January 25, 2010 The Tower of London

January 25, 2010 (K): For breakfast we had scrambled eggs. Since Dad had a day off, (Yay!) we took the Metro to the Tower of London (the origin of London). The Tower of London (the London fort) is HUMONGOUS and very old! Almost any big entrance has a Yeoman Warder guarding it. They have very bright, big blue coats with red edges. Thirty-five Yeoman Warders live here with their families. “The first sounds I hear when I wake up are the ravens croaking as they are released from their pens. It's like being on the set of a Hammer House of Horror movie!" is what one of the Yeoman Warders who is currently living at the Tower of London. Who would like to live in the Tower of London? Legend says that the kingdom and the Tower will fall if the six resident ravens ever leave the fortress. There are currently 7 ravens (one spare) living at the Tower of London. The Ravenmaster takes care of them daily. There are 21 different towers. We went into the Beauchamp Tower, the White Tower, the Salt Tower, the Bloody Tower, St. Thomas' Tower, the Wakefield Tower, the Broad Arrow Tower, and the Lanthorn Tower. We saw the Coldharbour Gate (remains), Wall of the Inmost Ward, Scaffold Site, and the Line of Roman City Wall. There was so much to see! There was even the block and axe (used to execute someone)! Dad's thought this was a good time to get his beard trimmed (his beard is no longer prickly, but more like a big teddy bear), but almost got his head cut off. I played a game that tested my reflexes: trying to "poke" the shields in front of you. I "poked" a fast 35, but Dad was the winner with 42. In the Waterloo Barracks we found the (family) crown jewels. There we saw the world's biggest and second biggest diamond, numerous different styles of crowns, Golden Coronation Robe (Supertunica), golden rods and scepters, an ENORMOUS golden engraved punch bowl and it's own golden ladle carved as a seashell (Nautilus) shape, and many golden engraved plates and bowls. After we were tired (not having completed the Tower of London) we walked to Paul's Patisseries (Pastries) and bought 5 sweets and got 1 free (the people at Paul's said so). We took the Metro home and ate the delicious pastries! Mm! And we went to sleep.