London day one

The Tower Bridge from the Tower of London

Gilded Weathervane on the White Tower

William and the Bear Guard at the Tower of London

Old walls at the Tower of London with New London Buildings in the background.

Off with their heads

9/25/07 We arrived in Heathrow and had a latte while we waited for the 930 train. Most of the people in suits in a hurry wanted the Heathrow Express. We waited for the Heathrow Connect. It was a slower more interesting train with many stops to view people and surroundings. We arrived in Paddington Station and walked to the Rhodes Hotel. The hotel is small and part of a block of tall row houses that seem to be mostly converted to private homes or apartments. We have a small high-ceilinged room that has had a bathroom and closet added on. We got settled and on the road at noon. After buying a sandwich at Spencer and Marks we headed out for the Big Bus tour. The Big Bus tour is very entertaining, with live commentary as you fly around London on a double-decker bus. We mostly sat upstairs and I marveled at how fast the driver would whip around within inches of other vehicles. The tour is hop on hop off for 24 hours so we exited at the Tower of London and took the tour there. Lots of very interesting people were imprisoned in the Towers such as Sir Walter Raleigh (who had his head chopped off), the two boy Princes (who were murdered there) and any number of Henry the 8th’s wives. The armory was very interesting with all the suits of armor, including armor for tiny princes and one set for Henry the 8th after he got a bit chunky.
From the Tower of London Pier we took a river cruise, included in the bus price to the Westminster Pier, also very entertaining with lots of fun poked at the incongruity of some of the new architecture next to the old.
I thought of the USA. Even though we have a prehistory, the native Americans are not part of the dominant culture, whereas in Europe the people who are here are part of all the history from prehistory to modern times. They are part of the people who hanged 24 people at a time from the Hanging Tree on Picadilly. They are part of the people who were here when the Romans arrived and named London (Londinien).
We went out to dinner at a neighborhood Greek restaurant as we were suffering from a bit of sticker shock at the small amount of pounds a dollar buys and less every day.