London Day 13

We knocked another one of the "must-see" London sights off our list today as we experienced the Tower of London. We got going earlier than usual so we could see the Crown Jewels first before the big crowds. It was a good thing as the line was a lot longer later in the day. The Crown Jewels are quite old and impressive. It is hard to believe that most of the them have been around since the late Seventeenth century. The amount and size of the diamonds in some of the crowns must make them priceless. After the Crown Jewels we toured the White Tower which is the central and oldest building in the complex. It housed armor, weapons, torture devices, and even a very old toilet. We had brought some sandwiches along and picniced at the Tower. Food prices at these places are crazy, so it was nice to save some money. After lunch we took a tour with one of the Beefeaters (the Yeoman Guards who live on the grounds of the Tower and take care of the place). He was quite funny and told us all about the Tower. We stopped at the spot where Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard (two of Henry the VIII 's wives), and Lady Jane Grey were all executed. The tour ended in the chapel where they were all buried. We ended our time at the Tower by checking out the various towers and the wall that surrounds the complex. Many prisoners were kept in the towers and they have preserved the graffiti the prisoners had etched into the stone walls. In total we spent about six hours at the Tower. We headed back to the flat for dinner and then headed back out again to see Green Day's "American Idiot" musical. Tomorrow we head up to the Warner Brothers Studio for the Harry Potter exhibit.