My first day in London: Tower of London, Beefeater, Tower Bridge

My first stop was the Tower of London. I walked up and out of the tube station (Tower Hill stop) and there it was: This medieval, walled city surrounded by modern day London and bordered by the Thames.

There is plenty to see here: The White Tower, The Crown Jewels, The Ravens, Medieval Palace, etc. They also have an armory, "The Royal Armories", which has a separate admission. I had no idea until I was getting ready to leave. I had been up for almost 24 hours and had not eaten since breakfast. I just couldn't go on without some grub. If anyone has been to the armory, I'd like to hear what I missed and what you liked about it.

Also, don't forget to take a tour with one of the Beefeaters! You pay a bit extra for a tour at the time of admission. They know the history of the tower like the back of their hand and they are pretty entertaining too!

This is my room?

I booked this room before I left for London because it was only 44 pounds a night. Do NOT stay at the Amhurst Hotel. Not only is it a good 30-40 minute tube ride from the main part of London (say Covent Gardens) plus a 10 minute bus ride, it was dumpy, and the safety of the neighborhood was questionable. Luckily I had only booked 3 nights there as I was moving on to Glastonbury.

I can deal with using a communal privy and shower (that was relatively clean except for the hairy tub incident) but when you give me a blanket that has the consistency of sandpaper and is coated with coarse dark hairs of some sort and questionable brown stains, we got problems...
I got a "cleaner" blanket from the guy who I paid who looked at me like I was insane when I asked for a new one. Maybe I am slightly nuts but I slept in my clothes every night just to be sure I wouldn't get any weird rashes!

If you need to book a room in advance, my advice is to be thorough in researching where you stay. I've read mixed reviews on this place and the pics do not match up with my room. Frankly, I would have been happier in a tent!

My Adventures in England

My very first solo trip ever was to England in March 2007. To share and commemorate the 2 year anniversary of my trip, I will post tidbits from my journey through the end of March.

I was fascinated with England since I was a kid. From Stonehenge to tales of King Arthur to Shakespeare and the Renaissance, I was hooked on the mystery of what was "across the pond".

So with a proverbial "kick in the rear" from a very close friend, I purchased a plane ticket and that was that! With less than three months to plan, I was a bit uncertain with what my sudden burst of spontaneity had gotten me into. But there was no turning back now...

My same friend, after spending several months there, advised me on places to see in London. This was extremely helpful. Planning any trip overseas takes a lot of time. Oddly though, everything seemed to fall into place. Other than London, I new I wanted to go to Glastonbury, Stonehenge, and see some coastline.

I also planned on going to Cornwall which I had to abandon after I got there. I discovered it was a trip on it's own and 10 days was not enough. I then adopted the "wing it" approach. Which I would not suggest doing during tourist season. It was March after all so I figured I could get away with it and luckily...I did!

Dragonfly

I made this dragonfly in a children's book illustration class. This piece was made from carving out a linoleum block and can be classified as block printing. Blocks come in various sizes and are carved out using sharp Speedball tips. The tips come in round or v-shaped sizes. Once your image is carved, you roll out the ink with a brayer and press on to paper. For more step by step info, check out http://www.ehow.com/how_11981_carve-linoleum-block.html.