Tower of London

Sept. 14

 

Today we went to the Tower of London. Which is more like a multitude of towers of London, but I guess Tower of London has a better ring, and at some point way back when, there was only one tower.

 

                     Tower of London from outside.                                      Tower of London inside 1st defense system (left),

                                                                                                                      outside second defence system (right).

 

The Tower of London used to be a residence for Royalty, but like Buckingham Palace there is no Royalty currently living there. But what is housed there are the Crown Jewels.  

 

 

Like many of the Royal things, you can not take pictures of the Crown Jewels.If you ever plan on going to see the Crown Jewels I would suggest getting there in the morning and starting with that. We did exactly that and there was no line (we got there around 10), but a couple hours later there was a HUGE line! But the Jewels were very beautiful, as expected.

 

After the Crown Jewels we went on a tour. I would also suggest doing this, although I would not personally call it a tour. More like a speech about parts of the history of the tower. The tours are lead by the Yeomen Warders.

 

 The Yeomen Warder that led our tour

 

The Yeomen Warders are really awesome people. There are somewhere between 35-40 of them at any one time, right now there are 37. They have all served in either the Air Force or the Navy. The all live in the Tower of London with their families.

 

 



Where the Yeomen Warders live, inside the Tower of London 

 

There are really great guys, and all clearly love their jobs, although the position is difficult to get. The Yeoman what we had as a tour guide was really funny, and we got to see another Yeoman that was having a reunion of sorts with a buddy he served with.

 

 

Also at the Tower of London, like at all of the Royal places, are the stereotypical guards.

 

Guard, guarding.

 

They are so still and quite, that when they move it startles you. But the walk back and forth every once in a while, and they have to switch posts, all of which is done in a very particular way.

 

Guards returning from switching posts.

 

For a long time the Tower used to house animals, such as Polar Bears, Tigers, Lions, and Monkeys. The King wanted them there, and the public sometimes came to see them. Now there are animals made of wire mess around.

 

There are still animals at the Tower, but they are just Crows (and any other birds that fly in). There are six crows that are kept at the Tower.

Currently at the Tower of London is a memorial for the 100th anniversary of World War I. It's called 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red.' The project involves the planting of 888 246 handmade ceramic poppies, one for each British Forces (the Commonwealth) member that died in the First World War. The poppies continue to be planted everyday, until the last one is planted on November 11, 2014. It is absolutely gorgeous.

  

 

By the Tower of London is Tower Bridge. So we went on the bridge, and got some pictures of the Bridge.

 

The Tower was really amazing!