London Bridge is falling down
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2008
1
66
95
Trip End
Ongoing
London,
England,
United Kingdom
Friday, June 13, 2008
It was interesting taking the tour of the Crown Jewels, The White tower which was where the kings resided, and also a tour by a 'Beefeater' (or Yeoman Warder). The reason why they got the nickname 'beefeater' is that they were given the task of trying out the beef before it was fed to the king, so that if the meat was poisoned, then the beefeater would react and the king would not be at risk. If the beefeater tried the beef and was fine - then the king would be free to eat it. We also visited the chapel, which is also visited by the queen on occasion.
We met up with Dennis and Jeannette and had a catch up over dinner at an English pub and then a cocktail at their local bar
At the gates to the Tower of London
. Jeannette cooked us an impressive breakfast and then the three of us (Dennis was at work) went to Buckingham palace to see the changing of the guard. On the way we walked through St James park where we fed the squirrels. When we arrived at Buckingham Palace there were so many people there that we assumed there was a special event on. After asking a guard we found ut that the crowd is this big everyday for the changing of the guard.
I was amazed at the ceremony involved in the changing of the guard and how long the whole ceremony takes - considering that they do it every day!
We wandered through the streets to Trafalgar Square and had some lunch. Jeannette and I went home to have a rest before meeting Dennis and Matt for a wander along the wharf area near Dennis' office and a curry, before heading back to Welwyn Garden City.
