Raven at the Tower of London

Mr hazelh and I have had an action-packed day in London. It started at the Tower of London, which I have never visited before. First of all we took a guided tour of the main attractions which was led by an ex-army sergeant major yeoman with a VERY LOUD voice. Then we visited the crown jewels (extremely impressive bling), the six ravens (one blipped), some of the medieval apartments, and the Bloody Tower. By this time we were rather cold and had a pressing lunchtime engagement, so we left the tower with a plan to return in the future and visit the parts that we missed out today.

Our lunch date was a blipmeet. It was lovely to see KJD in person for the first time having known each other virtually for six or seven years. We chatted like old friends. It was lovely.

Then we braved the cold again to walk to the Tate Modern to meet our university pal Jerry, his wife Breda, Jerry's sister Linda, and Linda's son Sam. Not long after we gathered in the members' café a 'stranger' approached us. It was obvious that he knew our identity but we didn't recognise him straightaway. It was Giles, another friend from our undergraduate days. We hadn't seen him since 1986 so he did well to spot the three of us!

Then it was time to wander through the galleries of the Tate Modern, although I admit that we were all so busy catching up with one another that we were not the most attentive of visitors.

We ended our afternoon in the members' bar of the gallery with a fabulous view of the Thames and St Paul's catherdral, as seen in my extra.

The next stop was Swiss Cottage for supper. Paddy and Caitlin then joined  us to cross the road to the theatre at the Royal Central College of Speech and Drama. There our party of eight (and the rest of the packed house) watched my godson Fionn (and his other talented friends) perform in one of his final year musicals.

It was almost midnight by the time we returned to Paddy and Caitlin's flat. What an exhausting, but wonderful day!

Exercise today: walking (18,007 steps).