The Tower and a quest for vegetarian food...

  London, United Kingdom
Sunday, April 5, 2009

Day three in London started slow.  The jet lag is catching up with us all.  We slept in until about 8:30 - then slowly made our way down for another yummy breakfast.  We noticed that there were a lot more people at breakfast.  We also noticed that most everyone was wearing either bright orange or purple.  We even saw one family in bright orange afro style wigs!  It turns out there was a big game at Wembley Stadium today.  The hotel was packed with fans for the game.  We were very glad to be headed away from the crowd!  Especially when we noticed many of the people having beer for breakfast!
 

TurkeyTrotters in the Tower

With one of the Tower Wardens

Our goal for the day was the Tower of London.  As usual, Jeff mastered the required buses and underground trains to deposit us very near the Tower.  We choose not to take a tour, but rather jump around to the things that interested us.  I enjoyed the palace from the time of Henry III and Edward I.  I've read enough books about this time in history to really appreciate the recreations.  We also viewed the torture chamber - pretty bland stuff.  Then it was on to see where Ann Bolen and others spent their time prior to their death.  Morganne was very interested in the etchings on the walls of the "cell". 
 
Next we saw the crown jewels.  Morganne seemed a bit under whelmed - I on the other hand loved them.  I drug Morganne and Jeff back for a second look.  I guess in this day and age of plastic bling maybe this didn't see so over the top - but when you realize that it is the largest cut diamond in the world on top of that scepter - it does get impressive.
 
We had a quick lunch in the tower - we had finger sandwiches (cucumber, egg salad, and tomato) and scones with clotted cream and jam.  It was all very good - and just the perfect size lunch as we intended to have an early dinner tonight.
 
After lunch it was to the White Tower to see the Armor of King Henry VIII.  To me the most interesting part was to see how as he got older the armor became bigger and more elaborate.  In the end it was all just for show.  He was unable to participate in the jousts and other sports because he was fat and out of shape.  He died at age 55.  I guess he should be the poster child for what too much of everything gets you.
 
After a trip through the tower gift shops, we set out to find a vegetarian restaurant I had read about in one of the tour guides.  Again, Jeff unerringly navigated us to the spot - only to find out they only served breakfast and lunch - and were closed on Sunday.  So it was on to plan B - another pub that reportedly had a vegetarian menu some distance away.  We were all tired of walking and decided this was the time to give Morganne her promised cab ride.  We ended up with a great cabby who showed us exactly where the rioting had been earlier this week.  He said the whole riot thing was blown out of proportion.  He said it was a very small group and a very tightly focused camera.  He said he was in the area that day and it really wasn't much to see.  We told him that American TV made it look awful.  He said that SKY TV did the same.
 
He took us to our second choice restaurant.  It was a pub called "The Peasant".  Jeff got a really good risotto with zucchini and squash, I ordered a platter of maize - it had a variety of humus and pickled vegetables and a salad on top.  Morganne got a big order of hand cut "chips" (fries).  I also ordered a side dish of cauliflower with cheese.  We ended up sampling a bit of everyone's order and it was an exceptionally good meal.  

Jeff's Rissoto

 

Janet's Maize

 
We came back to our hotel early and now are attempting to get the blogs done and our bags repacked.  Tomorrow morning it is off to Istanbul - then the REAL vacation begins!  I'll try to write tomorrow night - but if we get in late or the wireless won't work for some reason I'll write and catch up as soon as I can.  We hope you all are doing well.

 

Waiting for dinner...

 
Janet