The Tower of London

The Tower is actually a compound of structures built at various times for varying purposes. The oldest is the White Tower, begun by William the Conqueror in 1078 to keep London's native Saxon population in check. Later rulers added towers, walls, and fortified gates, until the buildings became like a small town within a city. Although it began life as a stronghold against rebellion, the tower's main role eventually became less about keeping people out, than making sure whoever was inside couldn't escape.

 It became the favored prison and execution site for anyone who displeased the monarch. Notable prisoners served their last meals here include the "princes in the tower," Lady Jane Grey (who reigned as queen for just nine days before being toppled by Mary I in 1553), and Anne Boleyn, one of several unfortunates who thought that marrying that most unforgiving of monarchs, Henry VIII, was a good idea. A plaque on Tower Green marks the spot where they met their grisly ends.
Displays on some of the Tower's captives can be seen in the Bloody Tower, including a reconstruction of the study of Sir Walter Raleigh, the great Elizabethan adventurer who is generally credited with having introduced tobacco-smoking to England. A favorite of Elizabeth I, he was executed by James I, a fervent anti-smoker, having spent 13 years as a prisoner here.
In addition to being a prison, the Tower has also been used as a royal palace, a mint, and an armory.‍ Today, however, it's perhaps best known as the keeper of the Crown Jewels, the main ceremonial regalia of the British Monarch, which -- when not being used -- are displayed in the tower's Jewel House. You hop aboard a travelator for a slow glide past some of the Queen's top trinkets, including the Imperial State Crown (as modeled each year at the State Opening of Parliament), which looks like a child's fantasy of a piece of royal headwear, set with no fewer than 3,000 jewels, including the fourth-largest diamond in the world.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside this area.:-(


After the jewels, the tower's next most popular draw is probably the Royal Armory located in the White Tower, where you can see various fearsome-looking weapons, including swords, halberds, and morning stars, as well as bespoke suits of armor made for kings. The complex also boasts the only surviving medieval palace in Britain, dating back to the 1200s. It stands in the riverside wall above Traitors' Gate, through which prisoners were brought to the Tower. You can see reconstructed bedrooms, a throne room, and chapel.

Beefeaters will regale you with tales of royal intrigue, and introduce you to the Tower's current most famous residents, the six ravens who live on Tower Gardens. According to legend, if the ravens ever leave the Tower, the monarchy will fall -- the birds' wings are kept clipped, just to make sure.

The London Eye

To mark the start of the new millennium, architects David Marks and Julia Barfield conceived a beautiful and celebratory structure that would allow people to see this great city from a completely new perspective. They came up with a giant Ferris wheel, which, as well as representing the turn of the century, would also be a symbol of regeneration. The London Eye is the largest cantilevered observation wheel ever built and is among the tallest structures in London.The largest observation wheel in Europe, the London Eye has become, just over a decade after it opened, a potent icon of the capital, as clearly identified with London as the Eiffel Tower is with Paris.




Passengers are carried in 32 glass-sided "pods," each representing one of the 32 boroughs of London  which make a complete revolution every half-hour. 

 The 25-minute slow-motion ride inside one of the enclosed passenger capsules is so smooth you'd hardly know you were suspended over the Thames. On a clear day you can see for up to 25 miles, with a bird's-eye view over London's most famous landmarks as you circle through 360 degrees. You'll see bird's-eye views of some of London's most famous landmarks, including the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the BT Tower, St. Paul's, the "Gherkin," and of course, the River Thames itself.



The Eye is extremely popular, ridden by some 3 1/2 million people every year. 

We loved this, had amazing views!!!

Saint Paul's Cathedral

London's skyline has changed dramatically during the past 3 centuries. Buildings have come and gone, architectural styles have waxed and waned, but throughout there has been one constant -- the great plump dome of St. Paul's Cathedral gazing beatifically down upon the city. Despite the best intentions of the Luftwaffe and modern skyscraper designers  Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece is still the defining landmark of the City skyline -- and it's never looked so good. Preparations for its 300th anniversary (in 2008) saw the cathedral scrubbed and swabbed inside and out until it positively gleamed.

The interior is a neck-craningly large space where the eye is instantly drawn upward to the colorful ceiling, decorated with intricate mosaics of biblical scenes. They were installed in the late 19th century on the orders of Queen Victoria, who thought the cathedral's previously rather dowdy interior needed brightening up. Dotted around at ground level are tombs and memorials to various British heroes, including the Duke of Wellington, Lawrence of Arabia, and in the South Quire Aisle, an effigy of John Donne, one of the country's most celebrated poets and a former dean of St. Paul's. It's one of the few items to have survived from the previous, medieval cathedral, which was destroyed by the Great Fire in 1666; you can still see scorch marks on its base.
The cathedral offers some of the capital's best views, although you'll have to earn them by undertaking a more than 500-step climb up to the Golden Gallery. Here you can enjoy giddying 360° panoramas of the capital, as well as perhaps equally stomach-tightening views down to the floor 111m (364 ft.) below.
Down in the crypt is a bumper crop of memorials, including those of Alexander Fleming, Admiral Lord Nelson, William Blake, and Wren himself -- the epitaph on his simple tombstone reads: "Reader, if you seek a monument, look around you."

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the Cathedral, so I only have these outside pictures.

London Tour, August 22/2014

This is our day as arranged by Premium tours.
Here is the summary of the tour we took. We had a wake up call for six.
We had breakfast downstairs and it was very nice. Then we made our way to Victoria Station. It was like a zoo. There were hundreds of people and they were headed in every different direction from Budapest to Hong Hong.
But we found the correct gate and managed to be on board on time.

Our Bus

Total London full day tour with the London Eye

Tour code: L5 Includes private tour of the Tower of London - see the Crown Jewels. Private guided tour of the Tower of London with Yeoman Warder Be the first group to visit the Crown Jewels Further tour of the Tower by Yeoman Warder plus free time to explore Panoramic drive seeing the icons of London; Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament and the London Eye and much more See Changing of the Guard - subject to availability Thames River Cruise - see St Paul's Cathedral, the Globe Theatre and much more Visit St Paul's Cathedral with professional guide and fast entry ticket Flight on the London Eye Tower of London - private tour away from the crowds.. Following our coach drive past some of London's most famous landmarks including Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament we arrive at the Tower of London where we are met on the middle drawbridge by our very own Yeoman Warder. Leading us into this world heritage site before it opens to the public our Beefeater will take us on a private guided tour explaining the history behind this fortress of imprisonment and torture. we are also the first group to see the Crown Jewels before enjoying some free time to explore on our own. Why not visit Traitors Gate, the armouries or the Bloody Tower? And keep an eye out for the famous Ravens. Tradition has it that if the Ravens leave the Tower the monarch will fall! We drove around the city past many landmarks and then we met out BeefEater Chris. He gave us a grand guided tour. We could have spent days here and not hours. The Tower, or at least one part of it. Our Beef Eater Chris. Poppy Memorial at the tower. Ken and a suit of Armour Changing the Guard Departing the Tower we head to The Mall to watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony as one of the Queens Foot Guard Household Regiments march from St. James Palace to Buckingham Palace to military music dressed in their world famous tunics and busbies.* This we could not do because it only happens every other day. Thames River Cruise & Westminster Abbey Next we take a short cruise on the River Thames as we enjoy excellent views of St. Paul's Cathedral and Shakespeares Globe and then take a break for lunch. After lunch we have a photo stop at Westminster Abbey. Actually just a way to get from point A to point B St. Paul's Cathedral We start the afternoon part of our tour with a visit to St Paul's Cathedral. This masterpiece was designed in 1673 by Sir Christopher Wren, our tour will include listening to the 1695 organ that Mendelssohn once played and visi the tombs of Nelson and Wellington. With your professional tour guide you can also test the unique acoustics of the Whispering Gallery, not usually visited by tour groups. On Sundays when viewing is restricted, there will be an opportunity to enter and enjoy one of the services. See following post London Eye Standing at an amazing 135 metres above the centre of London, the London Eye is the worlds highest observation wheel and offers magnificent panoramic views - on a clear day is is possible to see as far as Windsor Castle!  Tour will finish at London-eye. Loved it, see separate post

We are HERE!!!

It is now 5:30 UK time and we are here at our hotel, having arrived safe and sound an hour ago.

Donna and Shirley picked us up and we left promptly at 4:30

, traffic was a bit heavy but we were parked and getting our baggage checked around six. Since I had checked in on line all we had to do was drop our luggage. We decided to eat something before we went to the gate. Our plane was to begin boarding at 7:30.
Well low and behold, who do we see at the food court but Donna and Shirley. So we ate with them and had a continued great visit.

The plane boarded on time and in no time we were in the air.
This is the first time we have flown with Virgin Atlantic and we were very impressed. The service was fast and friendly, the plane was bright and clean and full. On each of our seats as we arrived were small pillows and  three cellophane packets. One packet , the largest, contained a lovely red fleece, trimmed in beige. The second one contained a set of quite nice headphones with a note saying they were ours to keep as a gift. The third was called a feel good pack. here we found a toothbrush, tooth paste ( the smallest we had ever seen) a mask for your eyes to keep out the light, ear plugs and of all things, a pair of red socks.

By the way everything is either red or royal purple. The plane had several smaller children and a couple of infants. We would discover that there were special bassinets for the babies. Before long they were bringing around a Menu. It stated that there would be complete bar service and we could have any drink of our choice free of extra charges. The meal choices were beef or chicken or a vegetarian selection. I had the chicken and Ken had the beef. I can report that both meals were superior to what I have had previously on a plane. Then before lights out they came around offering another beverage, tea or hot chocolate this time.
Lights were turned down and we tried without a lot of success to sleep. The seats were the usual sardine variety and before long I was amazed to learn that we do not have enough padding in one vital area. On the back of each seat was a television screen and we had the choice of several of the latest movies including Noah. Again at no extra cost.
Before long it was time for breakfast. This time the meal was fresh fruit, yogurt, a muffin and coffee and juice.
The plane left on time but arrived at Heathrow about 55 minutes ahead of schedule. The flight was very smooth with little or no turbulence. The landing was noisy but smooth. Ken thinks the plane which was an air bus was more quiet that he expected. There were about 250 of us on the plane.
Did you know the airplanes can have handicapped bathrooms??Well they can and they are really quite large and spacious.
As we were about to disembark the stewardess, dressed in red, came around with small packets of candy Love Hearts.
All in all I was very impressed and I would definitely fly Virgin Atlantic again.
We had no trouble finding our luggage or the Express  Coach to get us to Victoria Station. We were not scheduled to get the bus until 5:15 but they allowed us to get the 2:20 which was perfect.
The coach was big and bright and clean and since we are using the same company for all of our outings we were very pleased. Traffic was light so we got right into the station in 45 minutes instead of the hour and fifteen minutes.

Once ken got the map oriented he was able to take us right to our hotel. Dragging our heavy suitcases made me glad that it was only a five minute walk.

Checking in was fast and efficient sine we had already pre registered and paid. Computers can certainly save a lot of time.

Our room is very nice, small by North American standards but big enough and clean and bright.....more purple.

We were very tired so we had a quick one hour nap. Then at 6:30 we went down stairs to have our dinner. The food was wonderful and the price was not too bad considering where we are.  i forgot my camera so you will get picture of it tomorrow.

Then we came back here and got ready for bed. I was so tired I could hardly think. WiFi was off so I decided to wait. I just woke for a drink and a trip to the LOO and found we were back on line so that is why I am late posting..
We have a big day tomorrow so I will blog again when we get back here. Expect lots of pictures because the coverage is quick.
I
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Finally

Well this trip has been in the planning stage for more than a year and I can hardly believe that we leave tomorrow.
We are packed and we are now checking and double checking. I guess we have pre travel jitters. But I keep telling myself that what ever we have forgotten we can get  if it is absolutely necessary or we can do without it for 6 weeks.

We learned how to use Google Earth and we have printed maps to take us to all of the places we need to find in London. Having those directions has made us feel a lot more relaxed about this adventure into a strange city of millions of people. There is so much to see and so little time. I am certain we could spend an entire month touring London and not see it all. But we are going to jam in as much as we can in the time we have.

Here is the schedule of what we have planned for the time before we sail..
Fly on August 20, Donna and Shirley are taking us to the airport.
Arrive on August 21, coach to our Hotel in Victoria district
All day London tour ending with a flight on the London Eye on August 22
Trip to Stonehenge , Lacock, Windsor Castle and Bath on August 23
Tour of Buckingham Palace and mass at Westminster Abbey on August 24
Transfer to Southampton on August 25
Trip to Winchester Cathedral and Mike's Fish and Chips on August 26th
Trip to buy wine and flowers and a transfer to the Ruby Princess on August 27th

While surfing the net I found a place in Southampton which TripAdvisor touts as the place having the very BEST fish and chips. It is called Mike's Fish and Chips and according to Google it is exactly one mile from our hotel . The map and directions are printed and we will go there on Tuesday night.
 I will report and let you know if they are right. I shall have my August French Fries there. YUM!!!

The Ruby Princess

Ruby Princess
 

This is what the brochure says about the Ruby Princess:

For a romantic getaway, there’s no better cruise ship than Ruby Princess, which was

christened in 2008 by lovebirds Trista and Ryan Sutter of TV’s The Bachelorette. A night of

 romance can be created wherever you look, from a Piazza singer’s sweet serenade, to a

 relaxing couples massage from a cabana in The Sanctuary. Movies Under the Stars® is also

a cozy venue, where you can cuddle up under a warm blanket and watch a romantic comedy

amongst the evening stars. To enhance its elegance, Ruby Princess sails to some of the

 world’s most breathtaking destinations, including the Caribbean and the Mediterranean

. Rekindle your passion on board the Ruby Princess

Ruby Princess,  has all the most popular Princess features -- such as the three-deck Piazza with its on-site bakery and whimsical entertainment -- , as well as many of those found on older ships, including the Sanctuary sun deck for adults and specialty eateries Sabatini's and Crown Grill.

 Ken and I have never sailed on the Ruby but last year we spent 40 days on her sister ship, the Emerald Princess. Because they are identical we know we will enjoy being on her and we don't expect to get lost too many times.
We have an ocean view room for the first two legs but we have splurged and booked a balcony stateroom for the trip up the east coast.

I thought you might like to see what she is like. When I tell you we went to the Princess theater after dinner you will be able to check it out.

Atrium 

International Cafe

Skywalkers

Casino

Movies Under the Stars( MUTS)

Explorer's Lounge

Sanctuary Pool

Terrace Pool

Princess Theatre

Dining Room

Exercise area

Oceanview Room( P-217 and P-206)

Balcony Stateroom( C-609)

Stateroom Balcony 

Deck Plans of the Ruby Princess