History Hound Travels

Historically speaking, maternity clothes are quite a new thing. I attempted to search wiki this morning to find out exactly how new, but there isn’t an article on “maternity clothing”. They did invite me to write one at that point, but as much as I love history, fashion and even pregnancy, I am not quite ready to merge the three into a wiki article. Sorry. Therefore my mission to compare today’s Noppies maternity clothes with historical maternity clothing using wiki as a resource was thwarted. Man, I hate to be thwarted. Because I really wanted to use this cool picture.

Oops. I think I just used the picture. Do you see a picture? Just pretend it’s not there. Anyway, for most of recorded history, clothing was loose enough that maternity clothing was not even an issue, and it has only been since clothing became more form fitting (mostly in this century) that maternity clothes have been necessary. In fact, some societies (the Amish come to mind) do not use maternity clothing at all for that same reason.

We’ll be staying in London again today, visiting the Tower. You didn’t all check out of your cheap hotels did you? Listen, good hotels in London are dear. You need to keep that room until I say let’s go! Ok, back to the Tower of London. The photo shows what is known as the Traitor’s Gate, and this is the entrance most often used by those who were to be held prisoner. It is only accessible by water. Anne Boleyn, her daughter Elizabeth, her successor Catherine Howard and Sir Thomas More all entered the Tower this way, and only Elizabeth came out with her life.

The first tower prisoner was Ranulf Flambard in 1100 and the last prisoners were the Kray twins in 1952. And doubtless the Tower is the most famous execution site in the world. Many nobles were executed there, both inside and outside the Tower complex, and several are buried in the chapel by the Green.

The Tower was used as a royal residence from the time of William the Conqueror until Cromwell had the palatial buildings destroyed. Currently, the Crown Jewels are the main occupants.

Photo by Viki Male

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.

Photo by Diliff

I have written about Paris before, specifically about the Axe Historique and I thought I might write a bit more about one of the attractions I mentioned then, the Jardin des Tuileries.

The palace of Tuileries was built in the 1560s, commissioned by Catherine de’ Medicis after the death of Henry II. Louis XIV lived there for convenience (while Versailles was being built) before the French Revolution and under house arrest from 1789 to 1792. The National Constituent Assembly met there as well as the Jacobin Club du Manège. Napoleon resided there and in 1808, he began construction on the north gallery of the palace, which joined the Louvre, just as the southeast corner had done since the 1600s. This was not completed until the Second Empire under Napoleon III. However, in 1871, the palace was burned to the ground by members of the Paris Commune, and the ruins were demolished in 1883. Three centuries in planning and execution, 12 years in destruction. The large open space is now home to the 63 acre Jardin des Tuileries. The gardens still follow the design of the architect who designed them in the 1660s.

Of course, when you visit, you’ll need to be looking for cheap hotels and Hotel Club has great deals on hotels in Paris.

So, I’m going to Vegas. Did I mention I am going to Vegas? Well, I am. I’m going to Vegas next month, in fact. Me. In Vegas. So, I asked my uncle for recommendations of what was not to be missed, and he recommended a few Las Vegas Hotels to me.

I told him I was staying at the Imperial Palace, so I was already going to see that, and I’d be close to the monorail. Apparently most if the hotels in Vegas have built in attractions, because he said I should see Harrah’s, the Frontier Hotel (to eat at Hugo’s), the lobby of Caesar’s Palace (because it looks like it’s outside), the Bellagio (for the jet pond), and Circus,Circus. He also recommended the Space Needle.

I am really excited about this trip, because it’s been about 5 years since I have been more than an hour from home. And did I say Vegas?