Got up earlier today than yesterday in order to try and beat the masses at the Tower of London. Since this wasn't exactly tourist season we had no problems (though the tube was pretty crowded) with the Tower queues. We had also booked our tickets online in advance so we didn't have to wait (though it wouldn't have been a long line at all) in the main queue. The many school groups that ended up being there, however, were another problem indeed...Walked into the main entrance and took some photos of the area to kill some time before the "Beefeaters" (aka Yeoman Warders) tour commenced. This is a tour headed by a military dude who gave us an overview of the Tower complex and was as sarcastic and funny as any Brit comedian. When he asked if there were any French in the audience and no one answered he yelled out, "well that's good to hear!" There were also some jabs at Americans for not knowing the difference between the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge. He proceeded to tell us interesting facts about the ravens (why they must never
leave, and, hence, why their wings are clipped), the "Traitor's Gate" (where Anne Boleyn, among others, passed through), and other facts and miscellany about the various beheading, torture and palace intrigue which occurred since 1078 when William the Conqueror had it built.After the tour ended we walked over to see the Crown Jewels. This was an impressive display that also showed coronation films in the various rooms we walked through. Many school tour groups decided to pick this, of all days, to bother us so the queue was starting to fill up. The structure of the exhibit was very Disney-esque in that you are forced to walk through a particular path that was reminiscent of waiting for lines at Disneyland attractions.
After taking many photos, ogling awe-inspiring gems and shiny, gold historical objects and enjoying the exhibits we made it out of there, grabbed a (mediocre at best) bite to eat at the Tower cafe then went over to the White Tower which they were renovating for an interactive, informative display that begins in...April -- we were two weeks too early! But there was a lot of stuff we could see such as weapons and weaponry, coats of armor, a strange line up of models of the horses that had belonged to the kings, etc. The spectacular Chapel of St. John in the White Tower is one of the oldest remaining parts of the Tower of London, and apparently one of the oldest Norman church interiors in existence. It was truly breathtaking and in amazing to behold. Another memorable artifact was the "Horned Helmet" that was given to Henry VIII by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. A truly bizarre looking object that seems more "Metropolis"-era, early 20th century than early 1500s. It was also interesting to see early "toilets" in the White Tower - basically open shoots leading to less publicly visible portions of the building that some poor shlub had to clean up after. 
The White Tower also had some really interesting interactive displays about past and present weaponry, where you were able to see first-hand what it was like to be in combat wearing the helmet portion of a suit of armor. Tough luck on the peripheral vision, much less anything to the side beyond a 45 degree angle! You could also try on a "gauntlet," the glove portion of a suit of armor. Pretty heavy but surprising easy to move your hand in.After this we went over to the Beauchamp Tower which had an interesting display of various graffiti the political prisoners carved into the wall -- amazing that it survived for hundreds of years!
The Bloody Tower (aka the Garden Tower) was where Sir Walter Ralegh (yep, that's the correct way to spell it) was held for a few years - in relative comfort - he had his wife and servants with him. If he hadn't screwed up about trying (and failing) to get "El Dorado" gold for the King he might not have been executed.
The Lower Wakefield Tower had an interesting (yet nauseating) display of various tools for torture -- like something out of an old Vincent Price movie. The infamous "Rack" which stretched out the limbs of hapless victims was next to "the Scavenger's Daughter" -- a lovely piece of work -- unlike the rack it "compresses" your body into a kneeling position -- breaking many bones and causing
permanent damage in the process. Oh what a delight. Thankfully, the text in the exhibit mentioned that such devices were rarely used.Right outside the Tower of London was the Tower Bridge. We paid a separate admission to enter this exhibition which allowed you to travel inside the bridge and on the walkways. Once inside we were shown a detailed history (through photos, films and displays) of how the bridge was built and the various hydraulic devices used to keep it running. Many, many, many hydraulic displays. A lot of information was given on the hydraulic/mechanical processes -- maybe this would be a little more interesting to a civil engineer! Since it was such a clear day we had great views of the Thames River.
We ducked into a nearby cafe for some espresso and semi-stale cheesecake. Nothing too memorable about this place (which also doubled as a wine bar). The most interesting moment occurred when a young African-American pre-teen strolled in, pointed to a piece of fruit on the counter then told the bartender that he was taking it and casually walked out without paying!
We strolled through the picturesque Bermondsey neighborhood eventually making our way to Southwark where we avoided the ghoulish "London Dungeon" barkers and eventually found the next stop on our itinerary -- the old Operating Theatre! Yes,this is an actual medical O.R. from the 1800s -- in the glorious pre-anesthesia days! This museum had been closed since the late 1990s for renovation and had just opened within the last few months. We got there about an hour before closing which gave us plenty of time to look through some of the gut-wrenching exhibits. Specimens in jars were situated next to horrible-looking medical instruments -- many devised to poke around various bodily orifices - and man, let me tell you, it de us appreciate the time we live in all the more when you have to look at the condition of hospitals back then! We walked away from the tonsil-cutting devices and amputation saws and went down to the actual operating theater -- devised so that many students
and faculty could look in on the operations being conducted. A bizarre, cut-in-half animatronic man was lying on a table with a pillow behind him. The machinery inside this unfortunate creature was not working correctly. It was supposed to allow him to talk but instead it just made his lips and chest move a bit and some gurgling sounds came out of his mouth -- this was an unintentionally eerie effect!We were told by someone who was overseeing some repairs that this is the only remaining operating theatre of its kind in Europe, and that during renovations they had come across sawdust under the floor boards that was most likely sawdust from the time the operating theatre was in use. Apparently the sawdust appeared bloodstained so they were sending it off to get tested.
Somehow the combination of examining old surgical instruments and the smells of various dried herbs on display demonstrating types of remedies was making us both queasy, so we decided it was time to move on. We needed some fresh air and time to regain our composure, so we headed to...Starbuck's...to figure out where to go next as we had a couple of hours to spend before meeting up with the "Hidden Pubs of London" tour later that evening.
Southwark is a great neighborhood with winding medieval cobblestone streets and cool buildings. We found ourselves passing the Borough Market, a food market that's been around in some capacity for 250 years. The market was shutting down but we walked through it for a while before heading down a nearby narrow street where, to our delight, we passed in front of Neal's Yard Dairy, a cheese shop specializing in cheeses from the British Isles which we had seen on a Rick Steves video. Unlike Sir Walter's sad fate, we had found our El Dorado! We sampled a few cheeses before selecting the Coolea and Keen's Cheddar to take with us on our overnight trip to Bath the next day. Naturally, us dorks had to take pictures inside the shop.
We knew we had to grab a bite to eat before our pub tour, so we ended up passing by The Anchor, one of London's oldest pubs, but it was packed with an after work/St. Patrick's Day crowd, as was the amazing George Inn - the only remaining half-timbered, galleried inn in London which had been rebuilt in 1676 after the great fire. In fact all of the pubs in this area were completely packed -- we now understood where the throngs of people we ran into were headed just half an hour ago as we wandered around the area near Neal's Yard Dairy.We got on the tube to
the Temple stop in the Fleet St. area where the "hidden pubs" walk was set to start in about 40 minutes. There had to be a pub nearby where we could grab a bite, right? Indeed there was. After stumbling about for a few minutes we ran into the Edgar Wallace, a small neighborhood bar named after the British crime/mystery writer. The place was packed. Every pub at any time in London is packed, we were soon to find out. We ordered at the bar and scouted for a seat. There were none to be had. Then the bartendress, perhaps out of pity, went up to Laura and pointed out some small table in a corner - the very last one! We grabbed it just before a loud group of women trotted in, eying us with a mixture of envy and hatred. After downing the beer and chow (Laura had soup, Charles a roast beef & horse radish sandwich which was surprisingly good) we headed back to the tube station for the tour. An affable British bloke took our money and brought our group over to the Inns of Court where he gave us an interesting history of both the Knights Templar and the lawyers who learned their trade in this area. A visit to a not-so-interesting pub (the Devereux) which didn't have the beer our guide recommended (but did have crappy service) was followed by a walk by the Royal Courts of Justice, Samuel Johnson's house and St. Bride's (see photo -- the design of the building apparently inspired a baker to design a tiered wedding cake which is the style still used today). Finally we reached the pinnacle of cool pubs -- Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. If you have but one hour to spend in London, we must insist that you go here. This pub was built in 1676 (after the great fire destroyed its previous pub incarnation) and is one of the most strangely built places we've ever seen. Unlike American bars where there 
is a single dining room connected to a single pub (and widescreen, obnoxious TVs in every corner) this building had strange little rooms hidden all over. If you wanted a drink in one bar but it was too crowded you'd just go up or down a flight of stairs (or around the bend) and find another that would serve you. It was weird but in a good way and we could think of nothing (in L.A. at least) that could possibly compare. According to this website, "The dark wooden interior is an enchanting warren of narrow corridors and staircases, leading to numerous bars and dining rooms. There are so many, even regulars get confused." Amen to that. We meant to come back with Roger and Issy but, alas, this was not to be...The tour ended and we headed back to the apartment (stopping at the largest Whole Foods we've ever seen to pick up some rice for Issy) to grab some shuteye. Tomorrow would be another long day as we had to get up early for a train to Bath.
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