9/9/2019 London with Trafalgar begins, Tower of London on my own

(9-9) Day 1 Trafalgar begins  Arrive London (2 Nights) Hotel = Park Plaza Riverbank Average 68 HIgh 55 Low 21% rain  

Tower Hotel  Call 44 800 330 8005, 44 207 523 5063 St. Katherine’s Way, St. Katharine’s and Wapping, London, E1W 1LD, UK (4.2 star)  Riverside.  Reviews Opened 1973. Located on the north bank of the River Thames and the east side of the Tower Bridge.  Near the Tower of London, the Shard (London’s Highest viewing platform) and more.  Near HMS Belfast, WWII Royal Navy battleship, St. Katherine’s Docks, Butler’s Wharf, City Hall. Reviews indicate staff is good but hotel needs a make-over.  Elevators are slow, only two worked and indicator lights were erratic, several compliants that AC doesn’t work, long lines at breakfast.  XI bar was good, Vicinity Bar was bad.  Long lines at check-in.   No refrig.

Tour INFO "London's vibrant city streets are your launch pad to an epic journey through the iconic sights of Britain. Embrace the pomp and ceremony of this multi-cultural capital, exploring the treasures of its former Empire in museums, rambling through its picturesque Royal Parks or admiring the ancient façades that line its grand boulevards and hidden lanes."

Used a cab to transfer from one hotel to another.  I am in the Tower Hotel near the Tower of London.  It’s a very nice.  I took Kate’s advice and went to the Tower of London which is across the street from the hotel.

The Tower of London is the 1000-year-old castle that protects the Crown Jewels.  It has served three purposes over the years; secure fortress, a royal palace and a prison.  As soon as I entered, I joined a group to hear an introduction offered by a Yeoman Warder.  There are 35 Beefeaters. They got their name because originally they received no monetary pay.  They were given the scraps after the king ate.  The Beefeaters ate and then filled their pockets with scraps to sell to get money.  To be a Beefeater, a man or woman must have served the Queen for twenty-two years and achieved a certain rank in one of the four services and also have received a certain medal.  The thirty-five live on the castle grounds and function as a family.  They have their own pub.  Our female Beefeater talked to us in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula which is where Anne Boleyn is buried along with another of Henry the VIII’s wives.  Another Chapel was St. John’s Chapel.  She told us that when Anne Boleyn was beheaded with a sword she was kneeling and praying.  Accounts say that for twenty seconds after she was beheaded, her eyes were open and moving and her lips were still moving in prayer.  I cannot imagine being a witness...

I spent my day climbing up and down a lot of stairs as I toured different towers.  It was very interesting, but I confess after three hours I was maxed out.  I realize now I missed the area where the king’s exotic animals lived.  What do you give the man or woman who has everything, apparently in their time you gave them a wild animal.  

I toured through the Battlements and saw the Crowns and Diamonds exhibit.  I also saw the Crown Jewels display.  Some of the towers I visited included Bloody Tower, White Tower, Martin Tower, Salt Tower, Cradle Tower, and Lanthorn Tower.  I visited the tower mint and learned about melting metal and separating silver from gold and coin making.  The White Tower had an extensive collection of armor for men and horses in the Royal Armories.  

My last stop was the collection of torturing apparatus.  

Map below is the next two weeks on a Trafalgar Tour.  I begin and end in London.  The 1s and 2s are the number of nights I will stay in that location.  

White Tower

Where the Crown Jewels are kept.

There are always seven ravens at the castle.  Six must be living there at all times according to legend.  So they keep seven to have a spare.  The ravens are fed 170g of raw meat a day and biscuits soaked in blood.  Occasionally, they are given a rabbit with the skin still on.

On the inside against the castle walls are the homes of the Beefeaters.

Those little slots in the walls are the places the bowmen would shoot their arrows at their enemies.

NOT the Original Hotel = Park Plaza Riverbank  (Full Breakfast) 18 Albert Embankment, Lambeth, London SE1 7TJ UK  (4 star) Near Big Ben, the London Eye (15-minute walk, Westminster Abbey (10-minute walk) and Tate Modern.  Close to the Underground and the River. Soundproof rooms.   Low water pressure, sporadic air conditioning, long lines at check-in with rude, inept employees.  There is a pool.