Sightseeing

November 13, 2011

One of my favorite parts about being in London is sightseeing. Not only is it very cheap to travel around Europe, but there is so much even here to see. Yesterday we ventured into the city of London to Tower Hill. We were on our way to the Tower of London. However, one of the first things you see when you get out of the tube station is Tower Bridge. If any of you know me at all, you know that I am IN LOVE with the Tower Bridge. It is my favorite bridge. I even told the girls if I could marry it, I would. Therefore, when I saw this bridge I was in heaven. I immediately began taking tons of pictures. Then we decided to walk partway down the bridge even though we didn’t have to. This was the one bridge I wasn’t afraid of walking over…..although we weren’t walking up top (where they used to walk while the bridge was up) and we didn’t get to the part in the middle where the bridge goes up for ships. However, the part we walked on, I was not scared, lol. So we walked part way across the bridge, which means I have been underneath the bridge and halfway over it. Then we turned around and walked to the Tower of London. It was really cool and really big. There were lots of places to walk and see. We saw the Bloody Tower, the Jewel House and much more. We got to see the statues of the horses and Kings. We got to try on a helmet to see how hard it was to see or hear out of them. We got to feel how heavy their weapons were. We got to see the torture chamber where people were sent to be tortured. There was a contraption to pull their legs and arms. We got to see the holding chambers where they were sent to be held until it was time for their death. A lot of them carved into the walls to leave their final words. We heard a story about a poor young 17 year old girl who was thrown into the chambers and had to watch them bring her husband to his public execution. She then watched them bring back his chopped off head and later his body to be buried. All the while, watching through the other window the building of her own execution stand, where she was executed the very next day. However, throughout the whole Tower of London, it says it was not built to be a place where people were killed. Yet, that is what it turned out to be. One guy wrote a message in orange juice, which could only be read when held up to a candle. One person even escaped by dressing up as a woman. We saw the ravens which are popular there; although they could not fly because their wings were clipped. We also saw the guards who guard the tower. We were informed that to become a guard they must have been in the Military (not navy) for 22 years and made it to Sergeant. Then they must live with their family in the Tower of London. They were wearing their blue and red uniforms because their black and gold uniforms cost so much money (I believe it was 12,000 pounds) that they only wear those for special occasions now. Overall it was really cool and we took lots of pictures. Check my facebook for them!

After Tower of London we started walking and could see the top of Big Ben and the London Eye (also pics on facebook). Then we took the tube to Covent Gardens to look at the shops. We got to see the lighted Christmas tree and the living statues. We even got to see the living statue of Johnny Depp in Pirates! Plus I saw the dog in the basket which I finally understand. I never got what the fascination was until I saw it. Go check it out on my facebook. Then we walked around the shops for a bit before heading home. We couldn’t get on the tube at the station we wanted because it was overcrowded. So we followed a woman in red to the other tube station. Yes we were being creepers but if we didn’t we would have definitely gotten lost. We finally made it home.

And this is why I love London!

Until next time,

¬D¬