Memorial to the Royal Air Force.
With cars driving the wrong direction on London streets, they go to some effort to make sure that the pedestrians know which way to look when crossing the streets.
And lest there be any doubt....
Memorial to Admiral Nelson in Trafalgar Square.
In London, they're "diversions", not "detours."
But all good things must come to an end.
Lion in Trafalgar Square.
Fountain in Trafalgar Square.
Fountain in St. James Park.
Lake in St. James Park.
Memorial to Queen Victoria in front of Buckingham Palace.
Bicycle demonstraton in front of Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace. We've seen a number of palaces in the last year, but this is one of the few functioning ones.
Beefeater tour guide at the Tower of London, just inside the Watergate. In uncertain times during English history, this was the gate through which several Kings and Queens either escaped the Tower to avoid capture, or entered the Tower under the cloak of darkness to reclaim the throne. Our guide had quite a strong Scottish accent. He took quite a ribbing from his fellow Beefeater guides who assured us that there would be another tour in "English", if we cared to wait a bit.
Tower of London
Tower of London French & Italian cannon, captured in 1815 from Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington.
Tower of London Bronze Cannon, commissioned by the Kights of Malta around 1607.
Remains of the original Roman walls at the Tower of London.
Tower of London: Lanthorn Tower. Built 1220 - 1238
Tower of London: Salt Tower, where many of the prisoners were kept.
This wall graffiti is attributed to Hew Draper, an inn keeper accused of sorcery and imprisoned in the Salt Tower between 1560 -1562.
Tower of London: the Broad Arrow Tower
Armored combat demonstration at the Tower of London
The Queen at the armored combat demonstration at the Tower of London
The Tower Bridge
Tower of London: stained glass in the White Tower
Guard at the Tower of London
Sir Walter Raleigh's chamber in the infamous Bloody Tower at the Tower of London This tower is known as the Bloody Tower because it is where the young princes, Edward V and his younger brother, were imprisioned in 1483 by the Duke of Gloucester. No one knows what really happened to the young princes. They were seen playing in the castle grounds less and less, and finally disappeared. It is commonly accepted that the Duke killed the young boys so that he could assume the throne. But this has never been proven.
Tower of London: the White Tower
Catapult used in the ballistics weapons demonstration at the Tower of London.
Scott got to participate in a demonstration of the catapult.
Get ready to pull.....
Pull!!.....
And there she goes! The projectile, in this case a water ballon, is in a sling at the end of the rope at the top of the picture. Sorry, it moved too fast to get a picture of the sling.
Scott receiving archery instructions.
Preparing to shoot....
Nock to the ear....and....
LOOSE! He even hit the target!
View from the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. The odd-looking building in the middle is popularly known as "The Gherkin."
View from the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.
View from the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. The round white building is the Globe Theatre.
Westminster Abbey.
Statue of Abraham Lincoln (of all people!) in Parliament Square near Westminster Abbey. This square contains statues of other statesmen who have had great vision. Winston Churchill has his place in the northeast corner. Nelson Mandela is the most recent addition in the southwest corner of the square.
Big Ben.
Big Ben and the Parliament building.
The Parliament building.
The South Bank Lion, at one of the bridges over the Thames.
The river Avon from Hampton Court Palace.
Entering Hampton Court Palace.
Hampton Court Palace.
The maze at Hampton Court Palace.
The gardens at Hampton Court Palace.
The gardens at Hampton Court Palace. Cool goat urn.
The oldest and largest grapevine in the world, at Hampton Court Palace.
The oldest and largest grapevine at the world, at Hampton Court Palace.
Hampton Court Palace. So by this time we have seen a lot of art. It seems to me that for a period of time, bearing one breast was considered the height of fashion, while bearing both meant you were a "shameless hussy".
Ceiling art at Hampton Court Palace. Note that this picture shows women that are totally unfashionable, at the height of fashion and shameless hussies.
Ceiling art at Hampton Court Palace.
Hampton Court Palace. Is this the Werewolf of London?
Hampton Court Palace. Truly disturbing ceiling art.
Weapons display in the guard room at Hampton Court Palace.
The Renaissance kitchens at Hampton Court Palace. This was where the big joints of beef were turned on spits over the fire.
The Renaissance kitchens at Hampton Court Palace.
The Eye, one of the newer London landmarks. We agreed that it wasn't worth waiting in line to go to the top.
United Reformist Church in Salisbury.
Clock tower in Salisbury. There is a holding cell at the bottom of the tower where the condemned were kept briefly before their hanging.
The River Avon in Salisbury.
Salisbury.
Salisbury Cathedral.
Medieval clock mechanism in Salisbury Cathedral. This clock didn't have a face, it was just used to ring the bells at the appropriate times.
Tomb of Sir John de Montacute, who fought at Crecy and Poitiers in the 1300's: Salisbury Cathedral.
Tomb of John, Lord Cheney in Salisbury Cathedral. He fought alongside Henry Tudor in the Battle of Bosworth, 1485.
Chapel of St. Edmund & St. Thomas, Salisbury Cathedral.
Columns supporting the central spire of Salisbury Cathedral. Notice how the columns are bent. The tall spire was an afterthought, not included in the original architecture of the cathedral. The supports began to buckle in the following centuries. Additional supports added in the 1700's seem to have stopped the movement.
Tomb of George Sydenham chaplain to Kings Henry VII and Henry VIII, Salisbury Cathedral.
Monument at the tomb of Edmund Seymour, nephew of Jane Seymour, third wife of King Henry VIII, Salisbury Cathedral.
Tomb of William Longespee, illegitimate son of King Henry II and half-brother to King John Lackland. He was the first person to be buried in Salisbury Cathedral, in 1226.
Thatched-roof house in Pewsey.
The large stone circle in Avebury. This circle is huge, about a quarter mile in diameter.
The large stone circle in Avebury.
The large stone circle in Avebury. This one is known as the Devil's Chair.
The Red Lion Inn in Avebury.
Thatched-roof house in Avebury. Many modern houses in the area still have thatched roofs, which provide excellent insulation.
Thatched-roof house in Avebury.
Norman Church in Avebury.
Interesting restroom in a pub in Marlborough.
St. Mary's, the parish church of Marlborough. Thomas Wolsey, the powerful cleric who attempted to negotiate the divorce of King Henry VIII from Katherine of Aragon, was ordained here in 1498.
St. Mary's, the parish church of Marlborough.
Banner of St. Mary's Church.
Banner of King Henry VIII in St. Mary's Church.
Banner of King John in St. Mary's Church.
St. Mary's Church.
St. Mary's Church. Note the transition from the medieval to the modern flooring.
Marlborough.
Countryside near Stonehenge....it was about a 2-mile walk from our hotel in Amesbury.
Stonehenge.
Approaching Stonehenge.
Modern Druids performing a ceremony in the circle of Stonehenge. We really tried to respect the privacy of their ceremony as requested, but... Then they set up camp in the middle of the circle, tossing their bags and other paraphernalia about the circle, making it extremely difficult to take a picture that did not include them.
Modern Druids performing a ceremony in the circle of Stonehenge.
Stonehenge. It's difficult to see in these pictures, but the horizontal stone has a hollow cut to create a mortise-and-tenon joint.
Stonehenge. On this vertical stone, the tenon of the original joint is more visible.
Stonehenge, with Druids taking center stage. An interesting note, although it is commonly held that the henges are Druid relics, these stone circles were actually built centuries before the Druids. The Druids only adapted their ceremonies to include these wonders of the very ancient world.
Crystals used in the Druids' ceremony.
Artist's conception of Stonehenge as originally built, between 3000BC and 2000BC.
