Day 23...Australian Werewolves in London - 19th July

We can't seem to get our act together! We had another late start today. Heading out to the heat of the day, we subwayed it to Tower Hill to see the Tower of London. It was great, I loved it! There were many buildings in the one compound there by the river, the earliest castle being 1088 I think. It had fortified walls, a church, another castle area and walkway and all that stuff. And also a castle corner where they beheaded a few folk, including one of Henry the VIII's wives. The price was hexy to get in, but worth it and they let you wander around into the buildings freely. We attached ourselves to a free tour with an odd old man who was a beefeater and lived on the site. He was from a long generation of beefeaters from the Tower of London, which I thought was pretty cool. We also saw some of the crown jewels (and laughed a bit at many of the odd little crowns. I wanted a scepter! I think I would rule with it!) It was also interesting to see the family crests change and evelop as they got more skilled and narcissistic. Like, the next king would keep the same crest, but add a deer to it! So there! Top that!

The main building, the white tower (which is the oldest) had a museum inside of armour and weapons and cannons and stuff. They had the armour from Henry VIII who was a real lard arse who thought he had a big member, and a few other kings. It was odd as we saw the armour and stuff from the 13th century and I expected it to look crudely made, but the craftsmanship was excellent and looked like it was only made the other day. So I felt like I was looking at costumes or something. It was amazing to walk around where people had lived and ruled and feasted and debated so many hundreds of years ago on that very spot - touched the walls that I was touching you know? I will say though - with the modern floors to accommodate tourists, the lights, fire alarms and the preservation of the buildings - it felt more like a film set or Disneyland attraction and only constructed years ago for our entertainment rather than functionality.

The Bloody Tower was where the 2 princes were killed and their skeletons found a few centuries later (I think, I can't remember the exact timing). A beautiful view of Tower Bridge was in the background along the battlement walk. One part of a wall was preserved with graffiti from the 1600's. That was cool. I wonder what it is that makes you want to run your fingers along it (they had protective glass over it for all us fools who wanted to do that).

Kristin got us a crown and a knights helmet to wear which we did all the rest of the day. I think I'll start a nice hat collection.

With our historical bones fulfilled, we subwayed it to the seven dials which was a great little area with some funky shops. Unfortunately they were all closing as it was 7pm and we had been at the castle for 5 hours! I did manage to get into Coco De Mer though, which was fantastic and high class. It was an uppercrust adult shop with books, and oils and weekend packs and feathers and cute (not cheap) outfits. The whole place smelt like coconut oil rather than rubber and bad nylon.

We then bussed it to Brink Lane which had some pubs spilling out onto the streets and having barbecues. That area was a very old and industrial part of London - kinda like in Oliver back in the day. It was a nice warm night and quite busy for a weeknight. We went into this house which was converted into a pub and music venue for a few drinks and a pie then headed to another bar for shots and drinks. We headed home after that as we were stuffed and had a big day planned for the next day! I passed out on the bus wearing my knights helmet which must have confused the other passengers!