London's finally here!

So, after a few bumps in the road, I finally made it to London. After two pretty rough travel days, night flights, and breathing in the fresh air of Frankfurt, Germany, I have two feet firmly planted on British Soil. At least, they all speak with British accents here. I've already screwed that up once; last night as I was ordering my train ticket from the airport to downtown London, I said, "Jag vill åka från här till Liverpool Station. Vilken tåg skulle jag ta?" To which the guy gives me a really odd look, says in a thick British accent, "Come Again?" and I think about how weird it will be, especially once I get back to the states, not having to talk to everyone in public places in Swedish. Over the past few days, Hegel and The Aeneid have kept be great company, but I think Virgil can take little more beating (both covers have fallen off, and the pages are quite loose too. Worth saving though, and thanks Grandpa for letting me take them before I left). Now, however, I have five random strangers to keep me company in my room, and the whole of London to occupy my time with for the next week.


I've already been doing my thing today, that is, walking around. My hostel (YHA St Pauls on Carter if you're trying to follow on Google maps) is right in between St. Pauls Cathedral and the River Thames, so I decided to walk the river in a big loop from where I am to what I thought was London Bridge and back. Turns out, London bridge is rather boring, so I blame American media for portraying Tower bridge as London bridge, and I ended up going all the way east to Tower Bridge (and, more importantly, the Tower of London). On my way though, I saw some cool things. For one, I crossed the Millennium bridge to the Tate Museum, but to my surprise, right next to it is Shakespeare's Globe Theater! It looked totally out of place, at least to me.


The tower bridge was pretty sweet to see up close- I didn't realize how big it was from all those Austin Powers movies or something. I was inadvertently corrected by a Brit who was complaining about all the Americans that confuse Tower bridge with London bridge, but that made me wonder, what does London bridge actually look like? Well, for all of you who are now wondering, it looks like this (the photo before the Globe), and it probably won't be falling down anytime soon either since they stopped building shops and houses on it (like the nursery rhyme).

After a quick stop back at the hostel, and listening to all the church bells go off around London for Palm Sunday (see video), I made my way back to the Tower of London. To me, that's kind of a misnomer. If I conceptualize tower of London, I think of the big radio tower here since it's basically the only skyscraper, but this Tower is far more like a fortress than anything else. So much like a fortress, in fact, that the only successful campaign launched against it was done by peasants in the 1300s, and it's also the storage place for the crown jewels. Yes, I have gazed upon the crown jewels of the throne, amongst other things. I've seen the biggest diamond in the world (impressive, but hard to believe it isn't a Claire's knockoff) as well as some pretty sweet swords, gilded maces, and purple crowns.

Among the many towers in the Tower of London, there are a few that the average tourist can enter. One exclusively features carvings prisoners have made into the walls during the 16th century. These are not the typical 'Alex 2009' which may or may not be inscribed in a certain church or residence in Sweden, but fully developed crests, lions, latin phrases, mottos, and other very detailed markings. Frankly, I was impressed by the artistry, even if they were inscribed with knives and other basic tools. Now, you also have to consider that these weren't your average prisoner, but could basically do everything they could at their own residence, except for leave, that is. Some of the most well-affiliated prisoners had their wives brought in, and a kid or two, and on top of that wrote a book (Sir Walter Raleigh), but most were afforded the luxuries of the nobility.

There was also an exhibit called Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill, a collection of his arms, armour, and war collections during his reign. As some of us know, Henry VIII was as violent hunting game as he could be to his wives, and although he sucked at collecting sons, he collected everything war-related very well. I saw full suits of armor for both man, child, and horse, more pikes and broadswords than I would know what to do with, Mace-guns, Pike-guns, Halberd-guns, guns, bigger guns, artillery, bigger artillery, multi-barreled artillery that had exploded, plunder, and oh so much more. It got kind of overwhelming when we gazed upon his codpieces, or had a laugh over the suit of armour made for his exceedingly overweight body.

There were a lot of interesting and nice things to do within the castle walls, but I think two will stand out to me most. The runner up is how well kept everything was; from the grasses, to the flowers, to the location in general, it really helps force the recent memory of winter out of me. The video below is of the grounds and the view from one of the battlements, which also looks out over the Thames. The most memorable thing was the guided tour by the Yeomen, however. These old and distinguished army personnel get to live in the Tower if they serve over 22 years with good conduct to even be considered, but on top of that they (usually) have a very good sense of humor. Our guide today was cracking jokes left and right, and apparently thought I was Swedish, or at least nordic, because not only had a totally spaced out when he asked who the Americans were (he was making fun of their slow sense of humor), I was wearing my Gustavus Adolphus sweatshirt, and I stand a full head taller than most people in this country (he said something about not even the vikings attacking this part of England; again, I had spaced out, but 'awoke' to the whole crowd looking at me and some people chuckling). Still, I really enjoyed myself and was happy to find out a little bit more about just the kind of people who get executed here, and what kind of prisoners lived in the halls, and other cool bits of information. (Note that this picture is from the inner wall, looking at the clothesline and car parked inside the outer wall of the castle.)


Today was really tiring. I love to walk everywhere, but that gets a little wearing. Tomorrow, I plan to see the Tate Museum of Modern Art, and maybe the London Museum as well, and get my tickets for Norwich in advance. Only three days until I'll be slobbering over what I've heard is a stunning rendition of Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart. I can't wait. If you have any suggestions as to what I can't leave London without seeing, please e-mail them to me at Alexlegeros@gmail.com. There's certainly plenty to do here, but I'm looking to suggestions to help make a priority list so I know I'm getting the most out of this week.