Hi Everybody!
Today was a rough one at first, not going to lie. Mom got a call from the office at 3 am to do some work, and let's just say that me getting up after three hours of sleep is not pretty. On the one had, I had time to write blogs, on the other I was the biggest grumpy cat out there and there was no stopping me. So after a while, I went back to bed and then mom and I had a late start to our day.
First, we went to Borough to get pancakes from that place I went to when I was sick! Trust me when I say the waiter was very concerned about our totally silent table. I mean, literally I was non functional until I had a belly full of forest berry pancakes with clotted cream and a nice big latte. Poor mom. Poor waiter. At least we were quiet restaurant-goers?
Afterwards we went to Shakespeare's Globe!
Mom kept stopping along our river walk for pictures, so here's more of my face!
Remember that market Tanja and I found. Well it was on the way to Tower of London so obviously even though we were insanely full, mom and I found nice French cheese (Laious), freshly baked sourdough bread, strawberries, and grapes. (I'm fast fowarding a bit, with the pictures, but isn't this the most European dinner you can think of? And honestly we were so full afterwards)
We even found Rainer cherries in the market and mom could not get over how expensive they were ($28.80/kilo) She said she literally bought a carton for $4 back at home before she came here. Apparently they're from Washington and boy does that pricing show! On the one hand, Borough Market is perfect if you want anything from Europe - Spanish meats, French cheese, you name it. On the other hand, something from America is a less than ideal purchase.
Tower of London was next!
Unfortunately you can't take pictures of anything in there, so you've just got my words. First off, you had to be elite to get executed at the Tower of London, so actually only 6 people were executed there, everyone else got shipped off down the river. Second, it was partially a palace, but a not very fancy one when you think about palaces. Third, at this time period people were obviously clueless and discovering other parts of the world. So they'd bring home animals, like cute little lion cubs from Africa, and then realize that lions are actually dangerous and you shouldn't have kept them there, so they locked them in the moat. So, in the tower of London, you had a moat zoo. There was a polar bear who could go fishing in the Thames River because he was tied to a long rope. The British apparently didn't learn from their first mistake and continued to keep lions at the Tower of London for over 200 years (with the lions finally being moved to a zoo in 1832). Uncaged monkeys roamed around. Ostriches were brought over. If you're thinking this sounds like a bad set of jumanji, you're totally correct. People literally died all the time because these animals weren't cared for properly (usually because the British didn't know how) or because humans were clueless as to the actual nature of these "pets." I mean, literally a lady died because she was petting a lions paw. Um lady, where are your survival skills? You don't have to actually know a lot about a lion to be able to look at it and think hmmm big scary predator, maybe I shouldn't pet it like a little house cat. All I can say is I'm glad those animals are no longer roaming around in that Tower.
The one animal that is still left is the ravens. There's a superstition that if the ravens leave the Tower of London then London will fall. Well, these sneaky pete Brits clipped the ravens' wings so they never can leave. I'm not really sure that's how fate works people, and usually the Fates get really pissed when you try to cheat them. Also, where's the fun in the superstition if you cheat at the game? It was cool to be around so many ravens though, I don't think I've seen a lot of them before.
Finally, we waited in line for forever but we got to see the crown jewels. So. Much. Bling. I mean seriously, I think my sunglasses were needed for so much sparkle. Like all the coronation dishes were totally elaborate gold with figures and designs. They had a bunch of unicorns with beards on the dishes which I thought was hilarious. Then you've got the crowns, which are more like hats that all the various queens and kings wore. It was a good idea to have unisex head-wear, but also, I think I'd prefer a tiara thank you very much, they're just so much prettier. I saw that famous diamond that's literally the size of a rock you find on the floor. I wanted to take it, but mom said no being a total buzz kill. hehehe just kidding mom, I value my life more than that diamond so it wouldn't have been worth it anyways.
We walked around until closing time exploring and then made our way home. Jes came over! So we had a lot of good laughs (mostly at my expense). See what I mean? My mother condoned this behavior.
I'm counting on you Mumma Bailey (Jes' mom) to even the odds when we go on our countryside trip, because I was totally outnumbered for dinner. We stayed up way to late and giggled most of the hours away. Guess a day can really turn around after all.
Love you guys,
Carolyn
Today was a rough one at first, not going to lie. Mom got a call from the office at 3 am to do some work, and let's just say that me getting up after three hours of sleep is not pretty. On the one had, I had time to write blogs, on the other I was the biggest grumpy cat out there and there was no stopping me. So after a while, I went back to bed and then mom and I had a late start to our day.
First, we went to Borough to get pancakes from that place I went to when I was sick! Trust me when I say the waiter was very concerned about our totally silent table. I mean, literally I was non functional until I had a belly full of forest berry pancakes with clotted cream and a nice big latte. Poor mom. Poor waiter. At least we were quiet restaurant-goers?
Afterwards we went to Shakespeare's Globe!
Mom kept stopping along our river walk for pictures, so here's more of my face!
Remember that market Tanja and I found. Well it was on the way to Tower of London so obviously even though we were insanely full, mom and I found nice French cheese (Laious), freshly baked sourdough bread, strawberries, and grapes. (I'm fast fowarding a bit, with the pictures, but isn't this the most European dinner you can think of? And honestly we were so full afterwards)
Tower of London was next!
Unfortunately you can't take pictures of anything in there, so you've just got my words. First off, you had to be elite to get executed at the Tower of London, so actually only 6 people were executed there, everyone else got shipped off down the river. Second, it was partially a palace, but a not very fancy one when you think about palaces. Third, at this time period people were obviously clueless and discovering other parts of the world. So they'd bring home animals, like cute little lion cubs from Africa, and then realize that lions are actually dangerous and you shouldn't have kept them there, so they locked them in the moat. So, in the tower of London, you had a moat zoo. There was a polar bear who could go fishing in the Thames River because he was tied to a long rope. The British apparently didn't learn from their first mistake and continued to keep lions at the Tower of London for over 200 years (with the lions finally being moved to a zoo in 1832). Uncaged monkeys roamed around. Ostriches were brought over. If you're thinking this sounds like a bad set of jumanji, you're totally correct. People literally died all the time because these animals weren't cared for properly (usually because the British didn't know how) or because humans were clueless as to the actual nature of these "pets." I mean, literally a lady died because she was petting a lions paw. Um lady, where are your survival skills? You don't have to actually know a lot about a lion to be able to look at it and think hmmm big scary predator, maybe I shouldn't pet it like a little house cat. All I can say is I'm glad those animals are no longer roaming around in that Tower.
The one animal that is still left is the ravens. There's a superstition that if the ravens leave the Tower of London then London will fall. Well, these sneaky pete Brits clipped the ravens' wings so they never can leave. I'm not really sure that's how fate works people, and usually the Fates get really pissed when you try to cheat them. Also, where's the fun in the superstition if you cheat at the game? It was cool to be around so many ravens though, I don't think I've seen a lot of them before.
Finally, we waited in line for forever but we got to see the crown jewels. So. Much. Bling. I mean seriously, I think my sunglasses were needed for so much sparkle. Like all the coronation dishes were totally elaborate gold with figures and designs. They had a bunch of unicorns with beards on the dishes which I thought was hilarious. Then you've got the crowns, which are more like hats that all the various queens and kings wore. It was a good idea to have unisex head-wear, but also, I think I'd prefer a tiara thank you very much, they're just so much prettier. I saw that famous diamond that's literally the size of a rock you find on the floor. I wanted to take it, but mom said no being a total buzz kill. hehehe just kidding mom, I value my life more than that diamond so it wouldn't have been worth it anyways.
We walked around until closing time exploring and then made our way home. Jes came over! So we had a lot of good laughs (mostly at my expense). See what I mean? My mother condoned this behavior.
I'm counting on you Mumma Bailey (Jes' mom) to even the odds when we go on our countryside trip, because I was totally outnumbered for dinner. We stayed up way to late and giggled most of the hours away. Guess a day can really turn around after all.
Love you guys,
Carolyn
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