suchnone #369 Day 4 Tower of London and off to Birmingham

I expected a hangover after all the pints of Guinness and London Pride from the night before but I did not have one. We were on a short schedule but knew we wanted to see the Tower of London before heading up to Birmingham. The Tower is just incredible and we had great weather, though it was cold, to see the Tower. Our Yeomen Warder guide was a lot of fun and told many stories about the Tower, its construction and the many lives that were lost over the years within its walls. It was not built as a prison, it was built to be the castle of William the Conqueror as a show of his power and might after his victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Originally built in 1078, many additions were added to secure the palace, with two sets of walls, many turrets and other Towers including:
The Bloody Tower
Beauchamp Tower
Bell Tower

and others.




Traitor's Gate is where the prisoners were brought for imprisonment, execution, torture or worse. Among those who climbed the stairs at Traitor's Gate are:

Anne Boleyn
Sir Thomas Moore
Elizabeth I
Sir Walter Raleigh



The main Tower itself contains a collection of arms and armor and a remnant of Roman Walls stands nearby. Also, the British Crown Jewels are located the Tower. Our Yeoman Warder assured us that they were the real thing and not to pay attention to the rumors that they were stored somewhere else. He said, If they are fake, why are we here?(we meaning the Yeoman Warders).









We left around 1pm after spending about 3 hours at the Tower of London. There was train and rail maintenance and we had been in the crowds the evening before so we decided to leave earlier than we originally planned so we did not go by the Tower Bridge or The Globe Theatre.

We had no problems on the train ride to Birmingham. The train was not even full and it was nice to relax for a little over an hour after walking the ground of the Tower. We got into Birmingham going towards 3:30 and we made our way through the Bullring(the main shopping area) to catch the bus to Moseley where PSP and his wife live. It is only a 30-45 bus ride depending on traffic and time of day. We arrived in Moseley, dropped our bags off at the apartment, went down to the local grocery for a few items, stopped by Drinksville, a nice beer and drink store in their neighborhood and then headed back to relax in their apartment.

Next: Oxford