We set off early for the Tower of London on the tube. The location we got off was across the river forcing us to walk through an amazing plaza. This plaza was full of decorated elephant statues similar concept to the cows all over Houston. We became fascinated with them taking a picture of each one. This plaza would have been a perfect precedent study for my last studio project in Orvieto. It had shops assimilated into the buildings, level changes, theater seating space, lawn, trees and most importantly a great view of London Bridge and the Tower of London across the river. We spent about 45-60 minutes experiencing, analyzing, and documenting the spaces. At the end was the London Bridge. We walked across it like crazy tourists snapping pictures left and right. On the other side were the Tower and more elephants to photograph. We took a tour of the tower facilities; the old palace and fortress from a beefeater. They are respected retired military men living in the complex giving tours in full uniform. He was lively and a great story teller. The complex was huge. This is also the location of the crown jewels. Sparkling diamonds glistening in the spot light were unbelievable. The colors of fabric were so rich in purple, reds and gold. Then we went to where they kept prisoners and instruments they used torture people. Lastly we saw the house where two young princes went missing. There are all kinds of rumors about what happened to them. One is that they ran away. Another was the king in line after them had them killed. They were not a threat to the crown because they had already been declared illegitimate. The most interesting evidence is two small boy skeletons were found when some renovations and additions were made. They were 11 and 12 years old, the same age as the two princes when they went missing. Visiting the Tower of London took up most of the afternoon. After some gift shopping we went to see the London Eye. There we ran into a book market under a bridge. It reminded me of Portobello Road from the movie Bed Knobs and Broomsticks. On the other side of the tables piled high with all kinds of books was tons of street performers. We stopped and watched one. A group of guys of different ethnicities break dancing for those of us who wanted to watch. They were okay but one impressed me when he did a move I had never seen before, he spun on his head. I was amazed he could keep spinning himself by how he moved his legs. Off in the background was the London Eye, big round wheel with transparent egg shaped compartments. Our last stop for the day was to see the House of Parliament and Big Ben. For dinner we ate at a restaurant named Texas Embassy. It was based on the fact London had an Embassy for Texas when it was its own country before it joined the United States. The food was no were near real Texas food.
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