January 2nd, 2008

Since we’ve had close to two days of more relaxed and less busy days, its time again for another busy day. After meeting as per usual and hopping on the tube, we arrived at the Tower of London (see below). It was so much colder today than any other day we have been here—which isn’t so great for a tour that is mostly outside. Anyway, we had an amazing tour guide (see to the right). He was so energetic and animated; it really made you get into the murder and mystery that the Tower of London has behind its walls! He was a beefeater, as all the tour guide there are, and he told us a great deal about beefeaters I didn’t know. I had no clue they actually lived in the Tower of London, nor that there are only 35 of them. Apparently you need 22 years of honorable military service before you can even apply to become a beefeater, and even then you pretty much have to wait for another one to die before you can become one. 

He told us that the origins of many sayings come from the stories of the Tower of London—such as Humpty Dumpty (Richard the II? Had a hunchback and after going into battle his body was torn to pieces on the battle ground), getting off Scott free (a man named Scott had his crimes go unpunished when he escaped the walls by dressing as a woman), and faster than you can say Jack Robinson (he was lightning fast at arranging executions). Random, but interesting facts. Again, this place has so much history (dating back to the 1500’s)! After the tour, seeing the crown jewels, watching the massive ravens, and wandering around the place it was time for lunch—good ol’ Fish and Chips.

 Then a group of us decided to go to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater (see below). I really had wanted to do this, so I’m glad we went. It is a recreation of the theater that Shakespeare used to perform in, but was burnt down in 1613. We took a short tour and got to sit in the theater and really get a feel for what is was like hundreds of years ago. The exhibition we looked at was also very informative. I’m glad I got a chance to see it! 

Next those of us who had gone to the globe had to meet the rest of the group at the National Gallery (art museum). It turns out that that night the workers had gone on strike, so that was a bust – we’re going to try to go to it another day. A few of us had been talking about getting a really good Indian dinner when we were in London, so we mapped out a route to a highly recommended Indian restaurant, Soho Spice. We ended up wandering around Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Convent Garden and Soho on the way to the restaurant. Turns out that was a bust too—the place was closed for refurbishing. But it worked out in the end because we found another really great Indian Restaurant called Chowki in Soho. After a meal that left me stuffed we went home and all hung out in our flat watching a movie. A relaxing night in after a packed day!