August 8, London

I set out this morning at about 7:00 (that is late!!) for the hour and forty minute walk to The Tower. It was not a particularly nice walk, but I do enjoy covering as much of a city on foot as possible because you get a good sense of things that way. However, it was such that I did not want to do the return on foot, and here comes the climax of the day:  I TOOK THE TUBE!  I am terrified of underground transportation—once, years ago, I took the subway the wrong direction in New York, and so I am  convinced I will do that again.  Anyway, I am feeling proud to the point of smugness! (I confess to having watched a video in advance to prepare for the possibility!)

Although the walk was not a joy, there was a small sculpture exhibit en route.  Is this piece meant to portray a cupcake or a tutu?

I do not know what these are called—not wind chimes exactly—but they made charming, sweet sounds:

It was a super smart move to have a ticket for 9:00 when the Tower—a set of museums, really—opens because everyone rushes to the Crown Jewels, that being the star exhibit, so in advance of the hordes, you can see the display best.  Photography is not allowed, but you can get a sense of it all here.  The jewels are dazzling to the point of obscenity. You think there cannot be more opulence but there is more and more and more.  Then you see the gold bowls and dishes and implements—there is a gold punch bowl that holds 270 bottles of wine—and wait!  

A bulletin just came in.  Instead of my telling you all about The Tower and then a stroll in Regent's Park, read a better narrative about a stroll in Regents Park followed by a visit to the Tower, at  Alex and Alex's visit to the Tower

Alex says that the punch bowl held 144 bottles of wine; clearly there is controversy about this important fact! Other than that, we had pretty much the same reactions to things and took photos of many of the same objects

But I still have a thing or two to say!   Remember this photo (from the above mentioned blog)?

Well, here is a detail.  the hand is made of pistols....all the parts are pieces of weapons:

A gold lion spouting, Peace to you, Mark, my evangelist

Horse and rider... not cast into the sea, as far as we know:

It would be so miserable to have to wear this:

Can you imagine on a hot day?

A fancy cannon:

One blurb noted that the weapons of the realm were stored at The Tower so that they would be ready at a moment's notice if needed.  Given the size and the weight of the machines of war, I highly doubt that anything could be had at a moment's notice.

Who, I ask you, who would want this job?

Here is a bit of what the museum says about Edward 1:

I was surprised that in addition to the taxation, the museum recorded that Edward imprisoned (in the tower) a large number of London Jews, murdered some, and in 1290 officially expelled all the Jews from England. 

Now back to Edward's day to day:

                            

The medieval equivalent ot fire assembly points?

  

This is so sickening!!

After the tower visit and my successful tube journey back to Baker Street, I thought I would pop into the Sherlock Holmes Museum.  You would not believe the line!  And these were all people who had reserved a time!  So on to Regents Park where the flowers were nowhere near as profuse as they were when Alex and Alex were there in June 2023. (See photos on blog page mentioned above.)  I prefer Hyde Park, I have to say.   

I did catch these two beauties, though: