Monumental Tourist Warning For London
On Monday morning I was on the amazing Houses of Parliament tour, which in my humble wee opinion is as good as it gets as far as tours in London are concerned. And not only was it a wonderful tour, it was 100% free. If you get the opportunity to do this tour, do it.
My special permit to tour the Houses of Parliament also included a free visit to the Jewel tower, which is located a stones throw away. I have admired this ancient looking tower on numerous occasions from the outside and had often considered paying it a visit. But for one reason or another I had never went inside.
The Jewel Tower was built around 1365, so it is fairly old! It is actually one of only two buildings from the original medieval Palace of Westminster to survive the great fire of 1834. The other being Westminster Hall. This building looks ancient from the outside and I suppose it gives you an indication as to how vastly different the original Westminster Palace looked in comparison to the Gothic masterpiece that now exists in its place.
I entered the Jewel Tower with high expectations that it would be something special. How could a building that looks so ancient from the outside, not be worth entering. How wrong could I be, this place isn’t even worth visiting for free. Thank god I never wasted my money on this tour because I would have been extremely pissed.
I walked up the old winding stone steps of the Jewel Tower and entered the first room. I was ready to be enthralled by the exhibition they have called Parliament: Past and Present, an account of Parliaments history and its workings today. All in all I found it a bit of a bore.
The Jewel Tower in London is nothing more than a couple of exhibits and story boards in a couple of rooms on two floors. There is the potential to do so much more with this place. I feel English Heritage, which mostly does an amazing job, needs to come up with something more interesting and creative than this rubbish.
On my way out I bought a bottle of botanically brewed Victorian Lemonade and a caramel shortbread, then sat myself down on a seat outside the Jewel Tower to enjoy the view and the spring sunshine. I don’t know what botanically brewed means but that lemonade tasted amazing and the shortbread wasn’t too bad either and for only £2.50 it was a bargain.
I may not visit the Jewel Tower again, that is unless they do something better with it, but I will be back again to enjoy the Victorian Lemonade, shortbread and the view from outside the next time I’m out and about in central London.
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One Response to “Monumental Tourist Warning For London”
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Wow, 1365? That is pretty ancient! Pity it sucked though…