London Baby!! Part 2, London Eye

If you are in London, a must on the list of places to visit is the London Eye. 

I went on the giant ferris wheel the same day that I went to the Tower of London.  While they are both on the River Thames, it is a bit of a walk.  However, quick ride on the Underground will get you there much quicker.  And after spending most of the day walking around the Tower, the Underground was the way to go!

Some random facts about the Eye:

• It is 443 feet tall. 
• There are 32 heated & air conditioned passenger capsules. 
• Each capsule represents one of London Boroughs.  (A borough is similar to a township)
• Each capsule holds 25 people.
• It offers a 360 degree view of the city.
• Can see for about 25 miles on a clear day.
• It takes about 30 minutes to go around.
• It is visited by 3.5 million people annually.
• During the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Olympic emblem will be attached to the Eye.

It was dusk when we got on and by the time we got to the top it was pretty dark.  It was amazing seeing the city all lit up. 

I know the height of the Eye might be an issue.  I was a little nervous about it myself.  But it goes so slowly you almost don't notice when you have reached the top.  And the views are just to amazing to miss!  I can't wait to go back for a ride during the day.

London Baby!! Part 1, Tower of London

I finally made a trip into London.  Or as I should say "London Baby!" 

My friends and I are big Friends fans and ever since I found out that I was coming to England, "London Baby!" has been said a lot.

I am still looking for a Union Jack hat to bring home.  I also have to remember to get a picture of me "inside the map" while I am in London.  I forgot this trip, but will try to remember for the next one.  I found a clip of Joey wearing this hat the other day and I'm pretty sure that this was filmed near the Tower of London.  So I figured it was fitting since that is what this blog is about.

The Tower of London is located on the north bank of the River Thames in Central London.  The first part of it was built in 1066.  Since that time it has served as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, home of the Royal mint, a public records office and home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

The Tower has several actors around to help transport you back in time.  They interact with themselves as well as the visitors to the Tower.  One of them is a bishop.  I asked if I could have my photo taken with him and he agreed.

Before the picture was taken he blessed me. And as the picture was being taken he said, "unless you are from Scotland. Then may the devil vomit on your face!"  So if you are from Scotland and visiting the Tower, don't tell the bishop where you are from!

White Tower

White Tower is the first part of the the Tower that was built.  It is a keep, which is often the strongest structure in a medieval castle, containing lodgings suitable for the King.  It is where Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was imprisoned while she was on trail for incest and treason.

Today it holds the Royal Armory of the past Kings.  It also has displays of the horses the different Kings rode. This is Henry VIII's armor and horse.

There are spiral staircases all over the Tower of London.  In the White Tower there is a spiral staircase that you have to walk down from the top floor to the ground level.  It is just about the never-ending stair case!  I will be very happy if I never have to see another spiral staircase, however I don't think I will be that lucky.

Traitors Gate

Traitors Gate is part of the St. Thomas's Tower in the Tower of London.  It was built to be a water entrance into the Tower.  The name Traitors Gate came about in the 17th century.  Prisoners were brought by barge along the Thames under the London Bridge, where heads of recently executed were displayed on pikes.  This is where 2 of Henry VIII wives, Queen Anne Boleyn and Queen Catherine Howard, entered.

Only 7 people were actually executed in the Tower before the World Wars.  Both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were on that list of 7.  They have a monument where the executions were thought to have taken place.

Yeoman Warders

Yeoman Warders have been the Royal Body guard since at least 1509.  They are more commonly known as Beefeaters.  It's not certain where this term came from, but most likely it is because they once recieved payment in rations of beef.

They give tours of the Tower of London and they also will stop and take pictures and answer any questions about the Tower you might have.  One was kind enough to take a picture with me and my friend Christine.

To become a Beefeater you have to be retired from the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth realms and must be former senior non-commissioned officers with at least 22 years of service.  They get to live inside the fortress along with their famlies.  However, they must own a home outside for when they retire.  I kept thinking how cool it would be to say that you live in the Tower of London.  Not very many people get to say that.

The Ravens

There is always at least 7 common ravens living at the Tower.  It is traditioinally believed that they protect the Crown and the Tower.  A supersition suggests that "If the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it."  They make sure that there are always ravens there...just to be on the safe side.

It is another job of the Beefeaters to look after the ravens.  They serve them 8oz of meat everyday.  Every other day they get a boiled egg.  The also eat chopped apples and grapes.  Apparently, the ravens love cheese.  They live on average, 40 years.

All in all, the ravens have it pretty good.  They can go where they want in the Tower.  They just can't go very far.  One of their wings are clipped to keep them from flying long distances.  They also all have names.  I think the Beefeaters cheat by putting color bands on them to tell them apart.  You can get very close to the ravens.  Although most people tend to stay away.  They are big birds, and as I heard several people say, with big beaks. 

The Crown Jewels

The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom are kept here at the Tower.  They are housed in the Waterloo Barracks.  They don't allow you to take photos inside so I can't share any of what I saw with you.  I can tell you that there are a lot of sparkles in here!

If you noticed in the picture there is a long queue to get inside to see the jewels.  I haven't really figured out why.  We walked by once and the queue was long, so we decided to tour White Tower first.  When we got out of there, the queue was gone and we were able to walk right in.  They even have a moving sidewalk inside to keep people from looking for to long,  We walked back by later on in the day and the queue was long again.  It was the strangest thing. 

If you are in London, the Tower of London is a must.  Just beware of the queues...and the sprial staircases!  You need the better part of the day to see it all.  This was on my must see list before I came and it didn't disappoint!

Oxburgh Hall

Just 20 minutes outside of King's Lynn is a the village of Oxborough.  And it is in that village that you will find the moated manor house Oxburgh Hall.

Oxburgh Hall was built in around 1482 by Sir Edmund Bedingfeld.  It has stayed in the family ever since.  The Bedingfeld's played host to King Henry VII here in August of 1487.  The room where he stayed has been called the King's Room ever since.

The Bedingfeld's were of the Catholic faith.  And this was during the time when England had split and saw the King as the head of the church instead of the Pope.  Apparently the Bedingfeld's didn't agree with that and stuck with their faith.  It must have been for this reason that they had created what is known as a priest hole in the house.   In the event of a raid, the priest would access the hole via a trap door.  When the doors were shut it blends in with the tile on the floor.  These were pretty common back then.  It is one of the few priest hole that you can still crawl into.

There is also a collection of needlework hangings done by Mary, Queen of Scots.  She worked on these while she was in the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, following her escape to England.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to see any of this.  The house closes for 5 months during the winter.  And of course it doesn't open back up until April...when I will be back in the good ol' U.S. of A.  But I was still able to wander around the grounds.  The tea room and gift shops were open, which are both in house, so at least I got to see a little of the inside.

   

The house also has a private chapel on the grounds.  The Roman Catholic Chapel of the Immaculate Conception and St. Margaret was in 1836.  I'm not sure if it is open to the public and if it is, it was of course closed just as the house was.

 

Besides being a bit disappointed for not having the chance to tour the house itself, I still had a really nice time here.  I spent several hours just wondering around the grounds.  The estate has a number of woodland trails and several gardens.  A couple of the trails even have activities for kids to do along the way.  I was actually having fun myself trying to find all the different items that they had posted around the grounds.

One thing that I thought was really interesting was the sundial that is on the house.  I couldn't really find much information about it when I was writing this, but thought you might at least enjoy seeing a picture of it.

I highly recommend visiting here, even if it is during the winter months.  I hear that seeing it with snow on the ground is not to be missed.  If and when it does snow, I think I will make another visit!