Nine Centuries Apart

What you see here is part of the White Tower of The Tower of London (built in 1078 by William the Conquerer), with The Shard in the background (completed in 2012). I decided on this photo out of many blip worthy shot today because 1) The Tower of London was my favourite experience of the day and 2) I was, and am still fascinated by this contrast in ages. Imagine what William the Conquerer would say if he could see how the view from his Tower has evolved!

You'll notice the sky looks blue and beautiful, but don't be fooled! Today was BY FAR the coldest I have been while in London. The wind was icy and bone chilling, and I cursed myself a number of times for not wearing another layer of clothing! It probably didn't help that the majority of my day was spent walking up, down and across the Thames getting from one attraction to another. Wind always seems worse near bodies of water.

Back to the Tower of London- I am going to attribute my favour for this attraction to the funny and interesting tour given by one of the Yeoman Warder's (more commonly known as Beefeaters). He successfully entertained us with tales of intrigue, imprisonment, execution and torture. Additionally, the Beefeaters themselves have an interesting history too! It is thought their nickname is derived from their position in the Royal Bodyguard, which permitted them to eat as much beef as they wanted from the king's table.

They are a detachment of the ‘Yeomen of the Guard’, and they’ve formed the Royal Bodyguard since at least 1509. Their origins stretch back as far as the reign of Edward IV (1461-83).

Yeoman Warders today are required to have served in the armed forces with an honourable record for at least 22 years. The current contingent of warders have experienced serving in Northern Ireland, the Falklands War, Bosnia, the first and second Gulf conflicts and in Afghanistan. They all live in the castle with their families!

I also went to the Tower Bridge Exhibition which offered stunning views of London over The Thames and Churchill's War Rooms which is a museum situated in the original Cabinet War Rooms, the wartime bunker that sheltered Churchill and his government during the Blitz. This museum was particularly interesting because many of the rooms are exactly as they were left when the war ended.

After a big morning of castles, towers, bunkers and their bloody history I lifted the mood by going on a walking tour of London and the Harry Potter film location sets. This was pretty fun - the highlight was definitely heading to King's Cross at the end to get my photo at Platform 9 3/4's.

Now I'm in bed with chocolate, chips and I'm about to watch, you guessed it, a Harry Potter movie!