Date: 2008-01-31
To: London Tower
Miles today: 0.0

Another magnificent day, although it was rather cold, in fact even the poms say it is cold, if this is bad as it gets, then I can say England is not that cold, I was expecting so much worse. I seem to be well suited to the conditions, but then again all of my ancestory is from this part of the world.I just booked my train ticket to Bermingham to catch up with Gill, it should be a great time, we are going to Wales, and have a look around the Shakespear areas, should be a blast. The ticket guy was of little help, no one seems to enter into any small talk, everyone is so quiet. It is like they do not know you, so why would they wish to talk to you. If you ask simple things like how they are, or what type of day they are having, it really seems to throw them, they are so different to us in this fashion. Supposedly it is mostly just a London thing, and in the rest of the country they are far more inclined towards small talk. They are still very polite, even on the subway no one pushes, and you never see road rage, or even people tooting horns. I am looking out at a building across the road, if it was located in Australia we would think of it as an archetectual marvel, but here it is just another building. Today I went and saw the Tower of London, and it took me all day. It is the old castle for the English monarchs, but it is most famous for being a prison. It was where people like Anne Boleyn were executed, the two young princes, and Guy Faulkes was interogated and tortured. For those of you who know about English history then this will mean a great deal to you, for the rest, the Tower of London is a place full of history. I stood on the spot where Anne Boleyn was beheaded, it was just great. It is also the place where the crown jewels are held, and they really are spectacular to go see. The main building was commissioned by William the conquerer, the Duke of Normandy, and many buildings and defences have sprung up around it, there were so much to see, including the armoury. This is where all of Henry the 8ths armour was located, he had a waiste of 130cm when he was in his 40's, what a fat bastard. Around every corner there was another story, the people who look after it and guard it are known as the beef eaters, they are the Queens personal guard, they had some great stories to tell. One of the most impressive things was the small chapel, as so many famous people and notorious people are buried just a few inches below your feet. It was such a special thing to go witness, to walk in the same rooms as Edward the 1st. It is not so much the buildings that are so spectacular, and trust me they are, it is all the history and events that have transpired within their walls, it was such a delight today, really had a great time. Even now I look out the window and big red buses go driving past. Walking around I feel like I am on the set of The Bill. Off to bermingham, may not get a chance to email for the next few days.Thanks to Mick, mum, Brenda, and Nick for their comments, I appreciate hearing from you all, and it is always a delight to get a message. Last night my room mate, had a guest in her bed, and I am on the top bunk, I felt like I was on a ride at Luna Park, the bed was sure moving a lot at different stages during the night. There were times I had to hang onto the guard rail, why do these things always seem to happen to me. This girl is from Poland and she is really nice, and my other room mate is from Sydney and she is just lovely, we seem to get caught in conversations that go for hours, both of us are not listeners, we are definitely talkers. She is a bit of a left wing looney like me, so the conversations are always interesting.THe showers here in the hostel always seem to be cold, and I put my hand under and think to myself I can't get in that, and then I think the streams on the AT are not going to be warm, so under I get. Even my hostel seems to be preparing me for the AT, at times I forget all about that trip, I am just so immersed in the world around me right now. When I was walking along some of the turrets at the Tower of London evernow and again I woulod gaze up at Tower Bridge that crosses over the Thames, it is probably the only bridge in the world that is even more awe inspiring than the Sydney Harbour Bridge, it is hard to take your eyes of it.