Today we were in London. We had signed up for a
tour of the Tower of London. It
was fascinating. Here is a little
bit of information that we learned:
The Tower of London is a historic castle on the bank of the River Thames. The castle was used as a prison from 1100 until 1952 but that was not its primary purpose. Early in history, it served as a royal residence.
The Tower has served as an armory, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. From the 14th century, a procession would be led from the Tower to Westminster Abbey on the coronation of a monarch.
The peak period of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures who had fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, were held within its walls. This use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower". Despite its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the World Wars of the 20th century. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle. (some of this information came from Wikipedia).
The Tower of London is a historic castle on the bank of the River Thames. The castle was used as a prison from 1100 until 1952 but that was not its primary purpose. Early in history, it served as a royal residence.
The Tower has served as an armory, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. From the 14th century, a procession would be led from the Tower to Westminster Abbey on the coronation of a monarch.
The peak period of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures who had fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, were held within its walls. This use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower". Despite its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the World Wars of the 20th century. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle. (some of this information came from Wikipedia).
After touring the Tower, we had free time to
explore London. First on the
agenda was to find some good Fish and Chips. We found some delicious Fish and Chips at the Sherlock
Holmes!
After lunch we went for a ride on "The London Eye". It is a giant Ferris wheel on the bank of the river Thames. We had noticed it during our tour of London and had to go back. It was a lot of fun and the view of London was amazing.
After riding "The London Eye" we walked over to Trafalgar Square. There are four pedestals on the square which have statues on them. Three of the pedestals feature statues of previous English Kings.
The fourth statue is changed regularly and is decided upon by the people voting on what they want displayed there. The current statue is of a blue rooster; not sure why they voted for a blue rooster but it is pretty cute!!
We walked around the city for a little while. We went by "10 Downing Street" but we couldn't figure out how to get around these guards to go down the street to see the Prime Minister.
We took the subway back to our hotel and had time to relax and explore a little more.
We had agreed to meet with the some of the others in our group that knew each other before the tour and go out to dinner on this last night of our trip. We decided to stay at the hotel and eat in one of their restaurants. It was kind of a disaster. The service was the worst we have ever seen. But the food was good and we weren't in a hurry, so it was all ok that dinner took over 2 hours!
One of our favorite places we had discovered by our hotel was the "Whole Foods Market". It was fun to walk through and we enjoyed one more gelato from there.
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