea of things either of us might like to see while we were there.   The white tower - mostly for C cause it’s where the armour display was and partially for me cause I like towers ;).  I spent a lot of time taking random photos while I waited for Chris, who I expect could’ve spent even more time ;). 

This still makes me laugh ;)

The embattlements which you can walk along that were even more cool cause every room we came to had different and interesting information.   

On our way up to what was a much longer and more interesting walk than I'd expected!

The prisons and torture chambers cause psychology and morbid fascination.   These actually were mildly less interesting *except* for the graffiti carved into the wall by prisoners over the years.  And some of the displays had really interesting history / stories to read.  

I loved the random animal sculptures throughout,
a reference to the menagerie that used to live there

And of course the medieval palace for Chris ;). 

Those who lived like kings, might've lived like this
I'll keep my indoor pluming and internet thanks ;)

There were random houses on the property with “private property” signs that we never really figured out who they belonged to.  And the Ravens of Poe’s legend continue to attack tourists ;)

Beware the Ravens

After the Tower of London we went for a stroll across Tower Bridge - we couldn’t go up it as it was already closed, but still nice to walk across and take some photos :)

Yes I quite happily walked across it again :)

Really long, jam-packed, day.  But was so incredibly worth it.   We can sleep on the plane tomorrow ;)