Crime and punishment in London

 On Friday, our group went to the Tower of London in the morning. We had the same tour guide Marian, who had taken us on our Royal Walk the week before. Thankfully, it wasn't blizzarding like last week, but it was still pretty cold. We started outside by the Tower Bridge, and she told us a bit of history about the centuries old fortress that is the Tower of London. It was founded in 1066 as a part of the Norman conquest of England. I'll let that sink in for a minute: 1066 people. I'm reminded everyday just how old this country is and how young America is. The tower began with just the White Tower, which was used as both a prison and a royal residence.

The outside of the tower

The White Tower

Throughout the years, the Tower of London evolved into a conglomeration of buildings protected by two layers of walls and a moat. They've since drained the moat, but all of the other buildings are still standing (although obviously not used for most of their original purposes). Most of the history and anecdotes Marian told us about the Tower involved someone dying or escaping from captivity. It was really bizarre to think about the torture and killing that happened on those grounds. The Tower is a sign of the power of the monarchy, and it used to be viewed as a symbol of oppression. Here is where the saying "sent to the Tower" originates: if you did something to displease the King or Queen, you were sent here to be dealt with. We didn't have time to go into the White Tower during our tour, but we did get to go in to see the Crown Jewels! It was so incredible. Everything almost looks fake it was so sparkly and elaborate. 

The building which houses the Crown Jewels

After staring in awe at the Jewels, Marian took us outside to the execution green of the Tower. This is where people such as Anne Boleyn and Walter Raleigh were executed. It gives me chills to think that I've stood in the same spot as Anne Boleyn before she was beheaded.  

The execution pillow

Our time was unfortunately a little short, since we were going to Westminster Abbey later that afternoon, so the Tower tour ended here. We were given lunch money and told to meet at the Abbey in a few hours. As we left the Tower, everyone stopped for a photo op of the Tower Bridge. I also got a good view of the tallest building in Europe, the Shard. It's weird that even though it's huge for Europe, it's only the 45th tallest building in the world. It's not done yet, but it'll have apartments and offices. People can even go up to the top and see all of London when it's completed. 

The Shard

We were told that there was a breakfast place near by, so naturally Fiona, Kate, Lucy and I hightailed it there. This place was the cutest restaurant I've been in. It had a color scheme of pink and green, and all of our seat cushions were something England related (like a Tube map). I got a delicious kid's meal of beans, chips (fries for the Americans) and a fried egg, as well as peppermint tea in the most adorable tea pot/cup. 

Our waiter recommended that we get to Westminster Abbey via bus to see the sights, so we were able to catch a really old bus to Trafalgar Square and then walk to Parliament Square. I'm really glad we did, it was really cool! Westminster Abbey was incredible. I'm not a religious person, but the architecture was breathtaking. It was again a very surreal experience, realizing the important people who stood where I did and who were buried beneath my feet. Being in such a large building with so much history is so humbling. We listened to an audio tour (voiced by Jeremy Irons aka Scar from Lion King), which was really informative but concise. I wish I could take pictures in the building, but I don't think they would do it justice. 

Once we had finished touring the Abbey, we were free the rest of the day. A group of us decided to stick around and take some touristy pictures in front of Big Ben. I'm seriously so obsessed with that clock tower. 

The same group went grocery shopping after returning to Bloomsbury, and we ate dinner we bought from there. We got ready to go out and headed to a bar we had heard was fun, the Porter House. It was so cool! It had like 5 floors and a live band that played great classic rock songs. I felt so grown up ordering a drink from the bar, although I had no idea what I was doing at first. We stayed for a few hours, and left when the band was finished at 11:30, which was perfect because the Tube stops running at 12. It was a very full and fun day!