So I’m back and hopefully are most of you. We’re still exploring making your own plans and carrying them out yourself as vs. going thru others.
A few words on your first day:
It takes around 8 hrs to get from the East coast of the US to GB and given that they’re 5 hours ahead of us—-so basically you get there in the middle of our night—if questionable sleep on the plane—and Jet Lag on the horizon——this is pretty much the case any time you leave the Americas (for example Japan is 13 hrs ahead)—–so you have to take Jet Lag into considerations—-what has worked for me in the past is just keeping going when I get to some place—example:
When I arrive in London I got to my hotel and check in—while I can’t actually aquire the room (in most cases) till in the late afternoon I can take care of all the paper work etc and all I have to do when I get back is pick up my key and luggage, find my room and collapse.
As I mentioned before we always get rooms with a storage room that is available (and kept locked) for the common early morning arrivals…..then we use the lobby restroom to touch up make up, hair, perhaps change into other clothing and hit the road. Usually it’s been awhile since we’ve had breakfasts and we stop at a pub or a restaurant—there’s several coffee shops and the like in and around Victoria station that have breakfast and lunch—–We usually stop at
St.George’s Tavern Victoria-–they have a seperate dining room off their pub area where we can get a bit of grub. Food is good—-I have never had a problem with British food—-and if you must do American there is a
Starbucks in the area. Here’s a listings of the top 10—our favorite is
Cafe Nero
So you just have to look it up and see what you want to do—go, eat and so on– Or you can be adventuresom and just try it to see if you like it–if you’re more adventuresome—–especially in cities like London, NY and LA you can decide to just figure it out whn you get there—-but I prefer to know—you don’t have to decide you can just print make notes—save info to your phone or tablet etc and then make the decision when you get there.
Not my picture
I could bet that:
One of the places on your must see listings is the Tower
Once a castle built by the new rulers (infact the White Tower is the orginal castle that William had built and it still stands to day—still a very impressive building even in our age)—the French Normans who claimed the Iright to the throne and thus the country and then took it by might—-the Normans from Viking roots and who ruled from 1066 to when Richard III was defeated and died while fighting against Henry Tudor who became the VII—whose dynast lasted only 3 generations but is probably one of the best known and most written about for its size as any England has ever seen. This castle in the city of Losnon was to impress upon the citizens of that city just how seriously they took their claim under William the Conqueor.
Here the guards, called warders are retired military (Army, Royal Marines or Royal AIr Force) and are called yoman warders, or Beefeaters—a name that was bestowed on them in the 17th c when beef was a luxury, but it was their routine diet along with a ration of beer. They actually have apartments in the Tower compound—but away from the maddening crowds. And they are there to greet you when you arrive, to keep thing orderly during the day and to close down—-but did you know there was a ceremony after close down–the
Ceremony of the Keys—-so see you may not know the tower as much as you thought—oh and by the way it has been going on for over 700 years—nightly—the tower and the ceremony too.
Of course you have probably heard of the Bloody Tower which some say is where the princes Edward (who by the time of his death was Edward V) and Prince Rchard also Duke of York were killed butby who and how we may never know—(did you know that some kid’s
skeltons were found later (17th c I believe) in the tower grounds and it was claimed they were the two boys–there was never any modern forensics done and given the fact that evidence shows there were peoples living and dying in this area long before the time of the Normans buildings–so who knows who they were) —they were put into an urn in West Minster Abbey.
Or a final stopping place for Sir Walter Raleigh who put his cloak down for Elizabeth I to keep her feet dry but lost his head to the Scottish Stuart King James whose line replaced the Tutors for four more generations.
Across from the tower is tower hill were all the less important people were beheaded (and there were so many) for treason and the like but here insde the tower is where they beheaded the higher ranking including two of Henry VIII’s wifes Anne Boelyn and Kathern Howard (who was but in her teens). And one of the nastiest–Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury—-she basically was in line for the throne—from the Plantagenets not the Tudors and her son a cardinal (Catholic–thus against Henry as he had did away with the church as they wouldn’t allow him to divorce his wife, so he could marry another (Anne Boelyn—who as you might notice earlier in this paragraph he also did away with when a better offer came along). In the Countess’ case (she was 70 years which back there was a super age) she refused to put her head on the block and began to run about the area with the executioner hacking at her body with his axe—estimates are that he hit her with it at least 11 times before she, a bloody mess, finally found her peace. Oh and Anne and Kathern are buried in the Tower’s chapel—-look on the floor for their burial sites.
I won’t even begin to tell you about the ghost stories.
Now For My First Day and Delay or Stop Jet Lab:
I plan an activitiy that doesn’t require a lot of effort on my part but allows me to keep going with a minimal injury or thought.
Oh and if you’re in a big city for you vacation adventure remember to take precautions for your money’s safety—–I have a little cash on me—-for tipping tour bus drivers and the like. I have a small bag with my pass port and some credit cards and other ID—other ID–like my Driver’s License etc. —-I usually leave the key for the room at the hotel’s desk unless I’m gonna be late and then will have it too. the purses I get have multiple zippers—no snaps—too easy to pop and enter. I carry it around my neck and given that London is chilly for me i usually have a jacket or sweater clasped across it—which makes it even harder for pick pockets and the like.
I usually do a bus store of London—–there is one—on and off tour that hits the high spots and includes the tower we were just talking about it on it’s stops—-If you check it out below you’ll see that one of its stops (#19) is by Victoria Station so it makes it very convenient—we can stop some place nice for drinks to walk around or even if we feel like it to visit….and then it’s home—-food where ever and then to bed by nine and you awake the next day w/o jet lag. All stuff that I learned from research or from actual visits—-always looking for new fun things to do and or ways to do them.
This might not be your thing though it works ro us—but I’m sure you can find somthing to do to keep you going—here is a great article about how you can do multiple activities and things to help:
from the Sleep institute.
Parts and Belts for Sanitaire SC899 Commerical Vacuum Cleaner
If you check out the plaque above you will see the name Nell Gwynne—so what you Yanks may say—but check it out:
Up until around the time of Dr. Charles II the theater in England had only men involved—-men wrote, directed sold tickets to–oh and yes played all the parts—both sexes……this was changed and provided at least one famous mistress (very popular with the people) the afore mentioned Nell….And you wander why I love the UK
In Roman times a theatre existed south of St. Paul (it was in existance back then I know—but it gives the newer visitor like most of us a reference point in the current century. There was also an amphitheater laid out at the site of the Guild hall, but this all pretty much left when the Romans took their marbles and headed home and by the the 16th c there wasn”t even a trace of those in sight.
About the closest thing London had for theater was religious plays that were started in the middle ages and performed at the churches usuall on the steps at the entrance. And an older world of street performances existed and were popular and faires and other events that brought in large crows—these can be traced back to the advent of the Anglo-Saxon days.
Eventually plays came back—there was the swan which ws near Blackfriar’s bridg which was flint and mortar construction and faux marble pillars 3,000, but alas it lacked any regular actors and soon faded away.
The Globe many of you may have heard of with Lord Chamberlain’s Men (actors) and later the King’s men who were actually the actors that made it famous and included William Shakespare (if you went to school in the USA you’ve heard of him—and a few of us have even attened his play—-I saw many—but my favorite was Taming of the Shrew at the new Globe in Southwark of London fame.—The original Globe was built (of timber orginally from a building north of the river : The Globe) Opening in 1599. That building (like many buildings of the time, burned to the ground in June 1613.) It was rebuilt but was permanently closed in about 1642 when all theaters were closed by the Puritans .
and was pulled down 2 years later (1644) it was pulled down to make way for more practical buildings.
My drops of tears I’ll turn to sparks of fire: Burning down and building up the Globe Theatre
The current theater was built in the 1990’s a reproduction of the ancient theater and includes a restaurant (The Swan which is great) and a bar as well as a theater staging regular plays and tours are available.
So that’s Day 2 for London—hope you enjoyed it and maybe got some starting ideas for doing your own vacation whether it’s here or where ever it is you want to go.
Come back next week for Day 3 and hang in there this week for my blog called bits and pieces where I share different places that migh interest you but in the US and all manner of places else where…..so you’ll be all set when your ready to travel.
