The Tower and London

As I hope you'll see in the next few posts, we had a SPECTACULAR time in London. I cannot thank my sister Terry enough for making this happen for us. The girls will treasure this memory forever, as will I.

I'm going to start with some photos that don't have a lot of people in them, because it was my most favorite part of the trip: The Tower of London.

I suppose everyone who goes there from America is struck by the history that literally hangs over the place. America has been around as long as Europe, but there are more structures there that give better boundaries for history. You can see buildings that were built by people 1,000 years ago, and it just sort of runs through you.

And, if you're like me (with the dead people talking and all) it has all that much more meaning. And to answer the inevitable question I've gotten, YES, I did talk to some dead people at the Tower of London. Even one very notable person who lost her head. In this case it was very lucky that I know nothing about European history, except for what I learned watching The Tudors on Netflix over the summer....

So first here are some photos:

This is the gang just before we went into the Tower of London. When we started the day it was sunny and breezy, but by the time we got to the tower and got our tickets, it was overcast -- totally PERFECT for hanging at this historic site. This picture was shot in front of the Tower Bridge with (left to right) Beanie, Terry, Shelby, Hannah and Lizzie:

 Here we are outside the Tower of London (which actually has 14 towers) and Shelby is pointing out some of the landmarks to the girls. The grassy area is where the moat used to be. It was used by the people inside the tower as a way to keep people OUT of the tower, but it was used by the people outside the tower as a garbage can and sometimes swimming pool:

This is what you see when you walk down from the Tower Hill Tube Station ... it's very intimidating and cool at the same time. It's amazing that this was built without cranes or dump trucks (or microstation -- ha, ha!)

They've added these mesh figurines to add some perspective, too. In addition to archers guarding the place, they also had mesh lions and monkeys around:

 

Once inside the tower, this guy took us around and told us all sorts of gruesome (and funny) stories about what happened at the tower ... and also how he's trapped there now with his wife of 42 years. He also told us that the number one question he's asked is "where are the bathrooms" followed by "where is Harrod's" and I am happy to say we found BOTH of those things without having to ask him! 

 As we were walking around the grounds I saw this dove sitting on one of the walls that overlooked the torture chamber:

 I'm pretty sure that this is the white tower -- the oldest in the complex (but hopefully Terry will correct me if I'm wrong).

Then, of course we had to see the execution place of Lady Jane Grey. When I was growing up and Mom was angry with any of us, she referred to us as Lady Jane, referring to the girl who named herself as queen for just a few days before she was imprisoned and then executed. (For presuming to be Queen.) I also refer to my children as Lady Jane when they are misbehaving and now they know what happened to Lady Jane... This is the place (inside the Tower walls) where they executed the nobility, including Lady Jane:

 And in the tower directly behind this Lady Jane's husband Lord Guildford Dudley watched as she was executed and carved her name in the stone, where it has remained for nearly 500 years:

 

And, of course, no trip to the Tower is complete without a look at the Ravens. There is a legend that if the ravens ever leave the tower, it will mean the end of the Monarchy, so the Brits, who may or may not be superstitious take care that doesn't happen by clipping their wings and serving them sirloin burger every day and a boiled egg every other day:

So here's my dead person talking story for you to believe or not --
Beanie and I were walking from the Tube station and she asked if anyone was talking to me and I said that it sounded like it, but I was having trouble understanding because it was a heavy French accent and I didn't even know any French people were imprisoned. Beanie informed her European history-challenged sister that LOADS of people from France were wandering around London back in the day. I said the name sounded sort of like "Miary" or "Maaaahry" but I wasn't sure. Mary just seems too easy.
So anyway, this spirit told  me that she was beheaded inside the tower walls and that beheading wasn't really as barbaric as we think it is, because there were lots worse ways to die.
She also told me that her death was political (duh!) and that she was much more beautiful than history remembered her.
I was telling Beanie all of this and we couldn't figure out who it was and then we got distracted by the ACTUAL LIVING people at the Tower.
I shot photos everywhere, but at the crystal pillow I heard a very distinct HERE HERE, and if you look at the picture above you'll see that Hannah appears to have a white film over here. It was in those two pictures only.
I didn't notice that until I got back to the hotel, though.
It was also once I got back to the hotel that I was telling Terry and Shelby about the experience and she said she was sure it was Mary Queen of Scots, who had grown up in France and was executed at the very spot where I heard the HERE HERE. The legend also is that she had been pretty in her youth, but had grown to have pox marks on her face, making her ugly in death.
The clincher? Remember that dove we saw high atop one of the walls of the tower? Well, it turns out that the dove is often associated with Mary Queen of Scots and was in fact imprisoned in a castle on the banks of the Dove River. Terry said in all the times she's been to the Tower, she'd never seen a dove before.
So ... that's my Tower Ghost Story. :)

And here are just some artsy pictures I took of the Tower and the bridge:

From the banks of the Thames:

From inside the tower walls:

Closeup of the bridge with flags:

 Finally, here are the cousins hanging out at the Tower Bridge. In the next few days you'll see some of our other adventures, so stay tuned: