For the first three and a half hours of our traveling morning, we went to the Tower of London.
It may not sound very exciting, but the Tower is actually very cool. We had a guided tour from one of the Yeoman Warders (guards) and got a 60-minute, fun-filled, full of jokes extended tour. We didn't get to go to the Crown Jewels on the tour, but I'll mention that later.
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| Our tour guide, Andy |
The Crown Jewels are a collection of famous crowns, weapons, armor and dresses worn by royalty and occupants of the Tower of London.
Famous inmates of the Tower include Sir Walter Raleigh (stayed their for 13 years in a luxurious room with his wife and children, wrote a book, performed science experiments, and played pranks on his guards [not really, I just made the last one up]), Elizabeth I (then Princess Elizabeth, locked up by her first cousin once removed Mary Queen of Scots, who was later beheaded by the monarch), some guy who tried to escape (his rope was too short, and he fell into a pile of poo).
After our experience in the Tower, I got to try on part of a knight's armor:
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| A historian teaches me sword-fighting |
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| Nice hairstyle, don't you think? |
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| Lookin' proud with a heavy sword and a dinky shield |
After that, we headed to the British Library, where famous documents like the manuscripts for Beowulf and the Shakespeare plays, plus Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks and the Magna Carta (plus much more) are kept.
P.S.: Here's one more picture from Madame Tussaud's: Just felt like I should share it with you!
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| With the woman herself, Madame Tussaud Can you guess what she's doing? (Hint: It involves bloody heads in the French Revolution) Visit my Pictures page to see more! |
All photos on this page copyright Tim Wood, 2014 except Madame Tussaud
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