London: Day 8
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By the time I came up from breakfast this morning it was pouring rain out. This had the miserable effect of making Geo miserable (he’s like Andie one little drop of rain and he has to shake, very fussy), but the fortunate effect of making the line up at the Tower of London short.
We got there at 10:10am, and the Beefeaters weren’t giving tours because of the rain, a disappointment, but one we could deal with. We headed straight for the crown jewels. The videos in the jewel tower were fascinating and informative, they told you the history and the use of the crowns, scepters, orbs, swords, and all the rest of the coronation paraphernalia that went with it. They showed the coronation of the queen and her historic relatives. The jewels themselves were very impressive to see. Several of the world’s largest diamonds are contained in the collection.
We also visited and took pictures of the Queen’s house and ravens, the Beauchamp Tower (which contained fascinating prisoner’s graffiti from the 1500′s), the beautiful Chapel of St. Peter & Vinacula, (where the remains of those who were beheaded are buried “close to this spot” the ambiguity disallowing them to have graves that could become shrines for pilgrims). We also visited Bloody Tower and Wakefield’s Tower (where Sir Walter Raleigh and the Kings rooms were respectively and White Tower (which held the armories and displayed the armor). There was actually a minor fire in the tower while we were there, and the military and fire departments came to put it out. We also visited traitor’s gate, and the tower’s attached to it.
By this time. Geo had had enough and needed to be fed, so we hopped on the tube to Picadilly Circus, and grabbed something to eat at another Pret-A-Manger before going to see the matinee production of Fosse!
I loved the show, a compilation of all Bob Fosse’s award winning choreography numbers. Geo endured it. I was fascinated with the effectiveness of well coordinated simple moves. If only the kids I worked with had a sense of timing. The dancers incorporating rhythm patterns into their dance, and the racial mix of the cast (you wouldn’t have seen it in an original Fosse production). The group formations and coordination were inspiring to me in their simplicity and effectiveness. I loved the “Mr Bojangles” and “Sing, Sing, Sing” numbers. It was a great show.
After the show we spent more time bumming around in book stores on Tottenham Road (Geo found more cyberpunk books), then we headed out in search of supper.
We found a little Indian restaurant in the West End, and finally tried some chicken vindaloo. Surprisingly, it didn’t kill us, it was very good. We had basmati rice, pan bread, and a vegetable curry with it. I was impressed with our daring.
We hit a few more book stores after supper where I finally found a good book for Uncle Ralph. I picked up a book on the history of the Basque people for Laurie too.
We headed back to the hotel early, as we have to pack to go home tomorrow. We’ve got a 7:00am wake up call so I’m off to bed.
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