A week in London, nearly done.

It is Friday morning, and we are have nothing planned. How does that happen, when you are in one of the most famous, historical capitals in the World?
I have no answer - just guesses. I guess we have seen what we really wanted to see. I guess we have been where we really wanted to be. I guess we are pooped and need to re-group, before heading on to Birmingham tomorrow.
Monday and Tuesday I have already accounted for. Wednesday saw us stroll through Green Park (imaginative name) and have a gander at Buckingham Palace. We then pressed on through St James' park and made our way Past Westminster Abbey, Palace and Big Ben, to the London Eye. ( I must add here that the buildings of Westminster are BEAUTIFUL. Such details in the architecture. Is it that we don't have the money to spend on buildings anymore - or that we can't be bothered with the craftmanship involved? Perhaps there just aren't the crafts men around anymore?)
Now, the London Eye. It seemed so tacky to me. A fantastically mammoth bike wheel, propped up on the edge of the Thames. Looks like it was dragged from the river and made to magically grow. And grow. And grow. Not sure what the pods you stand in look like, just glass pods, really. Add to the bike wheel thing the truly touristy nature of the thing, then the cost, and there is nothing really appealing about it really....except....the view.
The magnificent view.
It wasn't until we were up in the air that I could truly appreciate the size of the London Eye. It is huge. When you are on eye level with the face of Big Ben, you start to get it, then when you are looking over the top of everything around you, well, lets just say; you don't regret waiting for forty minutes in a line, and getting on. I even had to admit an admiration for the engineering that goes into such a creation.
We went home via bus, just for something different.
Yesterday we hit the Tower of London. Such an interesting place historically, and with a heap of interesting exhibits. Like, for example, the crown jewels. Wow. A lot of the paraphernalia involved with the coronation ceremonies as well. It was home to the Royals, and prisoners alike throughout the centuries.
There is nothing new about people visiting the Tower to see exhibits. They started making displays in the seventeenth century. It amuses me no end, to imagine the people, wandering through, in the 1600s, oohing and aahhing at the old armour from the 1500's and before. We always think we are the first to do something - and we are so funnily not! Solomon said it when he said, "There is nothing new under the Sun."
Everything about the tower is fascinating. What worries me though, is that i have been there before - and yet most of it seemed new to me! I wonder, if I didn't retain any of it the first time, how much will I the second? And if the answer is that I won't retain much, then I have to wonder whether it is worth going. I mean, seriously - if you visit somewhere at great expense, but remember nothing of it, wouldn't you be better off looking online from the relative inexpense of home, and just pretending you had been there?
The Ravens were familiar, as was the escalator that takes you past the crown jewels. And that is it!!
There are always six ravens kept in the grounds (plus one spare) due to the superstition that King Edward had. The folklore was that if the Ravens ever left the London Tower, that the tower would crumble to the ground as dust, and the Royals would be taken from the Throne.
You can see his concern, as a royal, living in the tower castle!
There is a little chapel on the grounds where such famous beheaded people as Anne Boleyn are buried. Eliza described said chapel as 'cute', or to be specific, "This church is a cute church, like a puppy."
Tower Bridge, which is the one leading to the Tower of London - and is often mistaken as 'London Bridge'- is a most striking place. I thoroughly enjoyed walking across it and seeing close-up the doors and windows in the archways that span its width. My favourite colour is blue, so of course, I like the colour scheme they have gone with!!
Apparently (and again I quote an unverified source) the Americans bought London Bridge - and the English happily sold it to them. The deal of the century really, because the Yanks thought they were getting the Tower Bridge, which, as I said before, is often mistaken as being London Bridge. After all, there are songs about London Bridge, so you think it must be something special....but really...there isn't. I mean to say, when you think about the song, you realize the first problem, and that is that London Bridge has fallen down! It was replaced a few times before they built the current, non-event roadway which spans the Thames, and wears the name, London Bridge. I guess that somewhere in America, there is now another non-event bridge, wearing the same name! I kind of hope it is true, just because it is so funny!!
On leaving the Tower, we caught a bus to Greenwhich. We didn't get to the observatory until quite late in the day, so we basically did the touristy thing, and went straight to the date line, which we straddled and photographed.
Now it is Friday midday, and the kids have spent the morning playing beautifully with some cardboard boxes which they have made into cubby houses in the wee back yard. Ha. The history of the world is all around us - and they are so happy playing with cardboard boxes! I know!! I see the irony in that....
After lunch we are going to go for a walk through the Russia Dock Woodlands. This is something that Grandpa told Sam about before we left home - and when prompted, Sam remembered the name of the place, in order to ask Uncle Paul to take us there.
See you in Birmingham!!