So this week has been really busy with meetings and working. The last two nights I was working until 1am-2am and then getting up at 6am or 7am to get ready for the day. I'm exhausted. But I have to admit that I took a little time for myself on this glorious Friday morning (as glorious as you can get in dreary London) and visited Westminster Abbey. One word...incredible!! Oh, I guess I should mention that I also took a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and went to Tower of London with my colleagues. ;-) But really...I have been working EXTREMELY hard.
Tower of London was pretty cool. Of course it's a really old fort/tower and the artifacts are pretty amazing. Just to think that something has survived over 700 years is mind boggling. There are three things that I really enjoyed during my visit there.
1. The view from the Tower of the Thames River and the Tower Bridge. I got some nice pictures of the bridge and river from the Tower of London. Plus, yesterday was a strange day for weather. It was all dreary and raining in the morning, sunshine for about 2 hours in the afternoon and then torrential downpour for an hour until it got all dark and drizzly again. We were pretty lucky that the two hours of sunshine occurred while we were playing tourist.
2. Carvings in the soapstone walls. In one of the small towers, they used to house prisoners there. The prisoners would apparently occupy their time by carving into the soapstone walls. Amazingly enough, they were able to preserve parts of the wall. Some people wrote various sayings or proverbs, others wrote their names and dates, some others even drew pictures (although quite rudimentary). It was completely fascinating to see how people occupied their time while imprisoned.
3. The Crown Jewels. Need I say more?!?! I'm all about accessories. You know this if you know me at all. But the baubles and crowns that adorned the royal families are a little over the top....and I absolutely love it!!! :-) I have never before in my life seen such magnificent jewels. Even the crowns which were created over 200 years ago have gems and jewels that are dazzling. It's always been my expectation that the further we evolve, the more sophisticated designs are in general. But they sure knew how to craft intricate details and cut the stones. Plus, I got to see the world's largest and clearest diamond - the Asscher diamond which is mounted in the Queen Her Majesty's royal scepter. Uuuuhhhh....hello, can I have one for Christmas please?!? ;-) I wouldn't mind going back to the Tower of London to just stare at the Crown Jewels for hours. But the royal guards would probably think I'm planning a heist. I can't even imagine what it must feel like to adorn yourself with all of that stuff. But the fascists wouldn't let me take any pictures. Boo. :-(
In general, I'm not really what I would consider a "traditional" person. I don't have family traditions that I follow. There is really no pomp and circumstance in my life that drives my decisions. But I have to admit that there is something to be said for long standing traditions. Learning the history of the crown jewels and knowing that every royal person uses the same scepter for hundreds of years or that the same anointing spoon has been used in every coronation ceremony for the past 700 years - it makes me appreciate the value of tradition and
why people hold fast to this kind of ideology.
Stay tuned for my thoughts of Westminster Abbey... and in the words of the English, "have a good day, love!" xoxo
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