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Since 2:30 today when I last blogged (but didn't finish), I went to the Tower of London, Harrods, and to a Chinese restaurant. I will write about them later, but for now I'm going to bed. It's almost 12:30 am and tomorrow I will be going to Westminster Abbey.
-updated-
Let's start with the Tower of London. I liked it a lot, especially because I've recently watched Elizabeth: The Golden Age and The Other Bolyn Girl, where both movies have main characters that stayed/were beheaded in the Tower of London. Next time I go, though, I want to go on a complete tour by a beefeater (who I learned are very noteworthy retired armymen who can actually live on the Tower of London complex). Julia wasn't liking it much because he talked about a lot of the gorey history...but I kinda got in to it. However, we kinda decided to explore for half of it. I went to see where Sir Walter Raligh stayed for 13 years and began his book, The History of the World (which is there in a glass case). I also got to see where the young princes stayed...there was a whole exhibit devoted to the mystery of their murders.
A cool thing about the complex is that they have a glass monument that's supposed to be on the spot where all the famous beheadings took place. Not that I think that the beheadings are cool at all...but I really like the mood the artist decided to make for the scene. There's a pillow on top of two glass circles: one circle is a list of the names of the famous people who died here (who sometimes weren't guilty but just fell in disfavor of the monarch), and the other glass circle had a prayer for their souls.
-updated-
Let's start with the Tower of London. I liked it a lot, especially because I've recently watched Elizabeth: The Golden Age and The Other Bolyn Girl, where both movies have main characters that stayed/were beheaded in the Tower of London. Next time I go, though, I want to go on a complete tour by a beefeater (who I learned are very noteworthy retired armymen who can actually live on the Tower of London complex). Julia wasn't liking it much because he talked about a lot of the gorey history...but I kinda got in to it. However, we kinda decided to explore for half of it. I went to see where Sir Walter Raligh stayed for 13 years and began his book, The History of the World (which is there in a glass case). I also got to see where the young princes stayed...there was a whole exhibit devoted to the mystery of their murders.
A cool thing about the complex is that they have a glass monument that's supposed to be on the spot where all the famous beheadings took place. Not that I think that the beheadings are cool at all...but I really like the mood the artist decided to make for the scene. There's a pillow on top of two glass circles: one circle is a list of the names of the famous people who died here (who sometimes weren't guilty but just fell in disfavor of the monarch), and the other glass circle had a prayer for their souls.
Also in the grounds, there is a British soldier who guards the door to some important governor-type guy's house who lives at the Tower of London. Then, there's a really cool chapel that we got to go in when we were back with the tour. It holds tribute to the many people who died at the Tower of London, and you can only get married there if you were baptised there...and the only people that can be baptised there are grandchildren of beefeaters. So I'm guessing it's an honor to be baptised and married there, since it means your grandfather served the country with high honor, but I still think it would be weird to be in the presence of people who were beheaded while saying your vows.
The last cool thing I saw at the Tower of London was the crown jewels. I picked out the one I want on the off chance that everyone in England dies and my connection to Edward 1 gets me crowned. It's this cool sable with a giant diamond on the top. I'm not quite sure what I'll use it for yet, but I'm sure I can find some daily use for a heavily bejeweled staff. Oh- word of advice: don't plan on buying anything at the Tower of London gift shop unless you want to drop way more money than whatever the item is worth. Think about your willingness to pay for every object...then multiply it by four (which partly includes the unfavorable exchange rate) and you'll get the prices at the many Tower of London gift shops.
Also- note to students: bring your student ID to every tourist attraction where you have to pay money. Many of them give student discounts to full-time students (which really add up).
After the Tower of London closed and we had to go, we grabbed an ice cream cone at Ben & Jerry's right outside the complex. We decided it wasn't too late to go to Harrods, so we hopped on the tube at Tower Hill and be-bopped over to Harrods via one line change. The tube stop ended right next to Harrods...which was awesome because you basically walk out of the tube and walk right in.
Harrods was beautiful! The aesthetics they've mastered are noteworthy. However, the frugle shopper that I am, I decided to do a price comparison. I went to the Origins counter (since I have all of those prices memorized) and found that with the currency conversion, you'd pay $50 for a $36 exfoliator. From that price, I concluded that everything in the store I could buy in America for cheaper, so I decided not to buy a thing. I'm pretty cost-conscious on this London trip, because I'd rather save up for travel expenses when I come back next spring. So, instead of making a purchase, we took pictures. I got a picture with the giant bear in the gift shop that would take up my entire room in Hinsdale. We also went to the Princess Diana memorial...which was really awkward to take a picture at because I'm just smiling and it's a really sad memorial. Finally, the last thing to mention about Harrods is their bathrooms. They're so cool! Very nice and you can spray yourself with purfume. I was all over that, and spritzed myself with some Valentino rose-something-or-other purfume that smelled amazing. I'm sure it was unthinkably expensive.
We left to go home when Harrods closed, and were very hungry. We wondered a little bit to find food, since most places stop serving food really early in London. Even pubs stop serving food at 9! But we finally found a classy Chinese food place that was open. I ordered my chicken in black bean sauce, and it was delicious until I ate a super hot chile (with its seeds) that I thought was a tomato and wasn't supposed to be in there. I downed three glasses of water in thirty seconds, and the waitors weren't understanding that I needed refills immediately. I was crying and laughing and I felt like my tongue was covered in a layer of acid. However, it started subsiding after about four minutes. It hurt to eat for about ten minutes, and then I started tolerating the pain more and more until it was all gone. I'd never done that before, and I can't understand how those crazy Americans eat their hot chile peppers. Eating out is so expensive in London, by the way. If you're trying to conserve money, only do it if you have to.
The last cool thing I saw at the Tower of London was the crown jewels. I picked out the one I want on the off chance that everyone in England dies and my connection to Edward 1 gets me crowned. It's this cool sable with a giant diamond on the top. I'm not quite sure what I'll use it for yet, but I'm sure I can find some daily use for a heavily bejeweled staff. Oh- word of advice: don't plan on buying anything at the Tower of London gift shop unless you want to drop way more money than whatever the item is worth. Think about your willingness to pay for every object...then multiply it by four (which partly includes the unfavorable exchange rate) and you'll get the prices at the many Tower of London gift shops.
Also- note to students: bring your student ID to every tourist attraction where you have to pay money. Many of them give student discounts to full-time students (which really add up).
After the Tower of London closed and we had to go, we grabbed an ice cream cone at Ben & Jerry's right outside the complex. We decided it wasn't too late to go to Harrods, so we hopped on the tube at Tower Hill and be-bopped over to Harrods via one line change. The tube stop ended right next to Harrods...which was awesome because you basically walk out of the tube and walk right in.
Harrods was beautiful! The aesthetics they've mastered are noteworthy. However, the frugle shopper that I am, I decided to do a price comparison. I went to the Origins counter (since I have all of those prices memorized) and found that with the currency conversion, you'd pay $50 for a $36 exfoliator. From that price, I concluded that everything in the store I could buy in America for cheaper, so I decided not to buy a thing. I'm pretty cost-conscious on this London trip, because I'd rather save up for travel expenses when I come back next spring. So, instead of making a purchase, we took pictures. I got a picture with the giant bear in the gift shop that would take up my entire room in Hinsdale. We also went to the Princess Diana memorial...which was really awkward to take a picture at because I'm just smiling and it's a really sad memorial. Finally, the last thing to mention about Harrods is their bathrooms. They're so cool! Very nice and you can spray yourself with purfume. I was all over that, and spritzed myself with some Valentino rose-something-or-other purfume that smelled amazing. I'm sure it was unthinkably expensive.
We left to go home when Harrods closed, and were very hungry. We wondered a little bit to find food, since most places stop serving food really early in London. Even pubs stop serving food at 9! But we finally found a classy Chinese food place that was open. I ordered my chicken in black bean sauce, and it was delicious until I ate a super hot chile (with its seeds) that I thought was a tomato and wasn't supposed to be in there. I downed three glasses of water in thirty seconds, and the waitors weren't understanding that I needed refills immediately. I was crying and laughing and I felt like my tongue was covered in a layer of acid. However, it started subsiding after about four minutes. It hurt to eat for about ten minutes, and then I started tolerating the pain more and more until it was all gone. I'd never done that before, and I can't understand how those crazy Americans eat their hot chile peppers. Eating out is so expensive in London, by the way. If you're trying to conserve money, only do it if you have to.
One more thing I'll mention before I stop. It is very rare to find paper towels in any public or restaurant bathroom in London. It's a very hand-dryer friendly place. So...you might want to carry a little tissue (both kleenex and toilet paper) with you if you plan on going to pubs or other less-nice places in case they're out of toilet paper. You don't want to be cought with nothing at all.
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