The Tower of London//England 2014, Part III

When we arrived in London at 8:15 in the morning, we decided to go and get a picture at Platform 9 3/4 as we were leaving the airport. It was awesome, and I'm officially enrolled at Hogwarts now. We then headed directly to the Tower of London and got there right after it opened at 9. If you guys want to see the Tower, get there at 9. As we were leaving the lines were at least an hour and a half long. We didn't wait at all to get in and see anything. Bit of a traveller's tip for you!

This is a completely useable portcullis, which is still original to the tower. The tower was expanded over time, and so, while this once guarded the riverside entrance to the tower, it is now part of the second wall inside the Tower, the Thames having been pushed back over time.

The ravens in their cages are a very important part of the Tower of London. There is an ancient prophecy that "If the ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it." Because of this, it is required that there be six ravens in cages at all times, and a seventh as a reserve. There are many others that fly freely, but these six must always remain on the Tower's grounds.

This huge, imposing building (the tallest on the site, from what I could tell) is the oldest building in the Tower of London. It was built by William the Conqueror in the late 11th century, and has remained standing ever since. It has held a display of weapons and armoury since 1652, which makes it the oldest tourist attraction in the world. Three of Henry VIII's armour sets reside in this tower, as do many other monarchial sets. This is also the Tower in which the bodies of the two little heirs to the Throne were said to be found, generally believed to be murdered by their uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

Prior even to William the Conqueror, this site was home to the Roman boundary walls. It was here that they marked the outer borders of the city of London, fortified to protect it from outside attack. This dates back at least two thousand years from now.

The Tower was one of the first zoos in London, where many exotic animals were brought and kept on display. These animals remained in the Tower until 1828, when they were moved to the newly created London Zoo.

Part of the old Roman Wall, which still stands. The river would have originally came all the way up to this wall, at the time when it was built.

Although there are now new exits to the Tower, that door was originally the only way in or out of the building. Over two stories higher than the ground, they build wooden stairs up to it. This was done so that they could burn the stairs down if anyone attempted to breach the Tower, making it nearly impossible to enter it.

This staircase is about 5 stories high, and was the only means of getting up or down the Tower during its medieval use. That meant that, were it ever attacked, this would be the only way for enemy attackers to storm the Tower; two by two.

Medieval people were so cool, they even had dragon armour!

You aren't allowed to take pictures past this point, because you then walk through the Vault to see the Jewels. I cannot recommend this bit of sightseeing enough, however, because they are truly breathtaking. There are many different jewels belonging to the Crown, which span centuries of kings and queens. I might also mention that the Scepter is home to the largest diamond in the world, which is easily the size of a softball. Our audio guide cheerily informed us not to worry if one of the Jewels was not in its case, for that only meant that the Queen had decided to wear it that day. Sign me up for Queen, if it means I can check out the largest diamond in the world whenever I'd like to!

We spent about an hour and a half inside the Tower, completing only two of the five audio tours we had purchased. I think we could have easily spent the entire day here, and I hope to do so, one day. However, we had other things to see (keep posted, it gets pretty exciting, y'all), so we departed from the Tower at around 10:30, and headed deeper into London.