Hot stuff!

It's baking down here so I have my pretty little feet up and having a rest. Today we've stormed the Tower of London and escaped by boat to Westminster armed with a small goat's cheese salad and a piece of coffee and walnut cake! Even the ravens couldn't stop us making off with those crown jewels under our arms. Okay, I'm not starrng in the next Mission Impossible Heist to steal the queens jewels. With only one attempt in the past goodness knows how many years, I think her royal highness has nothing to fear. The crowns are very splendid and the moving walkway that you stand on to view them gives you just enough time to take in the diamond encrusted, solid gold, ermine fur trimmed 'hat' that they are. For no other purpose than to be adorned because there's not enough fur to keep your head warm and the weight of all that gold and jewels has to be uncomfortable! As Liz said, it seems strange that in this day and age, the royals 'wear' them on occasions. But it's all about tradition and wealth. Stick a party hat out of a cracker on their heads and they wouldn't look quite so splendid would they?

Of course the Tower isn't just about the jewels. HIghlights include the armour worn by Henry VIII and his horse of course! All the various towers which we scaled and decended following in the footsteps of all those famous souls who have trod that way before. Some for the last time, it appears. Traitors Gate is bricked up and mostly under water with the high tide in the middle of the day. It's less than 400 years since the great fire of 1666. How different life is now!

From the Tower we took the boat down to Westminster. It was great to be out in the sun with a bit of a breeze. The sights were splendido... so after all that we've come back for a rest and a nap! x