Tower of London

Pictures: 1) Dad and me with the Tower of London behind us, 2) Standing next to the Beefeater with the exectuion green behind us, 3) the White Tower, 4) Mom and me with Tower Bridge behind us, 5) Tower Bridge, 6) standing with St. Paul's behind me, 7) the daffodils







Mom has caught a cold (I don't think it's mine because mine was worse and she got it too fast for it to be mine) - however, because of this it took us a while to get out this morning. We finally decided to go to the Tower of London. When we got there we had to stand in Disney-worthy lines to buy tickets (which were £17 for adults and £14.50 for students). Once we finally got our tickets we had a quick lunch at EAT and then went to the tour. We fell into a tour given by one of the yeomen warders (familiarly known as Beefeaters).

Our Beefeater was very good and funny and we could understand everything he said despite the fact that the group was about 100 people large! He told us about some of the gruesome deaths that took place in and near the Tower of London. Only very important people (or people whose deaths may be publicly sensitive like women) actually got beheaded on the tower grounds (including 2 of King Henry VIII's wives: Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard). Many others were held in the tower until their public executions on Tower Hill (nearby). If the executioner was inexperienced or didn't like you it could take many blows of the axe to actually sever the head. After it was detached, the head was held up to the crown and then sent on a spike to London Bridge where it was displayed for all to see. The bodies of all these people were buried in an unmarked grave on the Tower grounds. If your treason was particularly offensive you could be drawn and quartered...I'm not going to describe that one, but trust me, it's bad.

One of the famous legends of the Tower is that of the Little Princes. Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York. Because Edward was only thirteen years old when his father (King Edward IV) died, and a minor, his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was entrusted as Protector of his young nephews. They were living in what is now known as the Bloody Tower. After two months, they both disappeared never to be seen again. Richard was declared King.






In 1674 two skeletons were discovered in the White Tower under the stairs leading to the chapel. They were identified as the boys. The skeletons were subsequently reburied in Westminster Abbey.




The crown jewels are also kept in the Jewel Tower of the Tower of London. One of these is the largest cut diamond in the world, the Great Star of Africa, weighing in at 530.2 carats. I remember really loving that exhibit last time I was in London; however, the line to get into that tower pretty much wrapped around the entire interior of the place! It was a real bummer not to get to go in there after paying so much money.

We did see the inside of the White Tower which was built in 1078 by William the Conqueror and now houses an impressive collection of Henry VIII's armor and swards/bows/lances etc. Brett would have loved it! When Henry first became King he was a good looking, athletic man of 6'1". However, intaking about 10,000 calories a day catches up with you when you sustain a bad leg injury and have to stop hunting/jousting/playing sports etc.



After we left the Tower of London we walked across Tower Bridge and then up the South Bank of the Thames where we bought soft serve ice cream and boiled, candied peanuts. This staved off our hunger until we made it to my side of town for burritos at Benito's Hat. I am still full and it's been hours since then. lol

Tomorrow I think we'll spend a little time in the National Gallery before I have class at 3 and then Mom and Dad will probably go to the British Museum while I'm in class.