The Poppies at The Tower of London - finally

Everyone knows about the wonderful poppies at the Tower of London; yours truly really wanted to see them and, indeed, to buy one, but I was late to the game on both counts. London is a bit of a trek from where we live (2.5hrs on the train to Waterloo and at least that in the car, not including congestion...), not to mention a pricey trip whichever way you choose to travel, but when dearest hubby said he had to go to the Big Smoke for work one day and suggested I tag along, I decided to go for it. Granny was brought in to collect DC from school and put him to bed, so we didn't have to rush back (a 5-hour round-trip on the train doesn't make a quick trip to London particularly feasible.)

So, off we jolly well went. Hubby and I parted ways at Waterloo and I caught the tube along to London Bridge station. Popped out, crossed the road and there I was besides the mighty Thames. It was a lovely day, bright, sunny and crisp; perfect for wandering and taking in the sights.

I felt quite the tourist taking all these snaps.

Up over Tower Bridge

And finally, what I'd come to see.

These were all the poppies that were left in the main moat (the one that was most shown on TV/in photos) as the volunteers had made a cracking job of clearing them. And it was very difficult to take a decent photo due to the height of the wall that runs along the pavement on this side.

But it was a different matter around the other side of the Tower; this is the moat on the side facing the river.

Here's the 'wave' section

I'm so glad that I finally made the effort to see the poppies before they were all removed. It was a wonderful sight, very poignant and actually incredibly hard to comprehend when you actually stopped to think that every poppy represented a life lost - poppies as far as the eye could see, too many to count.

And then I came back down to earth with a trip to Oxford Street. It's almost as if they knew I was coming!