The Tower of London

Thanks to spotty internet, I wasn't able to finish this blog until this morning (despite having started it Sunday morning). I will just post it as is, so pretend I posted this Sunday :)

I somehow managed to sleep in until 10 am today. My body thanked me for it.



On Saturday, Erika, Ryan and I visited the Tower of London. We agreed to meet up at Tower Hill Tube station. Due to some tube craziness, Erika ended up being a little late, so I took a few minutes to check out the giant sundial located across from the tower.

It was surrounded by engravings of the history of London.



The sundial also offers a great view of the Tower...but sadly the Tower is undergoing some renovation, so this is what I got.

Once Erika arrived, we checked out this big building nearby that had these interesting statues all over it.

Then we headed into The Trinity House, which is one of a couple dozen state homes they only open to the public once a year.

After that, it was time to hit the Tower...only on our way we got distracted by this statue that looked like Caesar, though it said it wasn't Caesar..but it mentioned Caesar...We couldn't figure out what the plaque was saying. (That is the Roman wall in the background, still up from when London was called "Londinium")

After that, we finally headed to the Tower.

So excited!

We picked up our tickets and were happy to discover that we were just in time for the Beefeater tour. He did a great job at showing us the main features of the Tower, and illustrating the history with colorful stories. We also learned that to be a beefeater, you have to serve in the armed services for at least 20 years, and you have to have certain rank and honors. I'd also imagine that it helps to have a head for history, a talent for telling stories, and the ability to project your voice (our tour group was HUGE).



We saw the Crown Jewels after our tour, but sadly weren't allowed to take pictures in that building.



The tower used to hold a menagerie of animals, so they now have random animal figures scattered throughout the grounds.

We took another tour of the White Tower...

which houses a big armour exhibit, including lots of pieces that belonged to Henry VIII.

We saw medieval toilets.

A row of horses represented what each king's horse would have looked like (breed and build wise).

And there was a random giant dragon fashioned out of armor.

We had fun going up the various towers and walking along the walls. I made a new friend when I distracted this guard from defending the wall.

We loved taking pictures in the staircases (which were spiral).

And I loved the windows

Really, they were great. (I was channeling my inner Anne Boleyn)

I think I would make an awesome guard, just sayin'

Maybe I need a spot on the lookout?

At one point, the skies opened up and it just started pouring. People scattered for cover (which there isn't much of at the Tower).

After running around for a couple of minutes, we found shelter. Ryan and I were happy to be out of the rain, Erika was unhappy at being wet.

I heard the sounds of steady drums and discovered that our window looked out on the Thames, where a rowing race was occurring.

It was still raining pretty good when we were leaving the tower, so we bought ponchos for a pound fifty, and headed to the Tower bridge.

After crossing the bridge we wandered around and got semi-lost looking for a tube station before giving up and crossing the bridge again to get back to where we started from.

This Friday we are going to Stonehenge! Plans for Saturday may include a trip to Hampton Court Palace (home of Henry VIII).

I have a lot more pics from my trip to the Tower, look to Facebook soon to see the rest (if Facebook decides to cooperate!)