Sunday, October 6, 2013

Tower of London


When we were leaving London, our greeter asked if I did a lot of shopping.  I laughed....there was no time.  We spent the week going to museums and historical sites and still didn't see it all.  Maybe next time I'll shop.

The Tower of London...something I've read about and heard about and seen in movies.  Hard to grasp that this dates back to 1066. 

One of the outside walls.  The moat was drained and replaced with grass.

Sculpture by Kendra Haste.  Surprisingly, The Tower housed some exotic animals that were given as gifts to various kings.  Lions, tigers, bears, and such.
 
The Byward Tower
Traitor's Gate...people sent to the Tower were rowed up the Thames and entered through this gate.  It was chilling to stand here and realize that Anne Boleyn was brought through this gate to be imprisoned before her beheading.


The White Tower

There is a large collection of armor in the White Tower

I couldn't help thinking about all the forging that it took to make all this armor.
Waterloo Block where the crown jewels are kept. 
 
The amount of gold and jewels and crowns was mind-numbing.  I just kept saying...Oh My God.

 
 What cracked me up was there were donation boxes where you could drop in spare change and bills to help fund the exhibit.  I understand that the Tower of London gets no financial support from the government or the crown...but really....probably best not to put a donation box just outside the room that has millions and millions of dollars worth of gold and gemstones.

Guard outside the crown jewels

Tower Bridge.  Such a sight!!


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