Yet another "explore London" day. We started off early with a visit to the Tower of London.



Kaye loved the way they shuffle crowds through the cattle runs and especially here, where to ensure the crowd moves past the crown jewels and associated treasures, they have a walking conveyer belt on each side, just like in airports. They stop you from actually standing still in front of the displays. Luckily we were there early enough that we could pass by on one side, walk back along the carpet and then do another pass on the other side so we could have a good look.

The largest and second largest diamonds in the world were together in the one display, even if not in the same piece. They were all cut from the same stone, amazing stuff. Sorry, no pics allowed inside :(

Got to see King Henry VIII’s armour and a set of armour for a warrior and horse, which looked rather amazing. What a noise they would have made – you could probably hear them coming for miles.



And up close and personal with some of the ravens. Obviously they aren’t afraid of people even if their wings are clipped so they can’t leave. Kaye has a feeling that feeding them would be enuff to make them stay rather than clipping their wings. Trust the Brits to find a way of getting around the legend that the city of London would collapse if the ravens left the Tower of London.



From there, we walked across Tower Bridge, and down to the London Dungeon. We got a few shots of some of London's more infamous sights including Dead Man's Hole (under Tower Bridge) and some close up shots of Ken's Testicle (London City Hall).



I went inside while Leigh continued on to the Old Operating Theatre. So my pics are in film form so you will have to wait for them. It houses some realistic and some not so realistic interpretations of the horrors of the past.

All the usual torture methods displayed in all their goriness, a section about the wicked girls and their methods of disposing of numerous people, and actor led tours of the great fire of London and Jack the Ripper’s adventures. It was rather well done but set for sensation rather than historical accuracy.

Literary licence has been taken with parts to make for better story telling, eg putting the 2 Ripper victims killed on the same night in the same area, which they weren’t. But probably you only know that if you have a keen interest in the true story or have been on Donald’s London Walk, which tells the story more accurately (the walk we were on last Sunday evening).

I couldn’t believe the number of people who were taking their 5 to 10 year old kids through this thing. OK, they may well be able to tell the difference between real people and these models but the images and impressions that would be imprinted in their brains are probably not too pleasant. And while not crying with fear, they definitely didn’t look comfortable in this environment and didn’t trust anything that was happening around them. They weren’t laughing after being scared to death by a witch screeching at you as you passed by. Serves the parents right if they don’t get any sleep for a week after being so irresponsible!

Leigh’s Old Operating Theatre interlude

While Kaye was at the Dungeon, I took a shortcut through the London Bridge underground station underpass and walked past Guy's Hospital to the Old Operating Theatre. Housed in a quaint old building with a tiny spiral staircase, you enter the museum via a small reception and souvenir shop.



There were a couple in the shop browsing and a lady serving at the counter and, amusingly enough, the wife of the couple mentioned that she had seen me at the theatre where we had seen the Mouse Trap. Upon mention of that, the lady behind the counter piped up and said “Oh, you saw the mouse trap? My brother plays the policeman in that play!”. So even in a city of 8 million people, it really is still just a small world after all :-)



Up some more stairs to visit the actual museum where they had an amazing set of displays containing old surgical instruments, herbs, photographs and even bits and pieces of human organs on display in jars of formaldehyde. Yuk.



Around the corner was the operating theatre itself, complete with operating table, washbasin and straw filled blood basket. A school group was there on tour so I got to sit in on the demonstration – one student was being held down on the table by his peers while the teacher took photos – meanwhile the tour guide proceeded to show how doctors of the past might take off a man’s leg or arm – without anaesthetic! Glad we have drugs these days.



Back to meet Kaye at the Underground station and home to the apartment in Holborn.

Leigh’s dinner with Jason

After getting changed at the apartment, I ventured out again to catch the underground out to Fulham Broadway to meet Jason in the bar of the Blue Elephant restaurant. To quote their website:

“Walking into a Blue Elephant restaurant dazzles the senses. It is a world of lush palms and trickling fountains. The scent of tropical flowers mingles with the heady aroma of exotic herbs and spices flown in fresh from the Far East.”

Of course, the fountains flow into ponds underneath the wooden walkways that take you from the entry to your table, complete with a myriad of fish swimming around! Sadly I didn’t take the camera with me tonight, so you’ll have to use your imaginations :)

The dinner was absolutely fantastic (we had one of their “banquette” menus) and we spent a few hours there eating and catching up on old times. Jason is enjoying working and living in the UK – both he and Kathy seem to have landed on their feet here.

After dinner Jason and I walked around the block to a groovy little place called the Sugar Hut. Substantively a restaurant, it also has a great cocktail lounge where patrons lie about on huge bed-like couches covered with huge pillows drinking amazing concoctions and smoking apple flavoured shish from an amazingly ornate Hookah.

After spending nearly as much sterling on cocktails as we had on dinner, the Hut decided to close early at midnight – just as Kathy arrived to join us for more drinks :(

So the night came to a close with me being bundled into a taxi back to Holburn after bidding Jason and Kathy a fond farewell. Thanks for a great night out in London guys – I really enjoyed it! :-)