A Traveling Fool

June 26, 2026June 26, 2026

Egyptian Expedition: Day 2 – London British Museum

Having set my wake-up call for 6:30am and my breakfast delivery for 7am, I needed to make sure that I would be awake and dressed by when my doorbell rang. I had taken my shower the night before to cut down the morning time and was dressed on time. Whew!

I actually felt pretty perky and was ready to roll when we assembled down in the lobby at 8:15am to walk over to the British Museum. They didn’t open until 10am, but we had a private viewing of the Egyptian collection set for 8:30am. We were a smidge early. They let us in, giving us a little extra time. We entered and walked up the stairs to the third floor and started our tour in Galleries 62 & 63.

For anyone not familiar with the British Museum, it is a public museum, located in the Bloomsbury district of London, which is dedicated to human history, art, and culture. Established in 1753, they have a permanent collection of eight million objects, with roughly 80,000 of those objects on public view, making it the largest museum in the world. It was also the first of its kind – a free, public, national museum.

In the early 1800s, the museum expanded its collection of Egyptian sculpture, with its acquisition of the Rosetta Stone (1802) and the colossal bust of Pharaoh Ramesses II (1818). They also acquired several pieces after the defeat of the French in the Battle of the Nile.

In Galleries 62 & 63, the death and afterlife, which held particular significance and meaning for the ancient Egyptians, is explored. This includes mummies, coffins, funerary masks, portraits, and other items designed to be buried with the deceased. Mummification, magic, and rituals are explored.

Several internal organs were removed and preserved in canopic jars. These were the lungs, intestines, stomach and liver. The brain was also removed (through the nose), but wasn’t considered to be important, so it was thrown away. The heart was kept in the body.

Small figures called shabtis were buried to magically provide for the deceased in the afterlife. Animals considered to be sacred, like bulls, crocodiles, cats, and falcons, were also mummified.

One of the highlights of these galleries is the Book of the Dead of Hunefer, which shows scenes of Hunefer’s judgement. He was a royal scribe and an overseer of cattle. It is celebrated as one of the finest surviving examples of the Book of the Dead in the world. Due to the fact that, as ancient papyrus, it needs to have special care, it is not always on public display. We were very fortunate to be able to see and photograph it.

The Book of the Dead of Hunefer dates to the 19^th Dynasty (c. 1310 – 1275 BC). It contains magical spells and guides meant to help the deceased safely navigate the underworld and reach the afterlife. It is most famous for its illustrations depicting the journey through the afterlife. These included the following rituals: 1) The Opening of the Mouth – which restores the deceased’s senses so they could eat, drink, and speak in the afterlife; 2) The Weighing of the Heart – in which the deceased’s heart is weighed against the feather of Ma’at (representing truth and justice) on a scale overseen by the jackal-headed god Anubis; 3) The Devourer – if the heart was heavy with sin, it was consumed by Ammit, a hybrid beast composed of a crocodile, lion, and hippopotamus; 4) The Presentation to Osiris – if the deceased passes the judgement, they are deemed “true of voice” and taken by Horus (the falcon-headed god) to Osiris, the lord of the underworld. Osiris is shown sitting under a canopy with his sister Nephthys and his wife (who was also his sister) Isis.

Since I have an issue with my back that doesn’t tolerate standing in one place for too long, I love the modern whisper devices that allow me to hear what the person showing us around is saying without needing to be all that close to them. That lets me keep moving around while I am listening. I can also take loads of photos without too much of a crowd. That’s why most of the photos I took in the British Museum have so few other people in them.

I took a lot of photos (131 that I kept). There were so many great items to photograph. Plus the lack of people outside of my group of eighteen meant that I had a chance of getting some good ones. In more crowded situations (or more rushed) later on in the trip, I might not be so fortunate.

Once we had explored those two galleries, we moved on to Gallery 64. This one concentrated on the beginnings of ancient Egyptian civilization from about 11000 BC along the Nile.

The annual flooding of the Nile created fertile land ideal for growing crops. The culture rapidly advanced in technology and social organization during the 5^th millennium BC. By the end of the Predynastic period (about 3300 BC), regional rulers began competing for power and territory. This ultimately led to the unification of Egypt in about 3100 BC. This was believed to have been under King Narmer. Egyptian hieroglyphs were invented about 3200 BC and were used for almost 4,000 years.

The first royal tombs were built in the Egyptian desert at Abydos, 56 miles (90km) north of Luxor. Funerals at this point of Egyptian history were simple and didn’t involve mummification, which was a practice that began about 2500 BC. They had a couple burials from this time in Gallery 64, which I did photograph, but thought they might be a bit much for some people who might not want to see them.

The strong central increase in wealth led to dramatic achievements in architecture, writing, and the arts. This culminated in the Great Pyramids of Giza in about 2600 BC.

Two special treasures that I photographed in Gallery 64 were the Statue of Ankhwa and the Pitt-Rivers Knife. Ankhwa was a ship-builder who was shown holding an adze, a woodworking tool indicative of his trade. This dates to roughly 2686 – 2613 BC (3^rd Dynasty), was made of red granite and was probably found in Sakkara (formerly Memphis).

The Pitt-Rivers Knife (named after the archaeologist who discovered it), has an ivory grip decorated with rows of animals in relief and a flint blade with a serrated lower edge. The caramel-colored flint portion of the knife is distinctive and is of a type known as a ‘ripple-flaked knife’. At the time of the knife’s purchase for the museum its date was unknown, but in 1894 the pioneering archaeologist W.M.F. Petrie came across examples of similar knives among the grave objects in a large cemetery at Naqada. Petrie and Pitt-Rivers knew each other and were both determined to figure out when it was made. Eventually it was determined it belonged to prehistoric times. The period became known as the Predynastic (c. 4500 BC – 3100 BC) and the knife was subsequently dated to roughly 3200 BC. It was believed to have been used for ceremonial purposes only.

Next we took a glance at the items in galleries 65, 66, and 61 before heading downstairs to Gallery 4 on the ground floor. This contained the Egyptian sculpture gallery, which represents three millennia of history. The monuments displayed here were meant as vehicles for the spirits of deities, kings, and officials, and were originally placed in temples and tombs.

Our first stop was the Rosetta Stone. By this time, the museum had just opened. People were already swarming around the Rosetta Stone and posing in front of it. This made it difficult to get a decent photo of it. Patience was required, but seemed to be quite thin among several of the people there who weren’t part of our group. One woman tried to pick a fight with me, but I didn’t let her.

On my first visit to the British Museum, back in 1983, the Rosetta Stone wasn’t protected by glass and didn’t seem to hold that much interest for people. It was more of a side note. This time, it was getting nearly as much attention as the Mona Lisa does at the Louvre.

The Rosetta Stone served as the key to deciphering the ancient Egyptian language of hieroglyphics. It was stumbled upon in 1799 by a group of French soldiers who were digging foundations for a fort in the town of Rashid (or Rosetta) near Alexandria. Fortunately, they immediately recognized that their find was important.

The three languages carved into the stone are: Hieroglyphs, Ancient Egyptian Demotic script, and Ancient Greek. The presence of Greek was the main key to deciphering the hieroglyphs.

The largest Egyptian sculpture in the British Museum is of Pharaoh Ramesses II, who reigned through most of the 13^th century BC (for 66 years) and died at the ripe old age of 96. The full, seated statue originally stood at the Ramesseum, Ramesses II’s memorial temple on the West Bank of the Nile at Thebes (now Luxor). It was one of a pair which faced the Nile and the temples of Karnak and Luxor on the other side of the river.

It was cut from a single block of two-tone granite and granodiorite, one of Egypt’s hardest and most prized stones, chosen for both symbolism and durability. In the closeup photo I have included, you can see that the face and crown are more of a pinkish color than the rest of the statue. This was on purpose for visual impact between the dark, earthy contrast of the body (evoking Egypt’s fertile, black soil) with the more ethereal connotations of the lighter, pinkish face and crown. I also caught a nice photo of the head of Amenhotep III.

Another photo that I captured (and doesn’t look like much) is part of the Great Giza Sphinx’s missing beard. I thought that was pretty cool to see. After we left the Egyptian sculptures in Gallery 4, we took a short visit to the Parthenon Sculptures in Gallery 18.

Not too far from the museum, a coach was waiting for us to take us on a sightseeing tour of London for about an hour. They made sure to include the Egyptian obelisk they call “Cleopatra’s Needle” along the Victorian Embankment. It is actually one of a pair of obelisks that were carved during the New Kingdom period and inscribed by both Thutmose III and Ramesses II. Both obelisks were on display in Alexandria for almost two millennia. Then, they were sent to London (gifted 1819, erected in 1878) and New York City (gifted 1869, erected in 1881).

After our sightseeing tour, we were taken for a pub lunch. We put in our orders the day before so the food would be ready shortly after we arrived. We sat all together in an upstairs room of the pub. We had a couple choices for a main course and a dessert plus several choices for beverages. I usually like to get whatever the best draft ale, lager, or stout might be in any particular pub or possibly a draft hard cider. This time, I got a pint of the ale with fish and chips and a sticky toffee pudding. I found a taker for the mushy peas that came with the fish and chips. I definitely had the vinegar on the fish as well as the tartar sauce.

After lunch, we headed for the Petrie Museum at the University of London.

Next – A special museum of artifacts from Egypt and the Sudan at the University of London – the Petrie Museum

June 21, 2026June 24, 2026

Egyptian Expedition: Day 1 – London Arrival

I arrived at the hotel in the Fitrovia district of London at about 9:30am. The room wasn’t ready. Although check-in time was officially 3pm, I was told at the desk that they would make me a priority. They checked my cases into a locked room. Then they showed me the guest lounge where I could hang out, if I chose to do so. They also said that breakfast was still being served and I could get some in the Oscar Restaurant. I was hungry, so I had some Eggs Royale (Eggs Benedict with salmon instead of ham) plus fresh squeezed orange juice and English Breakfast tea with milk. Wonderful. My tummy was happy and I had the energy to set out to explore the area.

As part of the Pharaohs & Pyramids Viking River Cruise to Egypt, I had signed up for a pre-cruise tour called British Collections of Ancient Egypt. The pre-tour focused on the many Egyptian treasures in London and Oxford. Day 1 was a free day for people to arrive in London and get settled in the hotel. Day 2 would be a full itinerary and busy, busy, busy.

In the many times I have been to London over the years since my first trip in 1983, I had never stayed in a hotel in this particular area of London before. I had stayed in Covent Garden (at the Fielding and at The Strand Palace) and at Russell Square (at the Bedford) and at various other locations around the city, but this was my first stay in the bohemian home to such writers as Virginia Woolf and George Bernard Shaw. Urbanized in the 18^th century, the core area of Fitrovia had its roots in the ancient estate (1000AD) of Tottenham Court. The Fitzroy family owned a good share of the land at the time that it was urbanized, so their name was attached to the district.

The area became a focus of Chartist activities after the Reform Act of 1832. Karl Marx attended some of the events, including meetings held at Charlotte Street (the location of my hotel). The area also had several working men’s clubs, including the Communist Club.

The area’s most prominent feature is the BT Tower on Cleveland Street, one of London’s tallest buildings. I took a photo of it during my exploratory walk after breakfast. I also took a photo of one of the pedestrian-only residential streets as I walked from one end to the other and back again. This one was just a short walk from the hotel.

Charlotte Street was formed in 1763 and was named in honor of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. The Charlotte Street Hotel had opened in 2000 as a small (52 rooms), five star, luxury hotel paying homage to the Bloomsbury Group – the influential circle of early 20^th century artists and writers who had gathered just a few streets away in the townhouses of Bloomsbury.

The hotel had been transformed from a former 19^th century dental warehouse and was part of the British Firmdale Hotels. Each room is completely individual. No two are alike. I had hoped that the restaurant, Oscar, had some connection or tribute to Oscar Wilde. But it did not.

I had just returned from my walk and was settling into a cozy chair in the guest-only lounge when I was informed that my room was ready and my cases were there waiting for me. It was a very nice room, with an impressive (and tempting) mini-bar and a sizeable shower. I took note that I could see the Newman Arms from the room. I had already explored the Newman Passage and planned to have lunch at the Newman Arms. So I settled into the room, getting things ready for the next couple of days. Then I made my way to the pub.

Just steps away from the hotel was Newman Passage. Basically, I just needed to hang a right after going out of the front entrance of the hotel and hang another quick right down the very narrow Percy Passage to Rathbone Street. The Newman Arms was right across the street with the entrance to the Newman Passage just to its left.

The Newman Passage is a narrow, cobbled lane linking Rathbone Street to Newman Street. The passage dates to 1746. It is little changed and so gives a view into what Georgian London might have looked like. It is often used in films and television shows whenever they want a dark Georgian or Victorian atmosphere. In real life, it had been home to a co-op kitchen for Communist refugees and a famous location for London’s streetwalkers.

The Newman Arms had been built in 1730 as a pub. But the building had previously been used as a tallow chandler, an ironmongery, a picture framers, and a brothel. The pub was a popular hangout for George Orwell and inspired the Proles pub in his novel 1984. It was also a London hangout for Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas (“Do not go gentle into that good night”). The pub downstairs is quite tiny. But the restaurant upstairs has a bit more room and is known for its pies (of the savory variety). I ordered a Scotch Egg, Chicken Liver Pate, and a Limoncello Spritzer Aperitif. Looking out of the pub’s window at the hotel, I could see the windows of my room.

At 3:30pm, the Tour Director for the London part of the trip was available in the lobby of the hotel for us to check in, get any questions answered, etc. I discovered that my travel alarm had died on the way to London. A new battery didn’t help. So I had a chat with the hotel’s concierge. His suggestion was to schedule a wakeup call and also fill out the card to have my breakfast delivered to my room. This way I would have more time to sleep and not need to be fully ready for the day, just clothed, when breakfast was delivered. That worked out great.

Was quite full from lunch, so just snacked a bit for dinner. When the fellow arrived later for turn-down service, I was already comfortably settled in the bed. So he just gave me a couple of bottles of water and went on his merry way. I did make it until 9pm before calling it a night. But that was it. I needed to get up at 6:30 the next morning. Nine and a half hours would be a good rest.

Next – Privileged access to the Egyptian Rooms of the British Museum

June 18, 2026

London Adventure: Big Bus Tour, Kensington Palace

The second day of the Big Bus Hop On Hop Off tour, I had planned to visit Kensington Palace (which I had not been to since 1983) and the Sherlock Holmes Museum (which I had never visited before). To get to both of these places, I needed the Blue Line. The first bus to arrive was the Red Line. But the Big Bus driver suggested that I take it to the London Eye stop as there would be more buses there than at the stop I was currently. I would be able to get a Blue Line bus more quickly.

Arriving at the London Eye, I found that the next Blue Line bus wouldn’t be there for a half hour. At least I had a place to sit down there. It took longer than a half hour. We did alright until we got to the Houses of Parliament. That was when it became clear as to why the buses were taking longer than anticipated. There were protests going on that were completely blocking traffic. So we sat at Parliament for about an hour before we were on our way again. By the time I finally got to Kensington Palace, it was 1pm. Two hours later than I had planned to get there.

Kensington Palace was once a small and suburban villa, known as Nottingham House until monarchs William III and Mary II chose it in 1689 to be their country retreat. When his beloved Mary died from smallpox in 1694 in the palace, William lost interest in the lavish entertainments and balls. Despite his grief, the King finished the building with a grand gallery to the south of the palace, enlarging Sir Christopher Wren’s original plan. William III died in 1702 after catching a fatal chill in the King’s Gallery.

Queen Anne spent very little time at Kensington Palace. It wasn’t until George I succeeded to the throne that the palace was enlarged by the designer, architect, and artist William Kent. He filled it with art and fine furniture, giving it the refined 18th-century appearance that many of the rooms still have today.

After King George II’s death, no other reigning monarch lived at Kensington for nearly 70 years. Since George III didn’t wish to live at Kensington himself, he granted apartments to other members of the royal family. This included his fourth son, Edward, Duke of Kent. Edward’s wife, the German duchess, Victoire, gave birth to the future Queen Victoria there in 1819. The baby was christened Alexandrina Victoria.

Edward died eight months later, leaving the Duchess to raise Victoria alone. The Duchess of Kent did her best to educate and protect the girl who might one day become queen. Victoria was educated almost entirely in her rooms at Kensington. Frequent trips to the theatre, daily rides in the gardens and her favorite dog, Dash, punctuated Victoria’s early days. However, Victoria saw virtually no other children and was kept away from life at court.

On the morning of June 20, 1837, Princess Victoria woke up to be told that the King had died and she was now Queen. She was just 18 years old. She held her first Privy Council meeting that day in the Red Saloon at Kensington Palace. A few weeks later, she departed for Buckingham Palace.

Kensington Palace once again became a dormitory for minor royals until after World War II. Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon lived at the palace with their family from the 1960s. The couple created fashionable interiors and hosted many parties for celebrity guests, pop stars and artists.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana lived at Kensington after their wedding in 1981. Their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, grew up there. Kensington is the London home of the current Prince and Princess of Wales and their children. It was also the home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after they were first married.

I started my visit in the Queen’s State Apartments, which is presented as it was in the 1690s when Queen Mary II ruled with her husband, King William III. Then I explored the King’s State Apartments which retain the era of King George II in the 1700s. I finished my visit with the rooms of Queen Victoria. They remain as they were when she lived there as a child.

I had lunch at the palace and then revised my plans. By this point it was about 3:30pm. So I decided to save the Sherlock Holmes Museum for a later visit. Since the house where my father’s maternal great grandfather had been a butler was nearby, I decided to take a look at that and then take the Hop On Hop Off bus back to Trafalgar Square and call it a day.

That night I had dinner in the hotel restaurant. They had a dish with salmon, haddock, and prawns in a Bechamel sauce with whipped potatoes on top. Carrots were served with it. I also had a sparkling rose wine. For dessert was a trifle. This was made with sponge cake, cherry jelly (what would be called jello in the States), custard, whipped cream and whole cherries.

My last day in London was spent starting at the National Portrait Gallery in the morning, among the portraits of the famous and powerful of the country throughout its history, beginning with the Tudors. The afternoon was spent among some truly amazing and beautiful works of art at the National Gallery. They had such a wonderful variety of art. It was a lovely way to spend my last day on that trip.

May 13, 2026

London Adventure: Big Bus Tour, London Eye, and Victoria & Albert Museum

I have never done a Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour in London before. I have always either walked, taken a bus or the Tube, or taken a taxi to where I wanted to go. But this time, since I have taken Hop On Hop Off buses many times in many other cities, I thought I would try it in London.

There is one problem I discovered with doing it in London. That is the combination of London being so large, with sites so spread out, so dense in population (and therefore slow-moving traffic), and so full of tourists. It takes a very long time to get anywhere.

I had also long wanted to do the London Eye, but always seemed to run out of time and energy before I got to it. Nowadays, however, it is necessary to prebook pretty much anything you want to do in London simply because of huge amounts of tourists. So I booked a ticket for the London Eye along with the Hop On Hop Off Two-Day Bus Tour Pass a few months before I went on this trip.

After breakfast, I walked a couple of blocks from the hotel to one of the stops for the Bus Tour. It was the Trafalgar Square stop and was located just outside of the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery. My ticket for the London Eye was at 11am. I was there in plenty of time. It turned out to be the first group of the day.

I very much liked the fact that I could move around in the capsule to be able to see and photograph what I wanted. In some ways, however, the ride seemed a little too short in length.

I also had a ticket for a one-way river cruise included with my Bus Tour. I took the bus to the Tower of London so I could ride back to Westminster Pier via boat. Whenever I am in a city with a river, I love to take a scenic boat ride. It gives me a nice relaxing ride and shows the city from a different perspective. This time I just managed to get on the boat before it departed. So wasn’t very near any windows. The large window at the front of the boat was somewhat streaked and dirty. So didn’t take a lot of photos.

At Westminster Pier, I got back on the Hop On Hop Off bus and rode it to the Victoria and Albert Museum. This was a museum I have visited on a couple of occasions on past trips to London. I was really looking forward to spending time there again. On both of my previous visits I had lunch in the museum’s café, which had been large and carried a good variety of food choices, which were quite good. This time, the location for the food was quite small, with little variety and not much seating room. The food itself was also disappointing.

The museum was also, unfortunately, a disappointment. The main problem was that there were no signs to direct a person anywhere or anybody to ask. I had printed out a floor plan while at home but found it difficult to follow as the rooms themselves weren’t numbered or labeled in any way. The museum itself did not provide any maps at all. They had a thick, heavy book for sale as a guide instead. When I did finally find someone who worked for the museum, she told me about her own frustration on the lack of information provided to visitors. I eventually gave up trying to find some of the areas I wanted to visit and left.

I got back on the Hop On Hop Off bus and rode it all the way back to Trafalgar Square. Still had another day to go with the Hop On Hop Off Tour and had plans for what I wanted to do.

Next time – Day Two of The Big Bus Hop On Hop Off Tour: Kensington Palace

Charing Cross Railway Station and Bridge

March 8, 2026

London Adventure: A Full Day at Westminster Abbey – Part 2

In addition to the general admission and Queen’s Jubilee Galleries tickets, I also had a ticket for a special Medieval Monastery Tour. This was a private, small group tour emphasizing the period when Westminster Abbey was truly a Medieval Monastery. It showcased the early history of the building and the oldest parts of it. I had a little time before the tour began, so I sat down on a chair in the area where the tour was to begin and relaxed for a bit.

Westminster Abbey was a Benedictine monastery. The first twelve monks, who wore black habits, were brought to Westminster in about 960 AD by Saint Dunstan, the Bishop of London. Since then the number of monks varied between about 30 to 60. But only 24 were left when Henry VIII dissolved the monastery in 1540. No trace of the first building remains above ground.

Consecrated in 1065, King Edward the Confessor built a new Abbey on the marshy site called Thorney Island, surrounded by tributaries of the Tyburn River. Only the Undercroft and the Pyx Chamber remain from this version of the Abbey, although there are foundations below the nave and the apse from this period.

In 1245 Henry III began rebuilding much of the Abbey in the Gothic style. Some of the monastic buildings he included, such as the Chapter House, have survived intact. Others have been repurposed. The dormitory was divided into the Abbey Library and the Great Hall of Westminster School. The Garden is still there and can be visited by the public. Part of the Infirmary now forms the Little Cloister. This is private. The monastic cellarer’s building has been converted into a café.

Our tour began in the Nave and the Quire and was led by one of the Abbey’s historians. In the Nave, she pointed out the story of the Abbey in its stained-glass windows. She also pointed out the spot where the styles of the Abbey Henry III rebuilt and the parts of the Abbey Richard II rebuilt change somewhat abruptly. Richard II had been crowned in the Abbey in 1377 when he was only ten years old. He set about rebuilding the North Entrance and parts of the Nave.

We were allowed to take seats in the Quire while we were given more information about the Abbey and the lives of the monks there. The Verger Tour has been the only other time that I have been able to sit in the Quire. I kind of wanted to sing something, but I refrained.

We visited the High Altar and the Lady Chapel, which I talked about more in the first part of my visit to Westminster Abbey. On our way along the South Ambulatory towards Poet’s Corner, we came across a chest in a niche that our guide pointed out to us. This tomb chest was built with Cosmatesque work like the floor in front of the High Altar and some of the Royal tombs in the area around Edward the Confessor’s shrine. There was one piece remaining imbedded on the top. Although there is some debate about whose tomb it is, the identity that makes the most sense to me is that of King Sebert of the East Saxons and his wife, Ethelgoda. He died in roughly 616 AD but was moved to this spot in 1308. That this would have been the tomb of a king would mean that it would be deserving of being made of Purbeck Marble with a Tournai Black Marble slab on top and inlaid with tesserae and opus sectile of porphyry. Just saying.

In Poet’s Corner, our guide pointed out some relatively recently uncovered wall paintings and a staircase that used to go to the monk’s dormitory. She also pointed out Chaucer’s tomb which had much more of a crowd around it than when I went by it earlier in the day.

Then we headed into the Cloisters towards the Chapter House. The East Cloister was where, on the Thursday before Easter, the Abbot used to wash the feet of the thirteen elderly men, kissed their feet and distributed the Maundy alms. The wide benches at the northern end of the cloister were where this took place.

Next to the entrance to the Chapter House is a staircase which used to be the day stairs to the dormitory. Now it leads to the library. When it was the dormitory, it was a very large room. By the 14^th century it had been divided into cubicles with curtains to ensure privacy. Since many monks had private quarters elsewhere, only some of them slept in the dormitory. They weren’t allowed a fire, so they needed to bundle up in the colder months.

In the passage leading to the Chapter House is the oldest door in Britain. In 2005 a detailed study of the door showed that the tree from which it was made was felled after 1032 and that the door was constructed sometime in the 1050s. This was during the reign of Edward the Confessor, who built the Norman Abbey.

The Chapter House was a meeting place for the monks to gather with the abbot to pray, read from the Rule of St Benedict, and discuss the day’s business. It was part of Henry III’s rebuilding of the Abbey and was likely begun in 1246 and completed around 1255. It had seating for up to 80 monks. Many of the wall paintings, depicting scenes from the Apocalypse in the Book of Revelation, still remain in many of the arches.

The Chapter House was also the place where the forerunner of the English Parliament, the King’s Great Council, assembled in 1257. Later on, in the 14^th century, the House of Commons met there for a few years before using the Abbey Refectory for meetings.

When leaving the Chapter House and turning to the left when back in the East Cloister, the Pyx Chamber is the next room on the left. This is the oldest surviving room in the Abbey.

This low vaulted room is part of the Undercroft, underneath the monks’ dormitory, and was built in about 1070. The original entrance was through the oldest door (which was how I remember getting into it back in the 1980s). It contains a couple of medieval chests dating to the 13^th and 14^th centuries.

The Pyx chamber takes its name from wooden boxes in which silver and gold pieces were kept secure to await the “Trial of the Pyx”. This involved melting down the measured silver content as a way of showing that the coinage was pure. This was established as a practice in 1281. The stone table against the east wall was used to test the silver.

When I visited the Abbey back in the 80s, we were not only able to enter the Pyx Chamber through the Oldest Door, but we could also walk around in the room. Now there is a public viewing platform at the current entrance and going down into the room itself is no longer allowed. Also, when I visited in the 80s and 90s, the main part of the Abbey, as well as the Undercroft (which was originally the common room for the monks and was the Abbey museum beginning in 1908) were open free of charge. It was only necessary to pay if you wanted to see the royal tombs. That included the Shrine of Edward the Confessor which was closed to public visits in 1997. Since then it can only be seen as part of the special Verger’s Tour.

After our visit to the Pyx Chamber, our guide told us that she was taking us to see the Jerusalem Chamber in the Dean’s Residence. This is not open to the public and can only be seen on this particular tour.

The medieval house of the Abbots of Westminster was called Cheyneygates. The Jerusalem Chamber was added to this structure sometime between 1377 and 1386. This was in the reign of Richard II and has a crowned letter R carved in the ceiling (which is original). In the Middle Ages it was quite common to give names to rooms. The Jerusalem Chamber is entered through the Jericho Parlour which was added sometime between 1500 and 1532.

Photography wasn’t allowed in the Dean’s Residence, so the photo I have included here is from the internet. The stonework around the fireplace is original, but the paneling in the room was added in the 19^th century. The tapestries are mostly 17^th and 18^th century. We were seated at the table. I sat next to the fireplace with my back to the window.

This was where, in 1413, King Henry IV was taken after suffering a stroke while praying at the Shrine of Edward the Confessor. As he was lying by the fire, he regained consciousness and asked where he was. He was told “Jerusalem”. It had been prophesied that he would die in Jerusalem. And so he did. In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part II, Prince Henry tries on the crown in this room while his father is dying.

It was also in this room in 1624 where the marriage of the future King Charles I to Henrietta Maria of France was arranged. The coffins of several people, including Sir Isaac Newton, were lain here prior to their funerals in the Abbey. Some of the most important historic meetings held in this room were for the committees engaged in writing the Authorized King James Version of the Bible in 1611, the Revised Version in 1870, the New English Bible in 1961, and the Revised English Bible in 1989.

After we finished our tour in the Jerusalem Chamber, I headed back out through the Cloisters and to the area where the painting of Richard II and the Coronation Chair are kept near the main entrance to the Abbey. The painting is of Richard at the age of ten as he was being coronated. It is the earliest known portrait of an English king and dates to 1390. Although he was crowned king in 1377, this portrait wasn’t painted until nine years before he was deposed.

The Coronation Chair was made by order of King Edward I to enclose the famous Stone of Scone, which he brought from Scotland to the Abbey in 1296. He wanted all English monarchs to be crowned using the stone on which all Scottish monarchs were crowned. The Stone of Scone was finally returned to Scotland in 1996. It was kept at Edinburgh Castle until 2024 when it was moved to a museum in Perth.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped off at the gift shop for Westminster Abbey as well as the gift shop for Parliament. I also passed by Downing Street, Banqueting House, the Horseguards, Old Scotland Yard, the Admiralty Arch, and Trafalgar Square. A couple of small bottles of wine were waiting for me in my hotel room. Since I didn’t need to go anywhere that night, I just had a quiet dinner in my room while sipping a couple glasses of that wine.

Next time – Day One of A Big Bus Hop On Hop Off Tour

February 6, 2026

London Adventure: A Full Day at Westminster Abbey – Part 1

I had some old pound notes that needed to be exchanged for the new, plastic notes. So I went to the nearest Nat West Bank. I found that I needed to have an account there in order to exchange the notes. The woman I spoke to led me outside and pointed out the nearest Post Office, which was where I would be able to make the exchange. There was a long line, but it moved quickly. Afterwards, I headed to Westminster Abbey.

I had booked a general admission for 10:30am along with admission to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries. They have handheld audio guides that can be used to tour the building at your own pace. The audio guide leads you around, explaining the history and significance of wherever you are. I really like not having to cluster around to try to hear commentary in a large group, especially since I always had difficulty seeing what they were talking about due to my short stature.

On this visit, after many decades of not being allowed to take photos inside of Westminster Abbey, I discovered that photography was now allowed other than up in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries. I had left my camera back at the hotel, but had my phone. I took it out and began clicking up a storm.

I started in the Nave and headed for the Quire. The stalls are where the Abbey’s choir sings during daily services. The next area was the High Altar. In front of the altar is the Cosmati Pavement. This is a marble pavement dating from 1268. Henry III was rebuilding the Abbey at the time and had the remarkable pavement installed. Back in the 1980s, which was when I first visited the Abbey, this area was covered by thick carpets to try to protect the decoration there. Now it is left uncovered, but roped off from the public. We can look at it, but not walk on it. That is totally fine with me. I prefer being able to see it.

Next to the pavement, on the right when facing the altar, is the low, marble tomb of Anne of Cleves. She was Henry VIII’s fourth wife. She managed to survive being married to him by agreeing to a divorce and lived out the rest of her long life in some very nice properties and with a very nice allowance. Smart lady.

In front of the High Altar is where the coronation ceremony takes place. The Coronation Chair faces the altar while the incoming monarch is anointed and crowned. The royal weddings also take place in this space.

The only way to get into the Shrine of Edward the Confessor is with a Verger Tour. I have done this a couple times in the past and will likely do it again the next time I am in London. But it was too much to try to pack in along with the other tours in this visit. So I skirted around the outside.

Edward the Confessor’s tomb was in the center of the shrine area. On a previous Verger Tour I had been invited to kneel in one of the niches of that shrine to pray. When I did the Medieval Monasteries Tour later on his visit, I found that kneeling in the niches was no longer allowed as apparently it was too much wear and tear for such an old shrine. Although he had died in 1066 and was buried in the Abbey at that time, the current shrine wasn’t built until 1163 at which time Edward’s body was moved into that more elaborate shrine.

Buried in tombs around Edward the Confessor are several people. The royal tombs are Edward I (whose tomb was plain as he planned to be moved to Scotland once it was conquered), Henry III, Edward I’s queen Eleanor of Castile, Henry V, Edward III’s queen Philippa of Hainault, Edward III, and Richard II (with his first wife, Anne of Bohemia). Edward the Confessor’s queen, Edith of Wessex, is buried somewhere to the right of her husband in an unmarked location in the shrine. Since I knelt in a niche on the right side of the shrine, I could have easily stepped over where she is buried.

I next entered the area of Henry VII’s Chapel (the Lady Chapel) and slipped into the area to the left of that gloriously fan vaulted late medieval chapel. There was located the tomb of Elizabeth I and her sister, Mary I. There is also a sarcophagus containing the bones said to have been of the two princes in the tower – Edward V and Richard Duke of York. Near there was also a small tomb for a young daughter, Mary, of James I.

The Lady Chapel itself was built by Henry VII from 1503 to 1516. Just in front of the altar is a tile indicating the approximate location of Edward VI. He was Henry VIII’s son. At the age of nine, he became king upon his father’s death, but only lived to age fifteen. When he died, his sister, Mary I, became queen with his other sister, Elizabeth I, following her.

Behind this altar is the tomb of Henry VII and his wife, Elizabeth of York. They lie just below their monument, along with James I. Various other people are buried around this chapel, including George II and his wife, Caroline (plus several members of their family). George Villiers (1st Duke of Buckingham), and Anne of Denmark (wife of James I) were buried in alcoves near James I. Oliver Cromwell was also originally buried in this chapel, but was disinterred in 1661 after Charles II was invited back to the throne.

Around the chapel are banners of living members of the Order of the Bath. Stalls with coats of arms and brass plates of former knights also line the chapel on both sides.

On the other side of this main part of the chapel is where many of the Stuarts are buried. The first vault encountered is the one for Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, and her son Charles, Earl of Lennox. Margaret was the daughter of Margaret Tudor and granddaughter of Henry VII. She was the grandmother of James I.

Next comes Mary, Queen of Scots, James I’s mother. There are a few other Stuarts in her vault with her, including Lady Arabella Stuart. Arabella was the daughter of Margaret Douglas’ son, Charles, and was considered to be a contender as a successor to the childless Elizabeth I. She died in the Tower of London in 1615.

Margaret of Beaufort, Henry VII’s mother, has a memorial and vault all to herself. Then there are names of the following at the far end of this space: Queen Anne (James II’s younger daughter), Prince William (Anne’s only child to survive infancy and died at age eleven), William III & his wife Mary II (joint monarchs as Mary was James II’s eldest daughter), and Charles II. All of these former kings and queens are in a vault below that area, but don’t have effigies or fancy tombs over their graves.

On my way to Poet’s Corner, I took several photos of the tombs and effigies I could see within Edward the Confessor’s Shrine from the south ambulatory.

It is said that there are more than 100 writers and poets who are either buried in Poet’s Corner or have memorials there. The first to be buried there was Geoffrey Chaucer in 1400. Although he was a poet, his burial in the Abbey was because of his position as Clerk of the King’s Works. Roughly 200 years later, poet Edmund Spenser asked to be buried near Chaucer. That was the start of having literary people plus sometimes clergymen, actors and musicians buried in that same area.

Near Poet’s Corner is the entrance to reach the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries. This involves a new tower, opened in 2018, which includes a staircase and a lift to the Galleries. An additional ticket is needed for the Galleries. Mine was only £5 extra. I felt it was well worth it and would be happy to visit the Galleries again on my next visit to the Abbey.

The Galleries are housed in a 13^th century triforium high above the Abbey floor. The views are spectacular from there of the Abbey below. Unfortunately no photography was allowed, not even of the Abbey itself as seen from above.

There were several items that I remembered from my earliest visits to the Abbey in the 1980s and 90s. These have to do with the history of the Abbey and of the Monarchy, including twenty effigies which were displayed at the funeral of the person depicted.

The earliest effigies were wooden, while later models were of wax. These include:

Edward III – the earliest effigy now in existence. The face is a death mask and dates from 1377.
Anne of Bohemia – a death mask of Richard II’s queen.
Catherine de Valois- a full length wooden effigy of Henry V’s queen. She is depicted wearing a red dress. One of her arms and both hands are missing.
Elizabeth of York – only the wooden head and arm of Henry VII’s queen survives.
Henry VII – this is a plaster death mask and is quite lifelike.
Mary I – her wooden head and body had been separated, but were reunited for this new display. It is said that her face is not a good likeness.
Elizabeth I – this is a wax full body effigy which was remade in 1760. The original corset and drawers from 1603 were found in 1995 and are displayed next to the effigy. She looks pretty darned formidable.
James I and his son Henry Prince of Wales – their effigies have been headless for several centuries.
Anne of Denmark – this effigy of James I’s queen was taken from a death mask.
Charles II – by the time of his death, effigies were no longer carried as part of a royal funeral. But a wax effigy was made to stand by his grave since there was no monument. The effigy is really cool and even has silk underwear. I almost expected him to look at me and say something.
Queen Anne – the only seated effigy.
Frances, Duchess of Richmond – she died in 1702 and was buried in the Richmond vault in the Henry VII Chapel. She was born in 1647 and considered to be a great beauty. But she was disfigured by smallpox in 1668. Her effigy is dressed in her coronation clothes from Queen Anne’s coronation.
Catherine, Duchess of Buckingham and her sons – she was the illegitimate daughter of James II, which made her a half sister to both Queen Mary II (of William & Mary) and Queen Anne. Her son, Robert Sheffield, Marquess of Normanby, died at the age of three and is the only effigy of a child in the collection. Her other son, Edmund, 2^nd Duke of Buckingham, is the only recumbent effigy and is still in its original case.
William III – William was the Prince of Orange and married to Mary, James II’s eldest legitimate daughter. They were invited to become joint King and Queen of Britain when James II fled to France instead of waiting around to be deposed. James was catholic, but his daughters were not.
Mary II – she and her husband William III were actually cousins (his mother was Charles I’s daughter). The coronation chair used for their joint coronation is also on display in the Galleries. She died before her husband and he ruled on his own until his death.
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham – this was William Pitt the Elder and was Prime Minister twice. His effigy is quite lifelike and is clothed in Parliamentary robes and a wig. He looks like he is about to give a speech.
Horatio, Viscount Nelson – although he was buried in St Paul’s Cathedral instead of the Abbey, his effigy was purchased by the Abbey to be shown there as a counter attraction to his tomb in St Paul’s. The effigy shows the wrong eye as blind, but was otherwise thought to be a good likeness according to his mistress Lady Hamilton. The effigy was dressed in clothes that had belonged to Lord Nelson.

After I left the galleries, I had about a half hour before my Medieval Monastery tour, so I visited the WC and then took a seat in the area where I was supposed to meet up with the rest of the group and our guide to relax a bit before the 90-minute special tour began.

Next time – A full day at Westminster Abbey – Part 2 (a small group tour focusing on when the Abbey was a Medieval Monastery)

January 8, 2026

London Adventure: Special Night Tour of the Tower of London Plus the Ceremony of the Keys

On the way back to the hotel after visiting the Benjamin Franklin House, I stopped in at a grocers and bought a few items for dinner. We were supposed to meet at 8:15pm at the Starbucks across the road from the Tower of London. At 7:45pm, I took a cab from the taxi stand outside of the Charing Cross Railway Station.

The tour actually began at 8:30pm. We had fourteen people in the group. Our guide held the rank of Yeoman Clerk, which is a notch higher than a Yeoman Warder, but below a Yeoman Gaoler or the Chief Yeoman Warder. Yeoman Warders (nicknamed “Beefeaters”) are required to have at least 22 years of service in the British Armed Services; must have reached the level of Chief Warrant Officer or equivalent; and hold a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. There are female Warders as well as male among the 35 currently serving.

Each Yeoman Warder lives at the Tower along with their family. They act as historians and guides, as well as ceremonial guards and guardians of the Tower and the Crown Jewels. They were founded as part of the Royal Bodyguard in 1485 by Henry VII.

The Tower of London is officially His Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London and was founded towards the end of 1066. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was initially a resented symbol of oppression inflicted upon London by the new Norman ruling class. The castle was also a prison from 1100 (Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham) until 1952 (the Kray twins), although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence.

As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. The Tower has also served as an armory, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of England.

The tour began outside of the Tower. We walked to the river where we listened to the early history of the Tower. We also watched the Tower Bridge raise itself to allow a ship to pass through.

A couple days before VE Day in May of 2025 a special installation of poppies had been completed at the Tower to remain until Armistice Day in November of that year. It was called “The Tower Remembers” and consisted of nearly 30,000 ceramic poppies to commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the end of World War II.

We went to look at what later became known as Traitors Gate (built by Edward I as his water gate in the 1270s) so we could see what the poppies looked like there before we entered the Tower precincts. The current wharf did not exist then, so Saint Thomas’ Tower (just above the gate) looked out directly onto the Thames. This tower contained a large hall (for dining and entertaining) and a bedchamber.

Then we entered through the Court Gate in the Byward Tower. The Byward Tower was built by Edward I’s father, Henry III, earlier in the 1200s and reinforced in 1381 under Richard II following the Peasants Revolt. This was where Anne Boleyn had entered, first to wed Henry VIII (1533) and later to be executed (1536). The fourteen of us were the only visitors in the Tower at that point.

Once we entered, we walked along Water Lane to the other side of Traitors Gate to look at the poppies there and to hear more about that gate and where the river had originally flowed. There is a large iron ring on the wall of the gate of the Bloody Tower (just opposite of Traitors Gate). This is where boats would tie up many centuries ago. It was the original water gate entrance.

Originally called the Garden Tower, the Bloody Tower had been built in the 1220s. It was the story of the two young Princes in the Tower, in the 1400s, that lead to the change of its name. This was also the part of the Tower complex in which Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned for thirteen years during the reign of James I (1600s).

We entered the Inner Ward through the Bloody Tower gate and made our way to the Scaffold Site Memorial. The actual site of the scaffold has been determined to have been behind (north of) the White Tower and not in front of the Chapel of Saint Peter Vincula, where the memorial is located. There our guide talked about the handful of royal beheadings that took place within the Tower walls: Queens Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey, Margaret Pole (Countess of Salisbury), and Robert Devereax (Earl of Essex).

The remaining executions were mostly on Tower Hill, which is outside of the actual Tower. Although there were a few executions in more modern times (WWI and WWII) that took place within the walls of the Tower. These were firing squad executions.

Our guide then talked about a photo which another visitor took of the memorial. This photo supposedly caught the face of Anne Boleyn. He showed us where she had stood when she snapped the shot and showed us the photo. When he began to answer some questions from the group, I moved to the spot from where the photo was taken and took my own photo. It is included here and looks very much like hers did. What do you think?

From there, we walked to what is now thought to be the true location of the scaffold and chatted a while about both the White Tower and the Crown Jewels. On every other visit I have made to the Tower, I have always explored the White Tower. I believe I have only visited the Crown Jewels twice.

From here we could see the Martin Tower over in the northeastern corner of the complex. It was built during the reign of Henry III in the 1230s. It was originally known as the Jewel Tower as it was used to house the Crown Jewels and other royal treasures until the Jewel House (which was part of Westminster Palace) was built.

Over the years, the Martin Tower was used for various purposes, including as a records office, a private residence, a royal mint, and a storehouse for artillery. It was during the 16th century that the tower received its current name after a notorious prisoner named John Martin was held there.

In the centuries that followed, the Martin Tower continued to play an important role in the history of the Tower of London. During the reign of King Charles II in the 17th century, the tower was used as a prison for high-ranking prisoners, including the Duke of Monmouth, who was executed on Tower Hill in 1685.

At one point, torture devices were displayed in the Martin Tower. I remember seeing a replica of the rack there on one of my earlier visits. The current display of torture devices is now housed in the lower part of the Wakefield Tower.

Our guide pointed out where his own lodgings were located. They were in the building that used to be the Old Hospital Block. Originally built in 1718 as two houses to accommodate Ordinance Clerks, the houses were combined to create a hospital for the Tower garrison. During World War II a bomb destroyed the house on the left in the photo included here. It was rebuilt after the war. More recently both houses were reconfigured into flats for some of the more senior Yeoman Warders.

Heading back towards Traitors Gate, we passed the Lanthorn Tower. This tower was built as part of Henry III’s queen’s lodgings, but was gutted by fire in 1774. The present building is 19th century. Inside, a selection of real 13th-century objects illustrate the lifestyle of Henry III’s and Edward I’s courts. Edward I’s son Edward II (1307-27) stayed in this east side part of the castle when in residence at the Tower. The Lanthorn Tower was eventually adapted into the king’s chambers.

We passed by the area that had once been the Innermost Ward. But the Great Hall, which had formed a large portion of the Innermost Ward, and the rest of that part of the complex is long gone. The entrance to the White Tower is on the south side of that tower. That would have been within the Innermost Ward. We walked along what would have still been part of the Inner Ward to go through the Henry III water gate and back out to Water Lane in the Outer Ward.

To get back to Traitors Gate, where we were going to hang out to watch the Ceremony of the Keys, we headed along Water Lane towards the appropriately spooky looking Wakefield Tower. Oddly enough, it was the only photo I took with my mobile phone that was a bit fuzzy.

The Wakefield Tower was built by Henry III as royal lodgings between 1220 and 1240 and originally sat at the river’s edge. Henry was able to arrive by boat and enter his rooms from his private stairs.

The principal room was likely a private audience chamber. It now contains a replica throne and canopy, based on 13th-century examples. This features the Plantagenet lion – the symbol of the royal family.

The small chapel is associated with Henry VI who died in 1471 while a prisoner in the Tower during the Wars of the Roses. One side said he died of melancholy upon hearing his son had been killed in battle. His supporters said he was stabbed to death while praying there. Either way, with his death upstairs and the current display of torture devices downstairs, I would say the place has a right to its ghostly atmosphere.

We apparently had a little more time before about 40 other visitors and several other Yeoman Warders and a detail of guards would be joining us to witness or participate in the Ceremony of the Keys. So we were taken a bit further down the Water Lane to see where the Royal Mint was once housed. It was back near the Byward Tower on the appropriately named Mint Street. Then we walked back to Traitor’s Gate to take up the choice spots, just across from the gate of the Bloody Tower, before the others arrived.

Every night, for about 700 years or so, the Yeoman Warders have performed a gate-closing ritual known as the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. The ceremony begins at 9:52pm, when the Chief Yeoman Warder, dressed in red, appears from the Byward Tower, down by the river, and makes his way along Water Lane carrying a candle lantern in one hand and the King’s Keys in the other.

At Traitors Gate, he is joined by an armed guard of four men (which included our guide) and, together, they take a tour of the precincts, locking each of the gates that lead from the Tower. All guards and sentries on duty salute the King’s Keys as they pass.

The Escort to the Keys locks the Outer Gate and they walk back to lock the oak gates of the Middle and Byward Towers. They then return along Water Lane towards the Wakefield Tower where, in the deep shadows of the Bloody Tower archway, a sentry waits and watches.

As they pass through the Bloody Tower, they are challenged by the sentry there on duty who shouts “Halt. Who comes there?” “The keys”, comes the reply. “Whose keys?” “King Charles’ keys.” “Pass, King Charles’ keys. All’s well.”.

The Escort to the Keys proceeds through the Bloody Tower archway and up towards the broadwalk steps where the main Guard is drawn up. The Chief Yeoman Warder and escort halt at the foot of the steps and the officer in charge gives the command to the Guard and escort to present arms.

The Chief Yeoman Warder moves two paces forward, raises his Tudor bonnet high in the air and calls “God preserve King Charles.” The guard answers, “Amen”, exactly as the clock chimes 10pm and The Duty Drummer sounds The Last Post on his bugle.

The Chief Yeoman Warder takes the keys back to the King’s House and the Guard is dismissed.

The rest of the onlookers were escorted to another side gate in the complex and we were taken back to the Court Gate in the Byward Tower and left that way. Our Yeoman Clerk guide now had the lantern and keys with him so our little group could see them close up and even have our pictures taken with him and them. I enjoy the photo I have included here because he seems to be looking a bit askance at me like he might be concerned that I can’t be trusted and could possibly try to take the keys from him and run amok in the Tower.

Next time – A full day at Westminster Abbey

December 29, 2025

London Adventure: A Late Start & The Benjamin Franklin House

Since I didn’t get to sleep until about 5am, I didn’t get up until 1pm. Too late for the included breakfast. So went back to the café where I had lunch the day before for a brunch. Had Eggs Benedict, but with smoked salmon in place of the usual ham. Absolutely delicious.

Afterwards stopped off at the Ben Franklin House and found that I had missed the start of the current tour and the next (and last for the day) would be at 4:15pm. So went back to the hotel for a bit. The Ben Franklin House was on Craven Street, which was right next to the café and in between the café and my hotel.

Back at the hotel, I discovered that the legitimate Simply Red Facebook page (the one with over two million members) had published a photo from the OVO Arena Wembley concert with me in it and another from the O2 Arena marquee that I was credited as having taken.

The Benjamin Franklin House (at 36 Craven Street, just off the Strand and close to Trafalgar Square) was built about 1730 and is the last standing former residence of Ben Franklin. He lived and worked there from 1757 to 1774. When he left, he returned to Philadelphia to help with the Declaration of Independence and other issues having to do with the American Revolution. The house was restored and opened to the public in 2006.

During the excavation and restoration, the remains of ten people were discovered to have been buried in the basement. An episode of “Secrets of the Dead” on PBS was dedicated to this discovery. The skeletal remains were found to be about 200 years old, which meant that they would have been buried there while Franklin was in residence. It was also discovered that Franklin’s friend, William Hewson, was the person responsible for the bones. He lived in the house for two years. As an early anatomist, he worked in secret due to legal issues at that time related to dissecting certain cadavers (about half of them appear to have been children).

When I returned to the house, I was running a bit late, so the fellow who let me in had me join the tour and then pay him later. There were only four of us on the tour. The person who led the tour portrayed Polly Stevenson Hewson, daughter of Franklin’s landlady and wife of the fellow who was dissecting cadavers in the basement. She became a “second daughter” to Ben Franklin during his time there.

Parts of the house were still original, such as floorboards, ceilings and staircases. After the tour, when I went to pay for it, I told the guy that my Reynolds ancestors in Boston had owned the house where Ben Franklin had been born on Milk Street back in 1706. His father, Josiah had a total of seventeen children from two wives. Ben was number fifteen and was the tenth and last boy. He was baptized at the Old South Meeting House, which was across the street.

Robert Reynolds (my 10^th great grandfather) and his wife, Mary, arrived in Boston in 1630 on one of the Winthrop ships. They settled in the part of Boston that borders Milk Street to the north and Washington to the west. They are buried in the King’s Chapel Burying Ground. The land they owned included a stretch along Milk Street that included the house in which Benjamin Franklin was born. Robert’s grandson, Nathaniel owned the property at the time when he was born. Nathaniel’s son, John eventually moved to Marblehead, MA. This was where my American Revolution ship’s captain 6^th great grandfather, Nathaniel Reynolds, was born.

His son-in-law, Elisha Freeman, was also a ship’s captain and my 5^th great grandfather. My paternal grandmother’s maiden name was Freeman. The first of the Freeman family to arrive in what eventually became the U.S. did so in 1630. His name was Samuel Freeman (another 10^th great grandfather). He arrived in Salem.

The guy at the Benjamin Franklin House showed me the front door, which was original to the house and said that I could photograph it. He also let me hold the chain in my hand. Franklin would have held that same chain every night when he locked up the house.

Next time – The Tower of London at Night and the Ceremony of the Keys

December 22, 2025

London Adventure: Final Simply Red London Concert at OVO Arena Wembley

After eating the salad I had purchased on the way back to my hotel, I dressed for the concert. This time I wore a red sequined, cold shoulder top. This was the actual date of the release of Simply Red’s first album, Picture Book, back in 1985. I was also going to be sitting front row center. I was honoring that special date by dressing up and using the color red.

I took a cab from the Railway Station to the arena and went to the VIP entrance. I received my VIP Front Row Experience carry bag with a VIP lanyard, a drinks coaster, a poster, a program, a journal with a pen, and a Bluetooth speaker. As I was being taken to my seat, I encountered a woman who was wearing a red sequined jacket. She was at the end of the middle section in the first row.

Shortly after I sat down, I met Carine from Belgium. She was just a couple seats over to my left. She and the couple seated between us were lovely people and ready to have a great time. I was pretty much directly in front of the pieces of paper that Mick had taped to the floor. One was a set list. The other contained some prompts for what he wanted to say in between songs.

Carine had noticed Sarah Brown, one of the band’s former backup singers (from 1995 to 2008) going to her seat to our right and up at the side of stage. She pointed her out to me. I was very glad that she had a few days later when someone in the fan group saw that same woman walking down the stairs to head backstage during a video of “Something Got Me Started” (the first of the three encore songs) and was certain that she was someone else entirely. But I was able to say that I was there and saw Sarah myself.

During Soul II Soul’s set (which was much more fun up close) we found that the security at the arena was putting their priority on the people who were walking back and forth in front of us to get more drinks. Once the Simply Red set began and several of us stood up and moved forward to the barricade so we could clearly see the band without anyone getting in our way, we were told to sit down. That was when a few of us got a bit rebellious.

We had gotten the most expensive seats in the place with the idea that nobody could get in front of us and ruin our view of the stage. Carine and I both thought it was ridiculous and we weren’t going to take it sitting down. A woman on the other side of me was worried they might throw us out if we didn’t remain seated, but I said that the more of us that stood the better. There would be too many of us to threaten. So, since I knew that “Money’s Too Tight (to Mention)” would be the next song, I said something to Carine and to the women on my other side. As soon as the first notes were played, we were on our feet. Carine and I motioned to everyone around us to stand and they did. Most of us stayed on our feet for pretty much the rest of the show. I only sat down a couple of times when my back complained loudly.

At one point, when Mick was explaining how the song “Enough”, which was co-written with Joe Sample, came about, a man could be heard talking quite loudly far down to my right (which would have been stage left to the band). Mick stopped talking and looked in the man’s direction. The man quieted down for a moment until Mick began to speak again. This time Mick walked over to where the man was sitting and looked directly at him. Since the guy didn’t seem to get the message, Mick bent over and pointed at him, telling him to shut up. He followed that up by returning to where he had been standing before he was so rudely interrupted and apologizing to the audience, explaining that he needed to be able to concentrate on what he was saying. He then continued his story and sang the song.

The next day, the press and some social media said that he had gone on a “shocking rant”. They were blowing it entirely out of proportion. Nothing shocking. No rant. Just a performer telling a disrespectful member of the audience to “shut it”, so he could continue the show.

The remainder of the concert went along with no further interference from noisy or drunk audience members or security threatening to remove anyone from the front row. The band put in another stellar performance throughout and received an ovation from a standing and cheering crowd at the end of the final song of the main set – “Fairground”. Then another at the end of the final song of the encore – “Holding Back the Years”. And Mick did this entire show while dealing with an eye infection.

After the show, some more people came up to me and asked if I was Trisha. There were also people stopping me to comment on my sparkling red sequins.

The Simply Red Facebook page (with two million followers) published five photos a couple days later. The second photo showed Mick singing onstage near where I was standing. I could also be seen. Photo number five was of the marquee at the O2 Arena and I was credited as the photographer. Both photos really tickled me. I will share both of these photos in my next post.

The day after the concert someone else in the audience posted a video on YouTube of the band performing “You Make Me Feel Brand New”. Mick was standing for the entire song near where I can clearly be seen standing and singing along directly in what was his sight line. The fella filming it kept me in the frame most of the time. Then the couple to my left, between me and Carine, stood up. It was harder to see me then, but my ponytail was still frequently visible. I have included a screenshot that I took from that video here.

Next time – A late start and the Ben Franklin House

December 9, 2025

London Adventure: A Change of Hotels, Touring the Houses of Parliament & A Massive Protest

Although I had a late night, I needed to get up, have breakfast and check out of the hotel. The restaurant was the most crowded I had yet seen, but I had the whole process down plus I was seated near the food. I made my way through the buffet and got back to my room relatively easily (though it took a while to get my tea).

Since I am a member of the Intercontinental Hotels Group Rewards program, I was able to check out at a different desk which only had one person ahead of me. Arrangements had been made ahead of time for my transport into central London to my second hotel. I was tickled to see that the car was ready and waiting for me. So far, so good.

An enormous protest was going on in central London with regards to the situation in Gaza. Whitehall was completely blocked off from all traffic and Trafalgar Square was also blocked. I could hear the crowds in the square as we neared the hotel, which was the Clermont Charing Cross on the Strand. This street was about to be blocked off too, so we made it to the hotel just in time.

The room was not yet ready (it was only 11:30am), so I checked my luggage, gave them my cell phone number so they could text me when it was ready, and headed out to explore a bit. Although I have stayed at this hotel several times before, I had never explored the train station to which it was attached.

The Charing Cross railway station first opened in 1864 with the hotel opening the following year. One of the hotel’s guests back in the day, was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame. He set the meeting between Holmes and his soon to be new client at Baskerville Hall at the hotel restaurant.

My first venture to this hotel was during the Gulf War in 1991. I had traveled to the UK with my mom and we were staying at another hotel nearby. The Gulf War had begun while we were on the flight over to London and ended while we were in York a few weeks later. My entire memory of that blessedly short war is from the British viewpoint.

A few days into our time in London during that trip, we went to high tea at the Charing Cross hotel (it had just become the Clermont shortly before I stayed there in 2023 and had been the Amba Charing Cross when I had last been there in 2017). Although I had done cream teas before, this was my first full blown high tea and it was mighty elegant.

Charing Cross has been considered to be the center of London and the point from which all distances from London are measured. Historically the name came from a hamlet called Charing, which means “riverbend” along with the Eleanor cross that had once been there. The original cross was erected in 1294. It was the largest and most ornate of the crosses built by King Edward I in honor of his deceased wife, Eleanor. The crosses were constructed from Lincoln to Westminster along the route of Eleanor’s funeral procession at each location where the procession rested. The cross that currently stands just outside of the hotel and railway station is a reconstruction built in 1884 to replace the one destroyed by Cromwell and his troops in 1647.

The Charing Cross Railway station has some places to eat, a grocers, a chemist, and some other shops inside. There is also a taxi stand right outside which is quite handy for grabbing a cab fairly quickly (depending upon how long the line might be). I planned to get one there that night to get to the OVO Arena Wembley for my third night of concerts.

I decided it would be a good idea to have some lunch before my tour at Parliament began, especially since I would need to walk from the hotel to Parliament. So I headed out to see what looked like a good place for lunch nearby. It didn’t take long to discover the Café Concerto. The menu looked varied and the prices reasonable for London these days. I went in and ordered a BLT with some strawberry lemonade. While there, I received a text from the hotel that my room was ready. Great timing!

I got back to the hotel and checked into my now upgraded room. It was a Deluxe King which was larger and had a sofa as well as an armchair. Best of all, it included a free mini bar that was stocked daily. I collected my cases and headed up and over to the room. It was in the Buckingham Wing, which was on the other side of the road via a little enclosed bridge over the road (Villiers Street).

That part of London had once been the location of property owned by the Villiers family, which were the Dukes of Buckingham. It was sort of confusing that I needed to take the lift from the ground floor to the first floor in the main part of the hotel, then, once I crossed over the little bridge, the floor on the other side was the third floor. I needed to take another lift there down to the second floor to get to my room. The hallway floors were a tad creaky in the Buckingham Wing. I had the feeling that the building was older than the main part of the hotel. I happen to like the charm of older buildings, so I was quite pleased. Plus it was pretty quiet. Good for sleeping.

On my way too and from the Palace of Westminster (as the Houses of Parliament are called), I had to navigate my way through some pretty large crowds. But I made it to the Cromwell Green Visitor Entrance in plenty of time. We were supposed to be there 20 minutes ahead of the tour to go through security. I boosted myself up onto a relatively low barricade normally used to keep vehicles from trying to crash through and sat with a lovely British couple while we waited to get in. After getting through security and gathering inside of Westminster Hall, we were a small group of fourteen people.

It is thought that King Cnute had a palace on the land where Parliament now stands during his reign from 1016 to 1035. Edward the Confessor built a palace on that location at the same time he built the first version of Westminster Abbey (roughly 1045 to 1050).

The Palace of Westminster was originally built as a royal palace in the eleventh century. A fire destroyed the royal apartments in 1512, after which the king, Henry VIII, moved to the Palace of Whitehall, which he took from Cardinal Wolsey.

Parliament had begun meeting at Westminster in the 13^th century and continued to do so. A much larger fire destroyed the majority of the palace in 1834. Only the 12^th century Westminster Hall was saved and included as part of the building that now stands.

During World War II, the palace was hit by bombs repeatedly — fourteen different times in all. The worst air raid killed three people and destroyed the House of Commons Chamber. Both that room and Westminster Hall had been set on fire and, since they knew they couldn’t save them both, Westminster Hall was where they put their efforts.

There are three main towers in the palace: the Victoria Tower, which has the Sovereign’s Entrance, which the Monarch uses whenever they come to the palace; the Elizabeth Tower, which is where the enormous bell, Big Ben, resides; and the Central Tower, which stands over the Central Lobby.

The building was planned around the Central Lobby, which is the meeting point for all of the corridors leading to the over 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases, and three miles of passageways, which are spread over four floors. We began our tour in Westminster Hall.

At the time it was built, Westminster Hall was the largest hall in Europe. The hammerbeam roof was built for King Richard II in 1393 and is the largest medieval roof of its kind in England. Westminster Hall has been the site of many trials and lying-in-states over the centuries. The most recent lying-in-state was Queen Elizabeth II.

The hall was where William Wallace (who actually was never called “Braveheart”; that was Robert the Bruce’s nickname) was tried for treason in 1305. It was also where Sir Thomas More was condemned to death back in 1535, mostly because he wouldn’t recognize Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church. Guy Fawkes and his fellow Gunpowder plotters were tried for attempting to blow up Parliament in 1606. King Charles I, in 1649, was the only reigning monarch ever tried and condemned to death in Britain.

Westminster Hall and St Stephen’s Hall were the only places where we were allowed to take photos. St Stephen’s Hall stands on the site of the royal Chapel of St Stephen’s, which was destroyed in the fire of 1834 and where the House of Commons met until that time.

We weren’t able to visit the King’s Robing Room in the Royal Apartments, but we were able to see the Royal Gallery, the Norman Porch, and the Prince’s Chambers. The Lords Chamber, the Peer’s Lobby (an antechamber where matters can be discussed and messages delivered), the Peer’s Corridor, as well as a few smaller areas within the precincts of the House of Lords (using the main color red) were next. After that, we went across to the precincts of the House of Commons (mainly green) via the Central Lobby and the Common’s Corridor to visit the Member’s Lobby and the Commons Chamber. We could see the dents on the door where the representative of the Monarch (Black Rod) bangs with their staff on the door at the State Opening of Parliament each year when asking the MPs to attend in the House of Lords to hear the Monarch’s speech.

After roughly 90 minutes, we went back through St Stephen’s Hall and Westminster Hall to leave the building. Then it was a matter of weaving in and out of all of the protestors on my way back to my hotel. I stopped in at the grocers in Charing Cross Railway Station for something to eat for dinner on the way.

Next time – the Simply Red Concert at the OVO Arena Wembley