London at the Last Minute

At this point in our time in the UK we had been notified that the company was pulling expats back home due to pandemic related issues.  We were very disappointed that our time was quickly coming to close and that the pandemic had nullified much of our plans for European travel.  However, there was also an overwhelming sense of relief to finally be going home, back to our family, back to America!  I don't recommend taking on a pandemic in a foreign country.  

A trip to London had been planned many times over, but the pandemic kept ebbing away at our opportunities.  Knowing that another lockdown was soon pending, we planned the trip, booked it, and waited cautiously ahead of the October break in hopes that we'd get to go.  In the week leading up to the trip the government announced that a new circuit breaker would be beginning soon, with the start date to be announced in the following days.  At this news, I contacted my travel agent and cancelled all the plans thinking that there'd be no point in traveling to London if everything was closed.  Just two days before the planned trip date the government announced that circuit breaker would be focused in the most affected areas rather than country wide.  No doubt, this was an effort to try to help keep a dwindling economy stumbling forward and not take another tremendous loss at the hands of another lockdown.  And as luck would have it, London was not scheduled to go into the circuit breaker.  I called my travel agent back that night and rebooked everything.  We packed up the next day and caught a nearly empty train to London!

The first stop on our London at the Last Minute Adventure was the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour.  While in Scotland, Brenna and I read the entire Harry Potter series together.  I was pregnant with Brenna when the last book came out.  It released 3 days before my due date.  Jacob was so considerate that he went out for the midnight release of the last book to buy my copy to ensure I had time to read it before Brenna came, knowing there would be no time for reading with a newborn.  And, it just so happens that Brenna McAlister and Harry Potter ending up sharing a birthday, July 31st!  Needless to say, we have a special connection to the books.  I'd been trying to get Brenna to read them with me for years, but I'm so glad that we didn't until we were in Scotland, home of Hogwarts (and J.K. Rowling), that provided so much inspiration for the books.   The whole experience was immersive. Even Brenna's own school experience mirrored the books with house competitions and rivalries. 

At the Harry Potter Studio Tour we saw lots of sets, costumes, props, and special effects.  I was a really awesome experience to see the inner workings of what goes into the films.  We had butter beer and chocolate frogs, flew on broom sticks, and even met a dementor!  

The next morning we were up bright and early for a day of touring the Tower of London and to see the Crown Jewels.  We had a quick walk from our hotel past Westminster Abbey, underneath Big Ben, and along to the London Eye before we caught a water taxi on Thames River that carried us to Tower of London.

Like most all historic landmarks in the UK, the Tower of London has an elaborately royal and bloody past.  It was built by William the Conqueror sometime in the 1070s.  King Henry III (1216-72) and King Edward I (1272-1307) expanded the fortress by adding huge ‘curtain’ defensive walls with a series of smaller towers and enlarging the moat.  The entire grounds are really impressive.  The tower served as a fortress for protection, a palace with magnificent royal lodgings, and a prison.

During the Wars of the Roses, Henry VI was murdered in the tower in 1471 and later the children of his great rival Edward IV, the then Princes in the Tower, vanished within its walls in 1483 never to be seen again.  No one knows the truth about the poor princes, but they were victims of one of the most vicious inter-family conflicts Britain has ever known.  Also, three Queens were beheaded at the tower in the 16th century, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Jane Grey.  Of course, all those lost within it's walls are storied to haunt the tower.  In my opinion, if ever there was a place for a ghost to take up residence, this would be it!

The tower is home to the famous Yeoman Warders, who were originally part of the monarch’s personal bodyguard who travelled with him.  They were first referred to as 'Beefeaters' under Henry VII rule, and were so named as they were permitted to eat as much beef as they wanted from the King's table.

One of the most famous legends of the Tower surrounds the ravens.  The story goes that should the ravens leave the Tower, both it and the kingdom will fall.  Seven ravens live at the Tower today and are cared for by a dedicated Yeoman Warder known as the Ravenmaster.

We spent the day touring the tower, the royal lodging, and the museums, viewing the Crown Jewels, and just taking in the surroundings.  It was a surreal place to be if you put any thought into what had taken place within the walls of the grounds.  

Like so much of London, it was a stark difference to see the old and the new mixed-in.  You could see The Shard standing on the other side of the Thames from the tower walls.

While making our way back to the hotel we stopped off to enjoy the view of the Tower Bridge, not to be confused with London Bridge, which is not falling down since it is the more recently built of the two bridges.

After a quick lunch, we returned to hotel to find some lovely treats provided by the hotel manager and our travel agent.  In the covid era the hospitality sector is happy to show their appreciation to those that chose to travel.  We had a short break before we headed out for an afternoon stroll past Westminster Abbey on our way to dinner that night at none other than Gordan Ramsy's Bar and Grill.

The next morning we were up bright and early to visit the Royal Mews and Buckingham Palace.  It was very interesting to see carriages and hear about the history, tradition, and the pomp and circumstance associated with the Royal Family and their parade public appearances. 

On our last night we were brave and booked tickets for the Ghost Bus and had a very lively (and sometimes horrifying) tour of London by night with a narration of all its evil history. 

It was goodbye to London and another lonely train ride back to Edinburgh.  It is amazing city and I'm so glad we got to experience it before our time in the UK was up.  Now back to Scotland to pack-up before it's home to the good ole USofA!