Tower of London

Talk about surreal. We visited the Tower of London today, which is right across the river from our current flat. We took a quick jaunt across Tower Bridge, which was littered with tourists taking pictures, and it felt more like we were at the Tower of Babel considering how many languages I heard being spoken around me. After a while, I started to miss hearing some of that good ole American English.

Anyway, we were a bit hungry by the time we got to the Tower and the entrance queue was quite long so we decided to take a lunch break. We ate at this French patisserie right outside, and it was really bizarre eating a tuna fish sandwich while sitting outside the Tower of London. Can it get any weirder?

The view goes surprising well with a ham and cheese sandwich too.

And yes it did, when I found myself sitting on a bench eating a strawberry ice cream while being surrounded by the ravens of the Tower right outside of the White Tower.  The White Tower is the original tower that was built by William the Conqueror, and it's the oldest fort of its kind. The ravens of the Tower are rather special, as there is a myth that the Tower would never fall so long as at least six ravens remain in the confines of the Tower. Some bloke had the brilliant idea to clip the ravens' wings so they can't fly off, and as a consolation prize, they're fed biscuits soaked in blood, one egg weekly, and a whole rabbit once a year. Only the English would think that this is a treat. I think it's a bit of a cheat to clip the wings, but the Tower's still standing so I guess the whatever it takes approach is working.

The White Tower, Photo by Bernard Gagnon

We started the day with a tour led by one of the Yeoman Warders, also known as the Beefeaters, but I felt a bit like cattle being herded around so we abandoned our Beefeater and went off on our own. We saw some amazing things, including the armor of many of England's kings, weaponry, and last but not least, the Crown Jewels.

Bye bye, my little Beefeater.

Not to diss the queen, but the pieces were a bit overdone for my taste. Dude, who needs a diamond that's roughly the size of an ostrich egg? And a crown made with velvet doesn't seem very functional in light of London's rainy weather. Water ruins velvet faster than anything - you'd think the queen would've figured it out and replaced it with a more water resistant fabric. Oh, and she's also got a dress made of gold. Impractical? I think so. But then again, she's the queen. Lucky.