Big Ben
Tuesday, October 9th, 2007
Leaving Paris, let’s travel on to London. We can cross the channel by boat, or drive the chunnel. Either way, we’ll have to stop at one of the fine hotels in London to drop off our things. Assuming you are traveling with more that a backpack. I am. I have a couple of sizable suitcases. I hope you checked ahead to find cheap hotels, because it is practically blasphemous to over spend on lodging. Spend your money on fun, not sleep, ykwim? Where was I? Oh yes, the title tells me we were headed to see Big Ben.
Big Ben is much more than a clock. In fact, Big Ben isn’t a clock at all. It’s actually the name of the bell that lives in the tower. Did I just say “lives”? As if the bell were an animate object?? I think I did. Well, it’s over 150 years old, it eserves a bit of respect, don’t you think? In fact, the bell that’s in there now is a replacement bell. The first one cracked and the one in the tower today is cast from the same metal, albeit a little smaller.
The bell is not the only part of the tower that has an interesting history, of course. You can read more about it at wiki.
