I was a Queen

    The title of this post refers to the fact that my friends(Sarah, Taylor, Melissa, and I) decided that I was a queen in a former life. We came to this conclusion while we were touring around the Tower of London, which was majestic. I will describe our experience to you through the pictures that I took.

It is a beautiful sunny day(which is surprising because it is not often sunny here in London),. When we walked out of Tower Hill Tube Station we saw this statue. We thought it was Julius Caesar  but it was not. Melisa loves the Romans though and wanted a picture.

The Tower of London which was built by William the Conqueror in 1078. 

This is Taylor in King Edward I's bed room. 

This room has been reconstructed to look like how the king's room would have looked back in the Norman period(I believe). There were people dressed in medieval garb playing music and such. 

The king's private chapel.

Melissa trying on one of the soldiers helmets. She looks like John Smith from Disney's Pocahontas  We felt like we were a part of the Night's Watch from Game of Thrones. It was epic, we walked along the whole wall. 

One of the many towers that we walked into as we were walking the wall. Look how blue that sky is...

The White Tower where we saw all the armour and weaponry. It is where lords would have stayed is is the strongest structure in the fortress. 

The Bloody Tower which got its name in the 16th centuray after two princes went missing while staying in there. It is believed that they were murdered. 

Sarah, Taylor, and Melissa in their natural state. 

This awesome statue was hanging out on the wall, showing us twenty-first century girls how to protect a the Tower.

The ravens. There was once a prophecy that stated that if the ravens left the Tower of London the realm would fall. Now, ravens are kept here permanently. Fun fact for the Game of Throners: The old Celtic word for raven is Bran...

A beautiful stain glassed window in one of the towers.

The chapel that many of the people who were executed int he Tower of London(including Anne Boylen ) are buried. The last execution took place in 1941. The tower was used during the Second World War. 

This marks the spot where many famous people died; including two of Henry VIII's wives, Anne Boylen and Katherine Howard, along with Lady Jane Grey(the nine days queen) and many more. The tower was not always a place of execution and prison though. It was a place of royal residence and royalty stayed there the night before their coronation. 

This is a rack and was a form of medieval torture. 

The tower as a prison was not all bad. These rooms belong to Walter Raleigh. 

Traitor's Gate which is how the condemned were brought in. In the past the best way to get around London was by river so it made sense to enter the fortified Tower by river. Originally a moat surrounded the Tower of London. 

Henry VIII's armour from the time when he was married to his fifth wife, Katherine Howard. 

In the White Tower there was a collection of gifts from around the world that was given to the monarchy. There were shields and swords and armour and this Native American headdress that America gave...

This dragon is supposed to symbolize how the Tower of London was a symbol of power. 

You are probably wondering, where are the Crown Jewels? Unfortunately we were nnot allowed to take photos of any of the jewels. It was a marvelous day though and I was geeking out the entire time from a history overload. It was extraordinary and we all had a ton of fun. To end the post here is Sarah with a stuffed hawk from the gift shop.