Day 2: Today, we visited the Tower of London and took a little cruise along the River Thames to Greenwich. We gathered at 9 a.m. to head to the South Kensington underground station, once again traveling through the canal-like tunnel I mentioned yesterday, to take the train to Tower Hill underground station. There, we proceeded to a plaza overlooking the Tower of London. We arrived at the plaza around 10 a.m., and our tickets to enter the Tower of London indicated that we could enter at 11 a.m., giving us 50 minutes of free time to explore the area. We had to regroup at 10:50 a.m. to ensure we entered the Tower of London on time.
Entering the Tower of London at 11 a.m., we were free to explore at our leisure and visit various structures, such as the Bell Tower, the Bloody Tower, St. Thomas‘ Tower, Wakefield Tower, White Tower, Lanthorn Tower, Salt Tower, and, of course, the Crown Jewels. Be careful, though; photography is not allowed in the Crown Jewels exhibition. The Yeoman Warders (essentially security guards) are strict about this rule! If you disregard it, a Yeoman Warder will assertively and loudly instruct you to stop taking pictures and delete the photos. If you continue to ignore their orders, you may be expelled from the Tower of London (according to ChatGPT).
Before the Jewel House, which houses the Crown Jewels, there are four cannons on display: the „Ohio,“ the „America,“ the „Fire Worshipper,“ and the „Achilles,“ with two guards stationed nearby. During the last half hour of our visit, the cannons began firing for some unknown reason—perhaps something military-related. At 1:30 p.m., we all had to meet at the exit of the Tower of London. We then had an hour of free time before the cruise, which finally started at 2:40 p.m. It was indeed interesting to see the buildings surrounding the River Thames.
We arrived in Greenwich at 3:15 p.m. and walked around the Naval College Gardens. Our destination was the Royal Observatory Greenwich, which offers a beautiful view of the city. From here, you can see various landmarks such as the Shard, the Millennium Dome (also known as the O2), Queen’s House, the National Maritime Museum, and the River Thames to some extent.
After the Observatory, we visited the Cutty Sark, arriving at 4:25 p.m., and were given an hour and a half to explore. At 6 p.m., we regrouped once more to return to the hostel via underground. First, we had to cross the River Thames somehow. We entered a dome that resembled a historic structure; indeed, it was, leading us to a spiral staircase that took us to a long, empty tunnel—quite eerie, especially if you were walking alone. This long tunnel led to another large spiral staircase, which brought us to the surface. We exited that staircase in an identical dome-like structure, almost like the one we had entered.
What was this tunnel? It turns out it was a tunnel that takes you underneath the River Thames from one side to the other. Finally arriving at the underground station, we got back to the hostel at 7:10 p.m. and were free to do some shopping until 9 p.m. Lights out once again at 10 p.m.
(Alex 8.2, P. Richter)
