LONDON, ENGLAND

April 24

We took the train to Waterloo station in London. Then we took the Tube to Tower Station. We went to see the Tower of London. We spent almost all day walking around. It was amazing, because it looks just like a castle, because it was one. We, along with costumed leaders, participated in an escape from the tower by a nobleman who was to die the next day. We helped his wife get him out. It was a lot of fun and when it was done, we found out that we had re-enacted a real event. That made it even more fun.

We saw the royal jewels, the 530 carat diamond on the queen's sceptor and lots more. Even tho it usually takes quite a while to get in to see the jewels, we walked right in and could take all the time we wanted to look. Very lucky. This was so even tho the kids were out of school due to a teacher's strike. We also went to the White Tower, where the nobility lived. Then we went into the Bloody Tower, where they kept the prisoners before they killed them. Some people stayed there for many, many years. There are several towers where the prisoners carved grafitti on the walls. Some of them very detailed and beautiful (must have taken a very long time)

If you were a very close friend of the King or Queen, when you were beheaded they did it right there on the grounds of the tower, otherwise you had to go outside the walls and get beheaded in public. So, I guess it was good to be friends with the King.

We saw the tower bridge. And amoungst all these very old buildings we saw the new "gerkin" that is what they call the new glass office building. London is a strange combination of old and new. The architecture of the city is what really is interesting. We have taken (ok, "we" didn't Arleen did) tons of pictures of buildings. Too many, I'm sure, for most people to want to see.

The pictures will be uploaded later, because here in London, we don't have access to the cords we need to upload to the internet. So when we get home we will put the rest of the pictures on. So please check the blog even after we are home.