This morning I said my farewells to Les and Chateau Fruitbat, before lugging my gear over to Earlsfield. Thankfully the "kindness of strangers" was in full force as two separate people helped me haul my luggage along two different stairways. It was very much appreciated because the stairs here are hefty enough even without luggage. I found Leanne and Greg's place and Leanne let me in for a cup of tea while she finished a work teleconference. Soon afterwards we both set off to the trains - her going to work and me heading out Canada Water way in search of a good shop I'd heard of.
Alas I didn't find that particular shop but I did find somewhere selling jerk chicken so I finally got to taste the glory of jerk chicken. Apparently Jason Bootle (Les' friend who was also in Abdoujaparov and Who's The Daddy Now? for a while) is a big fan of the jerk chicken and Les reckons that's actually why Jason initially stayed in London as long as he did. I got it with the sauce, hoping or assuming it would be some kind of caribbean hot sauce, but even though it was just tomato sauce it wasn't enough to drown out the tasty spices of the jerk chicken which left a pleasant spicy taste in the mouth even once the chicken was all in the belly. Incidentally, Canada Water is also the name of a song by The French (a post-Hefner band) so I've had that song jangling around my had for much of the day. It's also not far from New Cross, which is referenced in Carter USM's biggest hit, The Only Living Boy In New Cross, but I thought it would be a little eccentric to go there for that reason alone.
Moving on then via the tube to the Tower of London, which was one destination that Anna had recommended to me despite the price. Just as I was arriving a guided tour was just kicking off so I quickly got on board with that and enjoyed the tales of decapitations, blood, gore and more decapitation told by this beefeater here. Part tour guide, part actor, part comedian, he was totally genius and made the guided section of the tour a real treat. 
He had a large audience of visitors who followed him around as he told his tales of yore. Most people are really big on stories - learn through stories, enjoy telling stories... oddly enough, despite the fact I'm writing this blog I don't really consider myself to be amongst that group of people. I don't like TV, movies, any books devoid of scientific (or sci-fi) or Buddhist content. However, there was one story I quite liked. I warn you though, I'm no story teller...
In this here circular tower there was a Scottish man who had been sentenced to death for some crime. His wife was horrified by this and wanted to save her husband so she set off down from Scotland, via coach until she could travel no further on account of heavy storms. She switched to horse and travelled the rest of the way before arriving in London, seeing the king, and presenting a case asking for clemency for her husband. The king would not release the Scotsman, but allowed him to have guests on the day before his execution. She went there with a whole lot of women, and those women kept coming and going from the tower so often that the guard at the gate could no longer keep track of how many women were in there. One of the "women" coming out was in fact the Scotsman himself, disguised as a woman. Not a bad effort really because he was over six foot tall and had a long ginger beard. Seeing that her husband had escaped with the other women, the wife went to the guard and said that her husband was really upset about his upcoming execution and she asked for the guard to give him some time alone. Once the room was checked, it was empty and the Scotsman had gotten away "Scot free"... and that is apparently how the expression came about.
The tour-guide took us to a few locations and then we were left to our own devices to check out the remaining portions of the Tower of London compound. There was a lot of old Royal regalia including old crowns, weapons, jewels, diamond replicas, gowns, armour, gunpowder barrels and so on... all very interesting. Getting around was a little confusing though because you can't just go in through any entrance, you have to go through specific entrances to these buildings, but after a few "No entry" setbacks I started working out how it all works. Lots of steps, so many steps! This city certainly keeps you fit. Well, you get plenty of exercise even if the affordable food isn't always the healthiest.
Here's a statue of a lion that I took for Anna - she'll know why. After the Tower of London experience and feeling like money was falling out of my pockets, I went over for a good cheap meal... the Subway sub-of-the-day done as a wrap and loaded with all the salads. A tasty, healthy feed for £2. From there I came back to Earsfield, did a little scout around the main street to see what interesting shops there were and then back to the house. I was the first one back to the house so found it a good opportunity to load the pictures etc. Leanne came home and we had a bit of a chat before she set off for netball practice. She's going to give me a call later and then we'll meet over at her local pub for a brew or two. In the meantime, I'm just listening to the Soho Dolls CD I bought in Greenwich which sounds like it was well worth £9 and in half an hours time I'll be tuning into Phoenix FM to catch Les' radio show.
1 comment:
There was a bit of pressure on me during todays Blog. I hope you enjoyed the Tower and was worth the expense.
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