Blog Post 2
The Tower of London
By Isaac Overman
Today, we went to the Tower of London. This was one of our longest tube rides, but it went off without a hitch. I started by seeing the Crown Jewels. Honestly, it was similar to seeing the Mona Lisa—kind of underwhelming. They were beautiful, but I thought the collection in the armory was much more extensive and impressive. My favorite exhibit would have to be the Royal Armory within the White Tower. It was beyond amazing to see the different king’s sets of armor and the royal arsenal through the years. To me it was the most complete and well put together exhibit. After I saw the Jewels I went toward the “Imprisonment at the Tower” exhibit. During this exhibit, I learned more about one of my favorite historical figures—Anne Boleyn. I learned that she was actually buried at the Tower of London in the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula. Anne Bolyen was extremely important to the lineage of the crown, so it was really special to see the memorial of the pillow where she lost her head. It is a sad story but it was so interesting to learn more about this pivotal figure. After increasing my knowledge of those imprisoned within the towers one of which was John Smart which I thought had been immediately killed, I then sat on a bench to take in the beautiful views and just appreciate the cool weather. However, this was a grave mistake because as I sat, eyes glazed over from the sheer bliss of the moment, I felt a strange sharp pain in my left hand. I looked over and there sat a massive raven. It looked at me and I was still confused what had happened to my hand, but I looked back and it had ahold of my hand in its beak. Knowing I could do nothing but shake it off I did just that. A child near by found this dreadfully humorous. After that, I noticed a sign that read, “Caution The Ravens May Bite”. I then decided to once again sit and enjoy the views, just farther away from birds.
Theatre in London U of A 