Tower to Tower

I guess today could have been termed as my London historical tour. I started off at Tower Bridge, which is the bridge we all see on TV during New Year's. It's a monumental structure spanning the River Thames. The bridge runs between two gothic-style granite towers. The coolest thing is that the middle span lifts up to allow for large boats to pass under. All this is accomplished by steam and hydraulic power. We got to learn about the system as part of the tour. Basically there were massive coal-fired boilers and piston and crankshaft underneath the bridge. The crankshaft powered these hydraulic pumps that circulated water to drive the leaves of the bridge to lift up and down. Pretty cool engineerng! The bridge celebrated its 100th anniversary several years ago. Now the steam/hydraulic system has been replaced by an electric/hydraulic (oil) system with a PLC panel.

After the tour of Tower Bridge, I walked across to get to the Tower of London. It was a defence fortress built in the 11th century by William the Conqueror. It was pretty cool to walk in and touch a struture that as stood for almost a thousand years. Sure a lot of the stones have been really worn, but they were still standing. The fortress was also known for a place for executing sovereigns and criminals. Our yeoman warden tour guide tried to spook the kids in the group by emphasizing "And they had their heads cut off from their bodies!" Several kids fell for it every tme. There was also a chapel on the grounds of the fortress where the royalty worshipped. Many of the executed were also buried there too. There was a special exhibit on Henry VIII and they managed to portray him as a valiant warriar and skilled athlete. But sorry, I still think he was a bit of a crazed power freak. The exhibit housed many original weapons and armour used by Henry VIII and company. By the time I was done viewing the exhibit, I felt I had seen enough of medieval England. The line to go in to view the crown jewels stretched for a block's length, far too long for my grumbing stomach and spaghetti legs. Besides, I wasn't really interested in looking at bling.

I dashed off to St. Paul's Cathedral to find that it was closed for visitors for the day. However there was an evening service so I stuck around to check it out. Wow, I though the exterior of the cathedral was grand enough, but the inside was ten times more richly ornamented. It was too bad that no photography inside was permitted. The entire choir was singing at the service and it was hard to not be moved to hear the chorus of voices inside the cavernous church. We got to sing some familiar hymns so it helped me feel more at home. The sermon was on the thin side, but it was an experience to have attended a service at the St. Paul's Cathedral. Oh well, I will have to try visiting St. Paul's tomorrow morning to get the full tour.