Tower of London and the V&A

The Continuing Adventure in England 2007
3/19/2007

On Monday we decided to try and get in both the Tower of London and the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A). Realistically, though, visiting the Tower is really a full day activity.

The day started off a bit cold and cloudy, but it was still quite nice.

Here's Glennys standing in front of the main entrance to the Tower of London. You can that it's a chilly day (mostly overcast with a brisk wind most of the day).

And here's a shot of me on the drawbridge:

(I wasn't really posing for this one as she took it before I realized what she was doing =)

One of my favorite photos (especially to use as a Desktop/Wallpaper image at work!) - Traitor's Gate:


This is the Water Gate that was used to bring Traitors into the Tower. Yes, I said Water Gate. In days past, this area would be filled with water, and the only way to enter was to come in by boat. The moat that lead to this gate (and filled this area) was drained in the 1840s.

Anyways, we picked up the audio tour and skipped the Beefeater tour (since we had such a good experience with the last audio tour...with Windsor...we thought we'd try it again). Next time I'm there I do want to do the Beefeater tour, though. Soon we were walking around, following the directions given by the audio tour. Unfortunately, one of the areas was closed for reconstruction/rehab work, but we got to see most of the areas of interest while there, including the Bloody Tower, The Scaffold Site, the White Tower, and the Crown Jewels (held inside the Barracks). We grabbed a bite of lunch from the cafe (?) on site (for a very pretty penny, let me tell you!), and then we finished our tour by checking out the famous Ravens and some cannons that were made by a John Fuller. (We of course had to check those out due to a name connection).

Then, we made our way over to the V&A...and wandered there for a while. I was REALLY hoping to see a costuming/fashion exhibit. But I couldn't find it for the longest time. I did find a lovely section with beautiful cameos and another with fabric/textile samples, and some wonderfully intricate carved wooden items. (Oh, and there were some lovely and pretty ornate snuff boxes on display too). Finally, we found the exhibit I was looking for...but discovered that the reason I had difficulty finding it in the first place was due to the fact that it was closed! (They were renovating that section!) I was so disappointed, let me tell you!. And by this time both of us were exhausted from our day so far, so we decided to just head home and relax. (Probably a good call, too!)

Later that evening we went out for a walk along Bayswater Rd just to explore and see what was around us. While we were out we stopped at a nicer place for dinner, which I can't recall right now. We shopped a bit more for souvenirs and then ended up walking home as it was getting pretty late (and we were flying out in the morning). We stopped to pick up a few breakfast type items in a little shop for the morning, and then went back to our room to pack up and get some sleep.