LONDON 2015: LONDON: Day 2

Greetings! I am actually writing this on the morning of Day 3 because we were too exhausted to write last night! We logged 15, 656 steps yesterday :)

We began our day at the Tower of London. We headed straight to the Crowned Jewels (of course!) and were dazzled by all the riches dating back to the 1600s (but there was one spoon from the 1200s). No pictures were allowed, so I can't share, but if you have an interest, of course there is a link

Next we toured the Tower and learned lots about executions, armors, bathroom facilities (back in the day) and so much more about who actually lived in the tower. See below for some pics:

Can you imagine suiting up every day just to go have a chat with your enemy?

So I mentioned the facilities -- that's it - Geof is peering down the hole to where "everything" went -- straight to the ground.

Climbing.....

It is hard to see the rifle (on the pole) pointing straight at the chair - notice the back of the chair is "broken" - that's where the bullet went through after it left the guy's head (the guy was the last one executed in the tower - during World War II - a German who had parachuted into London and was immediately captured.

Next we joined the Beefeaters Tour - something Rick Steves said was a MUST DO! The Beefeaters are former military employees with all kinds of qualifications, who live at the tower with their families!! And they lead boisterous tours of the Tower of London with lots of anecdotes and fun! Our guy was great!

Even a tower needs TLC!

On Monday they will switch to their Red & Gold uniforms to welcome the new PRINCESS!!

These are the quarters where the Beefeaters, the Chaplain, and the Tower doctor live year round!

It was a great tour!

One of my MUST DO's was to visit Notting Hill, and we learned that the market days are Friday & Saturday, not Sunday, so we had to fit it in after our Tower of London visit. So, we hopped on a short cruise to Westminster, jumped on the subway and arrived with THRONGS of people, all hoping to spot Hugh Grand and Julia Roberts :) These pictures sort of speak for themselves!

JACK - this one's for you!

Cool shop whose decor was old sewing machines!

And finally, a taste of home. We traveled out to Digby Crescent to visit with Alison, Matt, Vivian, and Veronica -- Alison is the daughter of two of our dearest friends, Jack & Kris Ince. Their flat is the bottom two floors and they have built an amazing home while they live in London for TWO more years??! As you know, I crave grandchildren, so I borrowed Jack & Kris' for the evening and Vivian & Veronica were very happy to oblige!