London Day 3

Sorry for the delay in posting this!  Last Wednesday, I went to Scotland for six days and I needed this week to catch up on my work.  This is my last post on my trip to London and it's going to be abbreviated because I'm so behind on posts.

Since I posted last, about three weeks ago, I've been to Scotland and back and otherwise in Montpellier, where the weather has gotten significantly cooler, with lots of windy, rainy days the past couple weeks.  My classes are still going well and I'm starting to prepare for my exams which are about six weeks away, but comprise the entirety of my grade for two of my classes taken with other french students.  I have no idea what to expect, so I'm starting to prepare early!  My host family is still very nice and accommodating of me and I am frequently reminded of how happy I am to have made the decision to live in a family.  Despite enjoying my time here so much, I am looking forward to going home as well.  My dad and stepmom are coming to visit in ten days and we are going to Italy together and once they leave, I will have exactly one month remaining.  Since I go back to Chicago New Year's Day to start winter classes one day later, I won't have much time at home, but I will enjoy it all the same.  Now on to London...

The last day in London (Sunday, October 2), was a whirlwind day full visits to historical landmarks, museums, and as I recall, was a beautiful day to see London.  We saw Buckingham Palace in the morning, but we decided not to tour it, because it was insanely expensive ($30) and time consuming.  The outside was impressive and the guards were just like you imagine- standing tall, letting nothing distract them.  After Buckingham, we toured another royal residence which has been converted into a Modern Art museum, Kensington Palace, former home of Princess Diana.  I thought it was creepy inside- they made a modern art museum based on the live's of the princesses that have lived there throughout history.  Each room relived some aspect of the mostly dreary lives of the princesses.  On the day we were there, Disney had taken over the grounds for a movie shoot and the international Disney Princess competition was taking place.  Since it's under renovation, the famous gardens and grounds were diminished, but the inside of the palace was ornately decorated and full of the history of its former inhabitants.

Kensington Palace

Following Kensington Palace, we toured the HMS Belfast, a decommissioned WWII battleship that sits in the Thames River.  It was both massive and impressive, its corridors, staircases, ports, and hatches a labyrinth easily lost in.  We didn't stay long because we had to get to the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels, but this ship was a nice break from old buildings and monarchical history.  Its use in WWII and its near perfect preservation made it a unique attraction especially if like me, one enjoys military history.

Me standing starboard on the HMS Belfast, Thames River on the right.

The Tower of London was the most impressive site we visited that day, because it contained some amazing history.  It was built by William the Conqueror and housed English Kings for centuries.  It was also a fortess and prison and also did a stint as a menagerie.  Yes, that's right, it was used by the monarchy as a zoo to hold exotic animals given as gifts by foreign leaders.  Polar bears, lions, and monkeys lived in Tower of London for over 500 years.  

But the more interesting part about the Tower is that it is known as a place of violence, was, and torture.  Enemies of the crown and the state were often imprisoned there.  Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, was held and executed at Tower of London for the crime of not producing a male heir.  Countless people were wrongly imprisoned and tortured over the years and the Tower had a special use as a place to hide young princes who were the rightful heirs to the throne claimed by someone else. The Tower is not really a tower, but more of a fortress and small city, with many stone buildings and strong fortifications against attack. 

The main castle at the Tower of London

Today, it houses the Crown Jewels, which you can find pictures of online, but our cameras were obviously not allowed inside.  They are extremely well protected and visitors pass by them on a moving walkway.  The jewels and crowns are stunning in their size and variety, especially the sword collection.  Who would use a gold sword with a diamond hilt in battle?  Nobody of course, but they made them anyway for Kings to carry with them.  The monarchy often borrowed untold amounts of money to make new crowns and jewelry they could not afford, because the English monarchy was notorious for being broke.  After leaving Tower of London, I had experience of riding on an original double decker bus.  It was randomly assigned to the route Mary and I took and there was nothing electronic, no doors, and a human ticket collector.  London has a few of these buses running around still and they are authentic and refurbished.  If I find the pictures of this, I will add them to the post.

The outer Castle- the living quarters.

As close as cameras are aloud to the Crown Jewel's

That evening, we went to two pubs- one where Mary's grandparents met during WWII and the other where we ate the obligatory British meal- fish and chips, which wasn't actually very good.  Nothing was crispy, sadly, but since then I have had much better fish and chips at another pub, so it's not all bad.    The following morning I flew back to Montpellier from Birmingham, UK, about two hours from London by train, which left from King's Cross Station.  I couldn't help but get a picture at Platform        9 3/4, where the Hogwart's Express leaves in Harry Potter.  The station has a special area set up to take pictures and to commemorate its place in the books.  After this picture, I traveled back to Montpellier without any problems.

Platform 9 3/4.  Covered up by my head of course.

My next post will be about a class field trip to two mountaintop castles in the Pyrenees used by religious exiles, the Cathar Christians, in the middle ages.  These castles were difficult to get to and it was dangerously windy atop the mountains they sat on, but it was an amazing experience.  More on that in my next post!