EUROPEAN RELOCATION: October 2013

MY BROTHER AND JANET CAME FOR A VISIT A FEW WEEKS AGO. I ALREADY POSTED THE PICTURES OF THE 2ND HALF OF HIS TRIP AT THE FAMILY REUNION IN GERMANY. THEY ARRIVED A WEEK PRIOR TO THAT IN LONDON AND I MET THEM THERE. WE HAD A COUPLE OF DAYS TO DO SOME SIGHTSEEING.

I ARRIVED ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. I HAD WANTED TO DO SOME EXPLORING ON MY OWN. I MADE MY WAY DOWN FROM THE TRAIN STATION TO THE LONDON MUSEUM. THIS IS A GREAT MUSEUM IF YOU HAVE AN INTEREST IN LONDON HISTORY. IT'S ALSO SET UP IN SUCH A WAY THAT WILL KEEP YOUR CHILDREN INTERESTED, (EVEN IF THEY ARE FAIRLY YOUNG). I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND A VISIT.

LONDON ARCHITECTURE OFTEN GETS A BAD RAP BUT PERSONALLY I LIKE HOW THEY MIX THE OLD AND THE NEW.

SOME GREAT ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS IN LONDON

LOVE THESE DISPLAYS AT THE LONDON MUSEUM; THE EXHIBIT WAS FROM ROMAN TIMES AND BY PLACING SOME OF TODAY'S TOOLS AND TOILETRIES AMONG THE ANCIENT TOOLS AND TOILETRIES IT REALLY CATCHES CHILDREN'S EYE!

DECADENT DINNER OUT AT THE ROYALS??
THIS LITTLE CONTRAPTION WOULD ROLL DOWN THE LENGTH OF A TABLE DRIPPING WATER OUT OF THE SPOUT SO THAT YOU CAN RINSE YOU HANDS IN BETWEEN COURSES

DON'T KNOW HOW THEY SURVIVED IN DRESSES LIKE THIS!!

THEY SURE DON'T MAKE ELEVATORS LIKE THEY USED TO

DALEK FROM DR. WHO

I ALSO FOUND THE CHARLES DICKENS HOUSE MUSEUM. IT HAS JUST BEEN RENOVATED. IT HAD A LOT OF ORIGINAL FURNISHINGS AND FIRST EDITIONS. ANOTHER MUSEUM I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

SUNDAY WAS NICE WEATHER FOR THE MOST PART. WE HAD CLEAR SKIES FOR WALKING AROUND THE TOWER OF LONDON AND THEN TOOK A THAMES RIVER CRUISE TO WESTMINSTER. THAT'S WHEN THE WEATHER TOOK A LITTLE TURN BUT THE WASHOUT WAITED FOR THE NEXT DAY. YOU'LL SEE SOON..

LOVE THIS ADVERTISEMENT FOR A BRITISH SANDWICH SHOP

NEVER ENDING CONSTRUCTION IN THE CITY

MODERN PEAKING OUT FROM BEYOND ANCIENT

GREAT WIRE SCULPTURE THROUGHOUT THE TOWER OF LONDON

JANET AND DERICK

PRISONERS OFTEN CARVED MESSAGES INTO THE STONE WALLS OF THE TOWER.

THIS CARVING IS BY WILLIAM RAME. NOTHING IS KNOWN ABOUT HIM BUT I LIKED THE LAST LINE OF THE QUOTE. "USE WELL THE TIME OF PROSPERITY AND REMEMBER THE TIME OF MISFORTUNE." WM. RAME 1559

SIR WALTER RALEIGH'S DESK WHERE HE WROTE "THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD"

IN 1483 THE TWO SONS OF KING EDWARD IV WERE SENT TO THE PRISON FOR "THEIR OWN SAFETY" AFTER THEIR FATHER DIED. PRINCE EDWARD WAS KING FOR ALL OF 86 DAYS ALTHOUGH HE WAS NEVER OFFICIALLY CROWNED. DURING THE FEW MONTHS THAT THEY WERE AT THE TOWER THEY MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED AND IT WAS THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE LIKELY EXECUTED ON THE ORDERS OF RICHARD III. RICHARD III ASCENDED THE THRONE FOR 2 YEARS. IN 1674 WORKMEN REPAIRING STAIRS IN THE TOWER FOUND BONES BELONGING TO CHILDREN .

LOOKS LIKE THE VERDICT TODAY IS THAT RICHARD III ORDERED THE BOYS' MURDER! TSK! TSK!

EXECUTIONS BEGAN IN THE 1100s. ELIZABETH I WAS IMPRISONED FOR A FEW MONTHS IN THE TOWER. SHE WAS MOVED TO HOUSE ARREST FOR A YEAR AND THEN ASCENDED TO THE THRONE AFTER MARY I's DEATH. JOSEF JAKOBS WAS THE LAST PERSON EXECUTED AT THE TOWER OF LONDON. HE WAS A NAZI SPY AND HE WAS KILLED BY FIRING SQUAD IN 1941.

IMAGINE HOW TERRIFYING IT MUST HAVE BEEN TO BE ROWED THROUGH THE TRAITOR GATES INTO THE TOWER.

HERE COMES THE RAIN....THE CHANGING-OF-THE-GUARD WITH OUR TOUR GUIDE, MATT FROM "FUN TOURS OF LONDON". IT WAS RAINING SO THEY DID AN ABBREVIATED VERSION AND THEN WE CAUGHT THE CHANGING-OF-THE-GUARD OVER AT THE HORSE GUARDS BUILDING.