Sent to the Tower

I lived in London for 7 years but it's taken 22 years since I left before I returned to visit one of its most famous sights.
It was a cold grey drizzly day so I didn't take many photographs.  Here are the best of the ones I did.

The Queen's House and The The Shard.

I love the juxtaposition of the the ancient and the modern.

I am relieved to report that the kingdom and the tower are still safe.

The Royal Chapel and The Gherkin.

It's that ancient and modern theme again!

One of the many examples of graffito in the Beauchamp Tower.

The infamous Traitor's Gate.

A detail from the Medieval Palace wall.

I like a nice brick wall!

A troupe of baboons, harking back to the menagerie once housed within these walls, with the iconic White Tower in the background.

The White Tower and The Shard.

Sorry, this is the last one in this theme.

But I do love Piano's skyscraper.

The first thing we did was go on a Yeoman Warder's tour.

He was in his everyday uniform which is not nearly as ornate as the ceremonial one, so I had to make do with this poster.

Top tips when visiting the Tower:

• Book your tickets online.  It's an expensive day out so every pound off counts.
• Take a picnic lunch.  Three (small) bowls of soup. three slices of bread and two soft drinks cost us approximately £18.  We would have taken a picnic or bought sandwiches on the the way but the forecast was for rain - and it wasn't wrong!
• If you want to see the Crown Jewels (and they are very impressive, even although I don't care very much for that sort of thing) don't spend hours queueing.  Just wait until an hour before closing and walk straight in!
• Allow yourself as much time as possible.  We spent five and half hours there and still didn't see everything.

It was a long day but well worth the time and effort.