Noel's Adventure(s): February 10: The Tower

Today for my History class, I went to the Tower of London. It was raining quite heavily by the time we got there, but oh well. That's London. Our professor took us around the courtyard and gave us a quick tour. I was amazed at how well I remembered everything from my last visit when I was 14. I guess the Tower made quite an impression on me. There was a new memorial on the site of the scaffolding where Anne Boleyn and other famous "traitors" were executed. It was pretty weird. A big glass circle, it was pretty, but oddly romantic and sentimental, with a very strange poem inscribed around the edge. A moulded glass pillow was at the center, which seems inappropriate, since none of those who died there were given a pillow (most were only had a block of wood, though the more spirited of the condemned had to be chased around the courtyard by the headsman), and on top of everything, two of the four tassels on the pillow had been broken off. It was just a strange and poorly executed (bad pun) memorial or monument or statue or whatever it was supposed to be. A few of the Tower's ravens were out and about in spite of the rain. They looked cranky, but the professor explained his theory why: Apparently, ravens only mate on the wing, and the Tower's ravens have all had their wings clipped, so....in his words "They are very frustrated birds." (Thanks, professor.)

I went to see the Crown Jewels and wow. They are just so SPARKLY!!! Seeing Queen Victoria's special little diamond crown was fun, since there are lots of statues and paintings of her wearing it. I had just watched the Queen's opening of Parliament ceremony the day before, so while I was looking at the big crown, all I could think was, how does she hold her head up in that thing?! My professor had said it weighs something like 22lbs, and the Queen is almost 85 years old. She must practice or weight-train or something to keep her neck strong. The crown is just amazing, though. I also particularly liked some of the jewel-encrusted swords and daggers on display. There was one that had lots of gigantic emeralds all over the place that I was very jealous of. I'd be happy with just one little emerald, and here this silly sword is covered in them! The other item that was particularly impressive was a giant gold ceremonial punch bowl that I swear could double as a bath tub. The thing was HUGE!

After the jewels, we went into a building that had served as a prison for mostly noble or upper-class sorts of prisoners. Having nothing better to do, many of the men imprisoned there had carved their names, their crests, or bits of poetry or scripture onto the wooden walls. Some of the graffiti was really quite intricate and beautiful. The brick and stone and wood building wasn't very impressive in itself, but its history was quite gruesome. When I walked in the doorway, I could smell a nasty smell I remembered from the pyramids of Egypt. Apparently the place had been so soaked in human waste for so many years, no amount of cleaning will ever get rid of the smell. I was very happy to walk back out into the rain and put that place behind me.

After we had done all we could in the Tower, two friends and I decided to find something to eat before heading home, since none of us felt like cooking. We stumbled across my new favorite noodle restaurant, Wagamama, and ran inside where we had a magnificent view of the Tower and all the soaking tourists running through the rain. I ordered a giant plate of noodles and chicken and shrimp and ate the whole thing in record time. We caught the tube home, did some homework and now it's bedtime.

Pigeons getting out of the rain by sitting on the old Roman wall. This wall has encircled the city since it was called "Londinium: and inhabited by Romans and Celts. There's just a few little bits of it left, the pieces that were built so strong that no one has even tried to tear them down.

Traitor's Gate, where those sent to the Tower entered

The building with the little dome behind me is the "White Tower," built by William the Conqueror beginning around the 1070s and used through WWII

That poor fellow!

My favorite gargoyle

Courtyard of the Tower, just in front of where the scaffoldings were set up (where Anne Boleyn and other such notables were executed) and further behind me is Tower Bridge

Me and one of the cranky ravens

There's a legend that if the ravens ever leave the Tower, the country will fall, so to keep them happy, there is a Beefeater guard assigned to tend the birds, feeding them the best food available and taking them to veterinarians and such