The Tower

Ever since we have been here and have been reading, watching, and learning about the thousands of years of British history there is one place that keeps getting mentioned over and over again. The Tower of London. We first felt that it cannot be that important and very exciting to go see since it sits right on the river Thames and looks more like some touristy type of place. Finally, we realized we must be wrong, and we need to go see it for ourselves.

We ordered our tickets and finally set off to visit the Tower of London. To give you the quick overview, we ended up arriving at the tower about 10am and we left at 5:30pm. It was so amazing to see the place that so much history took place at. Being able to learn about the history from when the Romans first arrived and started to establish a more permeant settlement for where the tower currently is to all the different additions throughout the centuries. The tower included a palace, a prison, a mint, an execution place, a church, a port, and so much more. Today it also houses the crown jewels and is still used for many state occasions.

We first arrived and did a short walk around by ourselves. Later we joined one of the many guided tours by one of the Beefeaters. These are people who live at the tower with their family. They have had to serve a minimum of 22 years in one of the branches of military and have had a very clean record. They serve as security around the tower and tour guides. Many live for a long time at the tower. It is a very prestigious honor to serve there.

Our tour guide was great and really did an amazing job of presenting the history and stories of the tower. We slowly made our way through the multiple buildings on the grounds. Having read so much on the different kings and the history through the ages it was so wonderful to be finally where things really happened. One of the most sobering areas was one of the buildings that was used as a prison. So many famous people were imprisoned there, and they did “graffiti”. The graffiti was actually chiseling words, icons, and other markings into the stone walls of the buildings. It was very eerie seeing all the messages that had been left by so many people, many who lost their lives after their time in the tower.

The crown jewels were very impressive. So much gold and jewels in one place. When you see all the elements laid out in one place you begin to appreciate why British people still honor so many of their traditions and the royal family. Unfortunately, they do not allow for any pictures to be taken in this part of the tower. There are many more items than one would imagine and one spot in the area is so popular that they have a treadmill to move you along, so people don’t stand and gawk for too long a time. You can ride on it as many times as you want you just can’t stand there.

We have heard of so many people who have visited the tower for only an hour or two, we cannot understand how anyone could get through all that is there in such a short period of time. We actually want to go back at some point. Maybe not on this trip, but on some visit back to the UK.

After our time at the tower, we grabbed some dinner and then met Tom and all the students at the Fortune Theatre to see the musical Operation Mincemeat. It was a great show. The cast plays multiple characters which is so hard to do. The show is based on a true story of how the Brits used a dead body to hide some fake military documents on that they then floating into the ocean with the hopes it would be found and lead the Germans away from a military attack the Brits had planned. It worked great, but there were so many issues with the plan and so many issues that had to be dealt with because of the war. It was so very well done.

It was a full, wonderful, and exhausting day.