London: Day 2 (morning)

We started off day 2 of our trip having a very nice "English country breakfast" in our room over looking the river. Then it was straight to Starbucks (we were ridiculously thrilled to see one, or 10) for fuel for the day and walked under the Tower Bridge to get to our first stop of the day. We arrived at the tower early so I took advantage of the time to peruse the gift shop, where we got Zane a sword and shield that you can decorate with Edwards crest (or the OSU brand) and Logie a plastic axe (because that is what all 2 year-olds nicknamed BamBam need). I got a decent pic of some of Henry VIII's armor here (he seemed a bit obsessed with protecting the royal family jewels!!! We spent the rest of the morning in the Tower of London (over 3 hours!!). It is not one tower, but many towers actually. They had an audio tour so that you could go at your own pace, which I have found to be what I prefer. We started out in King Edwards tower, where they recreated his bedroom as he would have had it in his time. From there we went to his father's tower where you can see where Henry VI died in the chapel there. His official death record says he died of melancholy, but I've never known melancholy to give you a bleeding stab wound??? The next pic is of the White Tower, which we toured last. They had a very cool exhibit going on there called "Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill". It was all about how he hired the first smiths to make armor (for him and his horses). It was all amazingly detailed (and of course they would not let us take pics of it). From the 2nd tower we went to one of the many towers were prisoners were kept. You can see where many of them carved their names and dates of imprisonment (among other things) in the walls. From here we went into a tower that they used for defense and got to see (play with) some of the weapons and armor from their day. There was a sheet of chain mail that I picked up that amazed me. I don't see how anyone could wear a full shirt of it and stay upright!! From there we went to the Jewel House, where they actually keep the family jewels (there was a diamond the size of an XL egg and many more not much smaller, but the wouldn't let us take pics of course) behind doors that are more than 2ft. thick. I didn't want to embarrass Jeremy, so I refrained from messing with the guard, but it took alot of self control. After the Jewel House we went to the courtyard where the Governor's House (the man who oversees the running of the towers) is located. If there were important or sick prisoners they often had to stay in his house with him and his family. Across the way is a monument built on the spot were many of the executions took place. You can see of the writing that Anne Boelyn was one of the lucky ones executed here. From there we went into the Beauchamp and Bloody Towers were many of the prisoners were kept. There were many carvings on the walls and a display telling about many of the notable figures that were imprisoned and executed there. It was very interesting, but also very disturbing to hear what very little it took to get yourself imprisoned there. It was altogether very fascinating and something anyone going to London should see, if you have 3-4 spare hours!!