Sweet Adventures: The Tower of London/Buckingham Palace

TOWER OF LONDON

Well that day started off with a bird pooping on my shoulder. Here’s the story: There are these trees on campus that have these little nuts falling from them and every time Paul and I walk under them we are hoping that each other gets hit by nut. So we are walking on our way to the bus when I feel something drop on my shoulder and I brush it off. I turn to Paul and laugh and tell him that a nut finally fell on me. He asked me where and I told him my shoulder and looked at my shoulder. To my surprise, there was a skid mark of bird poop on it. Paul starts laughing at me, and I run over to where it pooped on me and there was a big wad of it on the pavement. It definitely felt like a nut hit me. How I managed to get that wad of poop off my shoulder without making a huge mess on my hand beats me.

ALSO you probably would like to know that we suck at catching the bus. Seriously, every time we walk to the bus station or we get off the tube and walk over to the bus we literally just miss it by seconds. Every time we get off the tube and walk over we ask each other, “Do you think we missed the bus.” “Yup!” And we always do.

The tower of London was awesome though. There is so much to do there. Our tour guide knew so much about what went on back then. She told us about the “Bloody Tower” which got its name in the 16^th century. It was believed to be the site of the murder of the young Princes who lived in the Tower. We also went into the “White Tower,” which was built by William the Conqueror. The purpose of the White Tower was to provide a power base for the Norman invaders and control and intimidate the people of the City of London.

What really interested me were the Ravens of the Tower of London. Ravens are like crows but a lot bigger. The presence of the ravens is traditionally believed to protect the Crown Jewels and the Tower. Legend has it that if the ravens left the tower, the kingdom and the fortress would fall. All the ravens there are clipped so they can’t fly away and leave the tower. There are also 7 main ravens that get switched out that are called “The 7 Prisoners.” They have a raven master on the grounds that feed the ravens raw meat a day and bird biscuits soaked in blood. It’s creepy because before the ravens were held captive, they originally came to the tower of London because of the smell of the corpses and they would eat the bodies…*cringe*

On a happier note…Paul and I were able to go into the building where the Crown Jewels were held. It was so beautiful! They had a diamond called “Great Star of Africa” which was cut from the “Cullinan Diamond,” the largest diamond in the world and is 3,106.75 carats. The Great star of Africa is 530.4 carats and one of the largest polished diamonds in the world.

There is also a place in the Tower of London, which is the official residence of the Queen of England, but she has never stayed there. They had a few guards with the red uniforms and the big black hats guarding the doors to the residence. After the tour we also were able to go on a Jack the Ripper tour, which was scary, but interesting! We went to all the locations where all the dead bodies were found and during each site she showed us a picture of what the body looked like. We also walked in the footsteps of where they thought Jack the Ripper went after murdering one victim.

The tower of London

The White Tower

The official residence of the Queen of England

Where the crown jewels are held.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

I was so excited to go to the Buckingham Palace. Especially to see Kate’s wedding dress up in person. When we got there we had to go through security and put our bags through those machines that they have at the airport. We also had to get rid of all liquids. FUNNY STORY: So Paul and I had a picnic before the tour and we bought this gigantic water bottle that was only 80p because it was cheaper than the smaller bottle. Right before the tour we still had a ton left and decided to chug it and drink most of it up since we knew they probably wouldn’t allow us to bring it in with us. When we got inside the Buckingham, before security, they told us, “I hope you all peed before you came because there are no bathrooms inside and the tour is 2 hours.” Paul and I looked at each other thinking, “CRAP!” we just drank 1.5 liters of water and we can’t pee for 2 more hours! There was no turning back…

We were able to go into all the staterooms, which are the rooms where all the special parties are held. We were in a room where Kate and William had their wedding pictures and also their wedding reception! Everything in the Buckingham palace is so breathtaking, with crystal chandeliers, fancy furniture. There seriously wasn’t an inch of the rooms where it wasn’t detailed. Everything in the Palace was designed and made with a purpose. They told us about a secret passageway that the Queen takes to go to the parties. There is a fancy dresser up against the wall with a mirror that turns and has a door behind it.

Let me tell you…Kate’s wedding dress is so BEAUTIFUL in person! Oh my gosh…

We were told how it was made and how long the process was. The dress was made with so much detail and was used with so many different fabrics. We also saw the wedding cake and her shoes and jewelry. It was cool being able to stand in the same place William and Kate were after their wedding. I’m sad that I wasn’t able to take any pictures inside to show you how beautiful it was but we did get to take pictures outside in their garden. J

It’s been amazing getting to go and see everything in London. There is still SO MUCH to see. I have been learning a lot here and its great learning about the history of London.