Tower of London & Tower Bridge

This past weekend we took an outing to the Thames to visit the Tower of London, on the way we stopped off to see the Tower Bridge. Something to note, the Tower Bridge is not the bridge the song was written after; "London Bridges falling down..." That is London Bridge which is just west of the Tower Bridge and is the oldest bridge in London. Well onward to the Tower of London. The Tower of London is the original Palace for Kings and Queens to live in before Buckingham Palace was built. It has 20 towers in all, but the famous tower is the White Tower. All the towers were named after someone or something that happened in them. We followed on one of the Yeoman Warders tours of the Tower. That was great and any one that visits the tower should take a tour. We saw the famous ravens and saw the Crown Jewels. An interesting fact that we learned from the Warder was that the traitors were not beheaded inside the tower (well only 2 of King Henry the 8th Wife's), they were taking just a few blocks north of the tower for their beheading. Then their heads were placed on stakes and placed on the London Bridge for all those entering London to see.

We also came on a special day, the day that one of Britain's 4 star generals was retiring and they were having a public ceremony at the tower. One of the US ships was there with a present to the general. Emma really enjoyed the bag pipes.

To end this very busy day we went to Borrows Market, a fantastic farmers market with everything imaginable. Guess next time we will have to bring more cash.

Tower of London & Tower Bridge