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February 2005

Tower of London

David Aaronson
2005-10-01 21:35:38

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in the Bloody Tower if you're taller than a medium-sized dog. Assuming you don't fall to your death though, you get to watch an exciting video on the death of the two princes and then vote on how you think they died. It's democracy in action - or democracy in history. Or some big red buttons to make you feel like you're involved.

The White Tower is the centerpiece of the complex and it has the best museum exhibits as well (5). Four floors of the tower are stocked full with medieval weaponry, suits of armor, wooden replicas of the heads of every King and Queen of England (oh yes) and even some real live (no longer used) garderobes.

In the foreground of this picture is the rookery of the Tower of London (6). The story here is that if ravens ever leave the Tower, the monarchy will fall. They've been forcibly stored here since Charles II just in case. A couple of them are free to wander around the green at any time (with clipped wings of course).

Here are the crown jewels. Well, okay the building that contains them (7). The actual crown jewels can't be photographed although a certain someone's sister did it when she visited and got away with it. This building contains such an alarming amount of line that I wouldn't want to even see it full. There are four or five rooms of preliminary exhibits (and films) which had ropes wound back and forth to contain what must be a truly fearsome line were it to be full. All this to stand on a 'travelator' so you can be scrolled past three cases of jewels at a controlled speed. In the end, we think it's only worth it if the line is short, or non-existent like it was on our visit. Or maybe if you're really a huge fan of scepters.

Tower bridge doesn't really have a direct affiliation with the Tower of London, it just happens to be located nearby. This is an edge on view of the bridge taken from a train (8).

Here's the Tower bridge in all of its Victorian glory (9). It's worth a walk across the bridge if for no other reason than the views out at London. Also, you can find normal less-touristy restaurants on the south bank than you can anywhere near the Tower of London. The bridge is apparently raised fairly often still although we didn't happen to catch it.