Hammersmith

Weather - Cloudy, cool, spots of rain - Min 8, Max 14

Our plan for the day was to go to the Tower of London and then St Paul’s Cathedral but we dropped the latter as there was so much to see at the Tower of London.

We booked the expensive tickets online and arrived at Tower of London at 10.30am and quickly learned that it had been a palace, fortress and a prison. We decided to go straight to the Crown Jewels before the crowd grew any bigger and this proved to be a good decision. They are held in the Waterloo Block within the castle walls.

We had no trouble seeing everything close up in the darkened rooms with their glittering crowns, orbs, and sceptres along with a lot of banquet gold. One enormous, elaborate gold punch bowl used by Queen Victoria held 124 bottles of wine. There were so many crowns dating back centuries with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. To keep people moving there is a travelator in front of one group of crowns and it moves everyone along. 

It was good to see the Imperial Crown now worn by King Charles III with its 3,000 precious stones. The golden Stole worn by Charles at his Coronation was exquisite and newly made for his Coronation by the Royal School of Needlework. No photographs are allowed which is understandable.

We were in need of a late morning tea and headed to the New Armouries Cafe. We shared a Victoria Sponge again but we were tempted by the Traitors’ Tarts.

With our trusty map and audio guide we then toured the major areas of the castle including the White Tower built by William the Conqueror and housing the royal armour, the Bloody Tower known for the site of the alledged murder of the two princes by Richard III, the Medieval Palace built by Henry III and we walked around the high defensive walls with excellent views over the Thames River and the Tower Bridge as well the castle. 

The Line of Kings in the White Tower, one of the earliest known museum exhibits dating back to 1660, had a lineup of royal armour including those worn by Henry VIII. The last set of armour made for him when he was 49 years old gave an indication of how large he was. Henk stood alongside it. And we got to put on our own armour!

We returned to the cafe and had a light late lunch as we decided we would go out to dinner. Two nights in a row of toasted sandwiches was enough.

There were many staff throughout the castle grounds, some were performers whilst others were Yoemen Warders such as these two who obliged us with a photo.

Whilst visiting the Medieval Tower we saw through the window that the lifts were up at the Tower Bridge so we raced up the narrow tower stairs to the battlements to get a better view. A tug was guiding the small cruise ship, Le Bellot through the water to dock alongside the HMS Belfast. It was good to see. 

After five hours of sightseeing we had seen most of what there was to see and decided to head home. It was a fascinating day. As we exited I ventured into a gift shop bursting with souvenirs where I came upon a set of Henry VIII’s wives to hang on the Christmas tree. Henk and I always buy an ornament to put on our tree as a reminder of our travels. At the price of £70 ($140A) I decided I could do without Henry’s six wives.

Tempting as it was I also decided not to buy a pair of slippers either!

On the train back to Hammersmith I sat next to a very dapper chap and struck up a conversation with him when I complimented him on his amazing outfit. He was wearing a pink tartan woolen suit which he had made from material he had bought in Ireland. I was soon to learn he was a designer of both bespoke and off the rack clothes. His label is Geoffrey SAS. It was fascinating to talk to him. I’m now following him on Instagram. And here he is!

Dinner was at the William Morris pub near the railway station in Hammersmith. It was busy and loud and obviously popular with the locals. It was a cold walk to and from the pub. We’re not sure what we will do tomorrow. It will depend on the weather.