Tower of London

I still have to catch up and post some last pictures of our trip to London. Of course we went to the Tower of London.

I remember coming here last time I was in London, more than twenty years ago and being enthralled to be where three unlucky wives of King Henry VIII were beheaded on Tower Green. I was sixteen years old, practically on my own in an unfamiliar city. I had been in Germany on a student exchange when my mom suggested I visit her friend in London (who worked the entire time I was there). But I had a bus map that showed all the main sights, and I went around the City for a week, on my own, crossing off my list of must-sees. I can't imagine letting Kyle loose on his own - but my parents let me and it was an amazing experience that I'm very glad I had. That week is one of the reasons I'm so determined to travel with my kids when they are this age.

We saw the Crown Jewels, guarded by this fellow (a Fusilier).

Oh, look there's a Beefeater.

Traitor's Gate, where Anne Boleyn arrived on boat via the River Thames prior to her execution.

 

Two of my kids have had to build trebuchets in Mr. Brummit's Socials 8 class. Not as big as this one though.

After we finished at the Tower, Kyle consulted our handy walking tour guide (a gift from my parents to Kyle) that we used throughout our trip.

We couldn't leave without taking some pictures of the Tower Bridge as a tall ship went through.

It was very cool to see the Olympic rings on Tower Bridge.

Using our handy walking guide, we set off for Saint Paul's and the London Museum,

and saw a piece of the (very old) city wall.