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The names come to me in my sleep. Unbidden. Relentless. Remorseless. And the visions the names conjur up are all the things the names imply - romantic, intimidating, eloquent, frightening, terrible, bloody, angelic, pastoral and religious. To give a name to but a few of the things they imply. The names are old. So very dead. But they have a life of their own. Something that I would wish for myself if I had but one wish to claim. The talent to live among the names. For their names are ART. And I have found their Art. And I am hooked.
Okay, enough of the wishful thinking. On to the Tower of Lundinium.
The Tower of London, or at least parts and pieces of it, goes all the way back to Roman times. The 'modern' Tower, however, really begins with William the Conqueror in 1066. Many of the castles in this part of England were built or improved at this time (or shortly thereafter) as William built the Tower, and then a series of castles within a days march, in order to solidify his hold on his newly conquered country. (Windsor Castle is one of those 'days march' castles.)
The first two shots are taken from a slightly elevated vantage point across the road from the Tower complex - looking slightly left and then slightly right.
The "UNDERGROUND" sign is how the English refer to a pedestrian subway. This one goes under the road and leads to the entrance to the Tower.
They say (Who are they, anyway?) that when you visit the Tower, you MUST see the Traitor's Gate. So ... here's the Traitor's Gate. There was a time, if you were a bad guy (or girl), and had been sent to the Tower, this was how you entered the Tower. In a boat, from the river, through this gate. When the London sewers were built in the 1860's, an embankment was built along the Thames that sealed of the Tower from the river. Which is a whole post all by itself. The sewers, that is.
Next is the obligatory picture of the tourist with the Beefeater. The relatively skinny Beefeater, at that. Of course, that's a pretty skinny tourist - so they're even.
And, last but not least, the entrance to the building within the Tower complex that contains the Crown Jewels. Once again, no pictures could be taken. Phooey. That s**t was some SERIOUS bling. Serious.
Tomorrow, inside the Tower, itself. But for now, there is a new update to the painting in progress here.
8 comments:
Booooooo no crown jewel pics :( I love bling.
Very nice 100 word challenge. I love reading this side of you :)
Sandy: That bling is imprinted on my mind forever. Too bad I can't do a core dump to a printer. And think you for the kind words about my Words.
Sandy: You DO know I meant 'THANK', right?
I want bling too :)
And yes, I want that camera that is already built in your glasses and that thing in your brain that transforms thoughts right to your blog ;)
I didn't know that the Tower goes back to Roman times.
I learn something new here every day - thanks :D!
The Traitor's Gate scares me.
When you said the crown jewels are imprinted on your mind forever, it made me think "Hey, I've seen the crown jewels of Scotland... and I can't remember anything about them! They must not be that memorable." So I googled and found them both and I was right, they weren't that memorable. Poor Scots... always got the shaft.
"The talent to live among the names"...sigh. I so know what you mean. Not so much to live on, but just to have the talent, to be able to share it. Right?
Nicole: I wish I could share these experiences with everbody, not just the memory. I really do.
hyphen mama: There's a whole 'nuther post in there, someplace, about the English as conquerors, rulers, etc.
Velvet Verbosity: Yes. The talent. If the talent is there, the name will take care of itself.
I love history first thing in the morning. Just like my coffee. :)
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