The Torturous Tower

On Sunday we went to the Tower of London, a must-see for any visitor to London. Founded nearly a millennium ago and expanded upon over the centuries since, the Tower of London has protected, housed, imprisoned and been for many the last sight they saw on Earth.
When we arrived, Barb and Lori immediately wanted to hit the gift shops, but I steered them towards the castle instead. We joined a 'yeoman warder' tour where he described the stories of what befell those in the tower. It has been the seat of British government and the living quarters of monarchs ... the site of renown political intrigue, and the repository of the Crown Jewels ... It has housed lions, bears, and (to this day) flightless ravens ... not to mention notorious traitors and framed members of court, lords and ministers, clergymen and knights.
We loved that our knowledge of the Tudor reign came to light here, especially with the story of Sir Thomas Moore being held in the tower and then later beheaded for refusing to accept Henry VIII as the head of the church. Anne Boleyn was also beheaded here too, but had a more private affair than Sir Thomas' public one on tower hill!

What we learned later while talking to a Yeoman is that they all actually live there in homes surrounding the tower, though still within the tower gates. They all had to serve 22 years in the UK military before being considered for the post. Could you imagine them going to the doctor, and the doctor asking where they live, to which they reply literally, 'the tower of london' - how strange!

Later, we went inside the White Tower, where royals used to live, but now is basically a large museum.
We also found within it the weapon of 'mass destruction' itself.

Of course we also visited the crown jewels and viewed a sceptre of the cross with the largest diamond in the world - 530 carats! Below is the imperial crown set with sapphires and rubies.

Lastly we had a tour of the chapel where thousands of headless bones were found buried beneath - essentially because whenever someone was beheaded, the heads would be placed on stakes on London Bridge and were never reunited with their bodies again!

In the gift shop on the way out, we especially liked this 'manly' suit of armour that Henry the 8th used to wear!