The Tower of London… full of beheadings, prisoners, jewels, and ofc the occasional raven. This was a perfect first visit to kick off our London trip getting immersed in so much history. My favorite part of the whole tower was definitely the chapels inside and I found it extremely interesting there was a good amount of people buried inside. I also loved the Beefeaters and their outfits and they were so friendly and happy to share information about the tower with us.
Walking through tight hallways, ducking for short ceilings, and LOTS OF STAIRS made the whole experience a lot more interesting as well as feel like you were in that part of time in history. I really enjoyed the architecture of each building and getting see the luxuries that a lot of the royal families had while acknowledging how a lot of people outside of the tower were struggling just to get something to eat. The crown jewels were absolutely beautiful and showed the amazing history of all the rituals in the royal family, something which I personally found really cool!!
My favorite exhibit was definitely the Royal Amouries exhibit. Obviously from my pictures you can see I found the armor for the children most amusing. Something I found very interesting was “The Dwarf and The Giant,” because it was said to have been worn by Queen Henrietta Maria’s court dwarf who was 17 inches tall. It is now believed by historians that it was made for future King Charles I when he was 5 years old. I hope it actually was made for her court dwarf.
Anne Boleyn spent time being imprisoned the tower. She was the Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 and the second wife of Henry VIII. Fun fact, her and Henry actually got secretly married because the Catholic Church wouldn’t allow his previous marriage to be annulled. She was charged with treason, adultery, and incest but reallyyyy what happened is Henry just wanted to get married to Jane Seymour and Anne hadn’t been able to give him a male heir.
Jocelyn and I spent a good part of the day popping in and out of different parts of the tower to see as much as we could. Every time we were about to leave we’d see another exhibit in the tower we couldn’t walk past, which made the experience so fun. Overall the tower was such a great experience!!
Theatre in London U of A 