Day 11

I woke up, showered and headed down for breakfast. The place was empty. I guess everyone was taking advantage of an easy Saturday morning. I took a few pictures of the room that is used for breakfast. It’s located in the basement of the hotel.

I decided to order a latte and see what the staff in the hotel could deliver. At least they had a proper espresso machine to make the latte. The last two hotels had full automatic machines that could make all sorts of coffee drinks with the push of a button.

I returned to my room to grab my bag and walked to the London Towers. As I showed in a previous blog, I can see the top of the towers from my hotel window. Before I arrived to the towers entrance, I had a great view of the London Tower Bridge.

The bridge is located right next to the London Towers. Here is the visitors entrance along the River Thames.

I took this picture because, like many European cities, there are so many historic buildings mixed in with the new. The London Towers were built in the early eleventh century. The oldest buildings we have in the States aren’t much older than four hundred years or so.

The moat without any water.

I decided to make a beeline to the building with the crown jewels. I knew as more people arrived the que (line) would start to get long to get inside to see them. Unfortunately, this is another area that photography is strictly prohibited. So, I can’t share what I saw inside.

I decided to check out the White Tower which is he main buildingin the middle next.

I better mind the ravens.

The White Tower is now a museum for a lot of the armory throughout British history.

King Henry VIII amour.

The royal loo. You wouldn’t want to be walking outside along the building while it was in use!

The chapel

This is one of the only surviving chopping blocks that was actually used. Most were apparently destroyed after being used.

This is a row of houses that are occupied by the workers of the towers. Similar to the Mews I visited yesterday. The Yeoman, as they are called, that work and take care of the towers live like a small village inside the walls with their families.

Here are a couple Yeomen in uniform working today. The process to apply to become a Yeoman is very strict. The main requirement is twenty-two years of military service.

This gives you a good idea how the two places are located to each other.

There isn’t a lot of focus on the torture that I thought the Towers of London were notorious. There are a couple examples throughout the grounds.

This is an example of what the queens quarters were like.

This castle was built on top of the first walls built by the Romans. It was called Londinium. Here is some of the wall that still exists.

One last picture of the White Towers before I left the grounds. I do want to mention that if you have any difficultly climbing stairs, there is a lot that you will not be able to see here. The main building along with some of the outlying towers have spiral staircases that need to be traversed.

It took me almost three and a half hours to see everything in the towers using the audio guide (which is only 5 pounds and well worth it). I was ready for lunch and had just the place in mind. I jumped on the tube and came out along this road. At the time, I didn’t know what the dome is, but I thought it looked cool. After some research I found it is the dome to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

I arrived with plenty of time to catch todays qualifying rounds for the Italian Grand Prix.

This place is very cool and a must go for any F1 fan. There are only three in the States right now. Boston, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia.

They have loads of simulators to race with friends. It cost about thirty ponds per person for three races. Since I was by myself, it didn’t seem worth doing.

But, I did find myself a good seat to watch the qualifying rounds.

And get some lunch.

It was almost as fun watching qualification here as it was last weekend in person at the track. The best part is that Max took pole! Afterwards, I found my way back to the Tube to take me back to the hotel.

I really enjoyed my time in London. The weather was so nice. I hope I was able to share enough about what London has to offer those of you looking to maybe visit yourself. I know there is a lot more interesting places to visit I didn’t have time to see myself. But, tomorrow morning I leave for my last leg of the trip. Edinburgh, Scotland!