Tower of London

Hello all!

Lest we forget xxxxxx

Last night Ash arrived safely and we had a great time catching up. Can't believe it's already been 6-7 weeks since we saw each other around my birthday!!

This morning I got up and walked by myself to the Tower of London as Ash had other plans. How cool is it that I can just get out of bed and walk casually to the Tower of London?! I will miss that for sure! 

I allowed myself one last touristy day today, as I have work Wednesday - Friday then moving etc on the weekend and then we leave Monday. Yesterday I covered the west of the city and I had told myself I could pick one expensive attraction to do, so I picked the tower. I had already been with Mum in early 2011 but I remember being in a bit of a rush and a lot was under scaffolding due to the then upcoming 2012 Olympic Games. 

I arrived right on 10am as a yeoman tour started, so I joined that for the hour. Our guide was really funny and gave us a great overview of the tower, which is actually compromised of 12 towers overall and many buildings and walls. 

There are 37 yeomans or beefeaters at present, and there have been 402 since the 1800s. You have to have completed 22 years of military service and have been a general, and even then lots of people apply! Our guide said he was picked out of 150 applicants. 

The tower was built on the site of part of the old Roman wall by William the Conqueror after he won the Battle of Hastings in 1066. He built the White tower in 1078 which is the centrepiece of the tower complex, and it was the main part under scaffolding in 2011!!

Over time the tower, as well as being a formidable fortress, has been a mint, a royal observatory, house to the Crown Jewels, a military depot, a prison and even a zoo! Today it is open for tourists and home to the Crown Jewels and beefeaters. 

King James I was the last Royal to leave here, and he did so until 1603. Prior to this the King (or queen) had lived here for the last 500 years. 

We were told many tales of torture and about the tower, and shown the chapel. After an hour the tour concluded and we went our separate ways. I decided next to go to the Crown Jewels before a billion tourists descended upon the place. It may be Tuesday and nearing winter, but London is always full of tourists!!

The Crown Jewels were very impressive. I could remember this section and its travelator to take you past the crowns, sceptres and orbs from last time. I was interested in reading about what they all meant, and I even went on the travelator twice just to make sure I took it all in. I also watched a video of Liz's coronation in 1953. I also loved admiring the Cullinan diamond, carved from the biggest diamond in the world which was discovered in South Africa in 1905 as well as the Koh-I-Nur diamond set into the queen mother's crown. It was sad seeing the miniature crown Queen Vic had made to wear over her widow veil once Albert died. I then had a quick look in the Royal Fusiliers Museum. 

Next up I went to the White Tower. Whilst ascending the stairs I read a small plaque commemorating the spot where in 1674 while doing some maintenance on the steps, workmen found a chest with the skeletons of two small children. These are believed to be the two sons of King Edward IV; Edward (12) and Richard (9). When their father died in 1483 their Uncle took them to the tower, declared them illegitimate, was crowned King Richard III and the boys were never seen again. Coincidence? I think not. Very sad :( and saw the exhibitions of armour worn by various kings over the centuries. Henry VIII's was significantly larger than the others! Sorry, I love a good Henry bash. There was also an exhibition about all of the tower's various functions over the years. 

I continued to the scaffold where Ann Boleyn and several others were executed, then a couple of towers and a small exhibition about torture in the tower. Here I saw examples of the rack (where people were stretched), the manacle (people hang from it by their hands) and the scavengers daughter (held people in a squatting position). Ouch!!! Torture was never officially a part of English law and wasn't common, but it has been documented that 81 people (all between 1540-1640), were all tortured in London, 48 of whom were in the Tower of London. 

I passed through the living quarters from the 1200-1300s period. We went in here during that Halloween thing!! This led me to the wall walk. I enjoyed views inside and outside of the tower and some exhibitions along the way. One was about the tower during WWI. It was still open every day, and 11 spies were executed here during the war, before the tower opened up for the day. 

I then learned about the zoo that began here in the 1200s. There was everything from a kangaroo to a polar bear, which for some stupid reason was allowed to swim in the contaminated moat and died! Snakes were kept in blankets and placed on top of the stove to stay warm in the cold months, and visitors were allowed to walk through a room of uncaged monkeys until a young boy was attacked (really?! Didn't see that one coming!!!). The animals were moved to London Zoo in 1832 after a series of attacks. 

My last stop inside the tower was at the Royal mint museum. In the 1270s the currency was falling apart so Edward I moved the mint to the tower. He blamed the Jews for poor quality coins and imprisoned 600 of them inside the tower walls, 270 of whom were executed. Isaac Newton was the warden of the mint in the 1600s!

1270s mingling Edward one currency failing moved inside tower. Jews blamed. 600 imprisoned here. 270 of these executed! 1290 expelled from England. Lizabth restored later. Henry had ruined currency to fund wars. Isaac Newton warden of the mint in the 1600s!

I left the tower and had one last look at Tower Bridge. I stood right in the spot where mum and I got our picture taken in 2011! The weird thing I'm finding is when I'm travelling I enjoy places but I'm not too attached to them when I leave. But I'm attached to London! I can walk around without a map and never get lost, I can automatically in my head map out my tube journey, where I'll have to change and what lines I get etc. As much as I'm really excited about going home I'm really going to miss it here and it makes me sad wondering when I'll be back. It feels like home in a strange way. 

Next up I walked to Millennium Bridge and I decided to do the same thing as yesterday and think about my favourite memory in each place. Tower Bridge would be driving across last Sunday, and Millennium Bridge walking across it on my way to work on tube strike day. How many people can say they've walked past St Pauls on their way to work!? I walked around St Pauls as well, I went inside it in 2011 and enjoyed that with Mum!

I got the central and Piccadilly lines and changed at Holburn (without city mapper, it's all in my head now!!) and went to Piccadilly Circus. The fountain is surrounded by a huge ugly board now, but my favourite memory here is that 27 degree day I took off work in June to show Erika around :)

Next up I walked to Trafalgar Square. It was getting very dark at this point but I just sat and took it all in. My favourite memory here is either climbing up the lion, or attempting to get Jess to jump the fence and climb a lion on her last night here when it was blocked off for an event! There was a very cute little boy running around catching bubbles and I sat with his mum and kept pointing to new ones he could chase!

I popped into the National Gallery and made a big mistake - I went in the gift shop. I've hardly bought anything this year but I have discovered I have room to spare in my case, so I saw some lovely souvenirs and bought them. But these are a surprise for Mum, Dad and my grandparents so I can't say what they were!

The gallery itself was just as great as I remembered, and free! I made a beeline for my favourites Monet (I've been on that bridge now!) and Van Gogh, then went and got the bus home. The traffic was awful but got there eventually. 

I had dinner and then met Jamie at King's Cross station. We got the tube to Heathrow and I saw him off for his flight to Melbourne via Guangzhou, China. Can't believe how quickly that came up!! Really happy for him that it's the start of his big adventure. 

Tmro I'm back at school again, and we will be having a minute of silence at 11am, 10pm Melbourne time. I think it will be really nice explaining to the kids what it means and why it's important. 

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox