Trips

Tues., 6/7/16 – London
            This morning we bought tickets from the hotel concierge (17 GBP or $25.50 US each) to enter the Tower of London, which is not a single building but a whole complex. We walked over to the Tower (just across the street from our hotel) and went straight to the Waterloo Block, the building that houses the Crown Jewels in the Jewel House.  The queen will be wearing some of these jewels on Saturday as she salutes the regiments on her 90th birthday.  We had a good look at the “Orb of Christianity,” the “Scepter of Authority” with the 530.2-carat diamond (the First Star of Africa called the Cullinan Diamond), and several magnificent crowns including 1661 St. Edward crown, 1937 Imperial State Crown, and the crown Queen Elizabeth II wore at her coronation in 1953.   After the new royal is crowned, there is Holy Communion and the platters and chalices used in that rite are all gold and huge and must weigh a ton!  Then there is a royal feast and we looked at some of the special gold serving pieces – huge tankards and a three-foot wide gold punch bowl.  We saw the gold anointing spoon and amulet and the gold embroidered cloak Elizabeth II wore in 1953.  There were many gold and jeweled ceremonial swords. The stuff was extraordinary, to say the least. (No photos, of course.)

Model of the Tower of London	Tower of London
Tower of London	Waterloo Block
	Guarding the Crown Jewels
After the lavishness of the Jewel House, we wandered through the rest of the fort and walked on the walls.  There are a number of animal statues (the Royal Beasts) made of chicken wire.  They represented exotic animals gifted to the royalty between 1210 and 1832.  What else can you give someone who has everything but a lion, an elephant, a crocodile, monkeys, a baboon, etc.?  Most of the animals did not live long.  Since 1832, animal gifts have gone to the London Zoo.
We went all through the White Tower, which began as a Norman Fort.  Just outside of it are remains of the Roman fort from early 100 CE.  There were lots of stairs in the White Tower and displays of armor including the suits made for horses and for the very large King Henry the 8th, cannons, swords, rifles and a few weapons from around the world.  To represent “America” was a Plains Indian war bonnet and a few arrowheads!  There was even a clever large dragon made out of armaments and pieces of armor with coins coming out of its mouth like flames and jewels in its belly.         After the White Tower, we went into the Torture Tower.  From 1540 to 1640, only 36 of the Tower’s prisoners were tortured and most were to force confessions.  They had used a Scavenger’s Daughter, The Rack, and iron manacles.
	White Tower
King Henry VIII in armour	Plains Indian war bonnet to represent America
A Dragon	A Beefeater (Yeoman Warder) in traditional costume
Wall of the Innermost Ward Raven cages on left The Shard in the distance	The Rack
Traitor' Gate (at low tide)	After our Tower visit, we crossed the street to look in All-Hallows-by-the-Tower Church where William Penn was baptized (23 Oct. 1644) and John Quincy Adams was married (26 July 1797).  It is the oldest church in London, originally built in 675.  It is also a mariners’ church.  We went into the crypt and saw the record books for Penn and Quincy Adams.
All Hallows-By-The-Tower
	Baptism entry for William Penn
Marriage entry for John Adams	After this interesting morning, we went back to the hotel and ate our sandwiches from the hotel breakfast and rested before going out again

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