Loving London, Day 4

So because Dirk hadn't spent a lot of time in London, we let him pick what we did today, with a little restriction...we had tickets for a matinee showing of the Merry Wives of Windsor.  So he looked at the map and realized it was on the same side of town as The Tower of London, and we all were excited to continue our discovery of Anne Boleyn, the Lady Elizabeth and all those that were prisoners there!

I can just vision the Lady Elizabeth coming in this gate on the boat in her white damask dress....trying to appear as innocent and pure as possible.

 The infamous Bloody Tower.

A beautiful memorial for those beheaded here....

 

It was in this area that the scaffoldings were erected for the beheadings... Anne Boleyn, the Lady Jane Gray and Catherine Howard who was one of Henry VIII's wives.  When the Lady Elizabeth was imprisoned here, there was a scaffolding that was there from a previous beheading....she was so sure it would be used for her, but one day it was taken down and her dread was gone. Soon she was released.

 This is part of the palace that houses the crown jewels....one of the diamonds on one of the crowns was over 300 carats. What? Crazy.

 The changing of the guard (outside the crown jewels)....just a lot of stomping and yelling....bot those are real guns and real knives on the end of them....yikes.

 Seriously?

 After the Tower, we went to a burger joint that Hans had been to before, pretty dang good for England.  Then Dirk convinced us to take a water bus... pretty cool and pretty speedy. 

 Tower Bridge

 Everyone who sees tower bridge usually thinks it's the famous London Bridge.... but no, it is a very unassuming bridge that someone told me was bought by a rich American and moved to New Mexico and then rebuilt here in London.  I'm very gullible so who knows.

 Shakespeare's Globe... In 1949, actor Sam Wanamaker came to London and was disappointed to not find a memorial to Shakespeare or his theater. In 1970 he founded the Shakespeare Globe trust, in 1993 construction started and then finished in 1997.  It is a remarkable place.  Built just as it would have been in Shakespeare's time. Timber frame with pegs and a thatched roof. Just beautiful! The play was spectacular....so funny and well done....those wives were so merry and hilarious, it reminded me of all my girlfriends!

Not super comfortable, but worth it!  One of my most favorite things this trip and that's saying a lot because I have loved everything!

After, we walked up and over to Covent Garden, around Leicester Square and down to Trafalgar Square (on accident, got turned around).  We hoped in a taxi and went up to Barbican tube stop where we were meeting our guide for the "Blood and Tears Walk."  Another thing I had never done. We learned about serial killers, prison escapes, grave robbers...in general some pretty creepy stuff.  He took us to the place where the alleged Jack the Ripper lived, where Sweeny Todd's shop was, where a Dr. Cream did some bad stuff....it was fun.  Gretchen was a little creeped out and was convinced our guide was a serial killer. Mwahaha! We had a late Thai dinner, and even later, a My Old Dutch nutella pancake! Woo hoo, can't get enough!

I'm starting to get sad....can't think about it, only one more day left!

In love with London, Day 3

As we were eating breakfast, in walks our friends Abe and Gretchen! Hooray, friends to enjoy London with!  They were on their way back from Africa and needed a little civilization.  No really, Abe has been doing some consulting for Hans' company and Hans needed him to help out with a sales structure in Britian.  So of course we played the few days that we had! 

Before coming Gretch and I both read a historical novel called The Lady Elizabeth by Allison Weir.  Although it is by a different author, it continues on right where The Other Boelyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory finishes off. (I loved both of these books, but just beware, they are a bit scandalous and are at least a PG-13....that's for you Mom, and Mom, if you read them, give me your copies and I'll rip out the unnecessary pages! I think The Lady Elizabeth is not near as questionable as The Other Boelyn Girl.) With all that being said, I am very intrigued by the Tudors and their history. Allison Weir is a historian and has written several history books before she wrote a novel. I loved her historical detail....I couldn't wait to get to Hampton Court to see if the painting she described in detail was truly there..... IT WAS!

So we walked from our hotel down to Gloucester Road tube stop looking for our friend Dirk who was an hour behind them on a different flight. There he was, looking around wondering which way to go, it couldn't have been better timing.  We had a little trouble finding him a hotel (fashion week), but finally did and then we were on our way.  Tube to Waterloo and train to Hampton Court.

 The train ride took about a half hour, through a bit of the city and a bit of countryside.

 We had to catch Dirk with the Wimbledon sign behind him....it was just for about 30 seconds, but now he's been there!

 

 Here we are right outside the front entrance to Hampton Court, most famous for being King Henry VIII's home during his rule. The archway entrance is right behind us.

 They try to keep Hampton Court in "period," (mid 1500's)  and today they were celebrating (as I think they do everyday) the King's wedding to his 6th and last wife Catherine Parr.  So this guard asked us if we were part of the wedding party, they are all quite sarcastic and funny.

This is the grand hall in Henry VIII's apartments (other parts were added on and other parts were redone during other rulers...William and Mary....I'm going to learn more about them!)  At any given time, Henry had 600 courtiers living at the palace.  This is where they were fed and with the King and Queen at their head.

 In Henry's youth he was an avid hunter....there were horns everywhere!

 On the linens, there were "eating rules at court."  This one made us laugh so hard.

 This is a room that the courtiers would spend their day, chatting, working deals, and basically wasting time.  There were cushions and game tables, but pretty empty.

 Here he is, King Henry VIII.  This is apparently in his later years when he's a but heavier.

 This is the King's council room, where he would get advice and command his leaders to action. While I was in here taking pictures, I heard some commotion and low and behold, here comes the King....

 Pretty good resemblance huh? He said he was on his way to his wedding.  He even walked with his cane and a limp.  Henry was known to have a long time leg infection and limp.

 Here it is....I got one photo before the guard told me to turn off my flash..... so the rest are blurry.  In the book, this painting was described because Henry wanted his children painted with his "real" wife (because she was the only one to give him a male heir, but she was already dead when this painting was done....creepy).  In the book, Lady Elizabeth had been given a necklace of her mother's that had an "A" on it.  She snuck it on when she sat for the artist and was so worried her dad would be furious, but luckily his eye sight was bad enough that he didn't notice.

 So here is Henry with Prince Edward and Jane Seymour who died shortly after Edward was born.

 This is Lady Mary, the daughter of Henry's first wife of 20 years, Catherine of Aragon....she became know as Bloody Queen Mary as she burned hundreds at the stake for not accepting the true Catholic faith.

 This is Elizabeth, Anne Boelyn's daughter.  Anne was beheaded for treason when Elizabeth was just 3. And it's hard to tell, but it really is an "A" on her necklace.

 When Elizabeth was Queen she was known to have said that she was "married" to England.

 This is one of the internal courtyards at the palace.

 As we came out of the palace heading to the gardens and some lunch, we ran into Catherine Parr's sister who was waiting for the wedding party.

 Dirk tried to put his arm around her and she reminded him that her husband would be very jealous.  You also can see the scaffolding behind...it seems like they are always restoring and maintaining, but that's why it looks so amazing even though it's over 500 years old.

 This topiary garden was my favorite. I can just vision the Lady Elizabeth walking here.

 It's just incredible! And it helped that it was beautiful weather for England! I truly think Fall is the best season for England.

 This is a different view of Hampton Court.... look at all those chimneys! Insane.... kitchens, bedrooms, grand halls, I guess that's how they kept warm! It is a huge place!

 Here we are headed into the famous Hampton Court Maze. I take a different turn than Hans just after this picture, convinced I can beat him..... Gretchen and I end up running into each other and loose by a good 4 minutes to all the guys....Abe even had time to go to the bathroom and come back,  we're such losers!

 Headed back to town for dinner and a show!

 Gretchen reminding herself of London and trying to figure out where we want to go to dinner.  We ended up getting off at Sloan Square and walking the famous King's Road and eating at ....you guessed it, My Old Dutch.  Gretchen loves nutella and banana crepes more than me, so it was a must!

Then over to Victoria on the bus to see Billy Elliot.

Such an awesome day! Sorry it was a bit of a history lesson, but I want to remember the information and I know I'll forget!  Each day I go to bed more tired, but I can't stop, I just want to fit as much as I can in!  Having the time of my life!