En route to the Tower of London, we saw a mythic beast. Inside there were memories of real ones.
This is a lovable dragon near the Tower of London. He looks big here but he’s actually only the size of a teddy bear.
Dragon in the City of London
To mark special occasions, kings and queens give their fellow royals special gifts like polar bears and elephants. These have to live somewhere, and in England, it used to be at the Tower of London.
The Tower used to be the zoo, among other things.
The polar bear would catch fish in the River Thames. He was lucky.
A polar bear used to live at the Tower of London
The first elephant arrived in 1235, a gift from the French king. Such a small space for such a big animal.
An elephant used to live at the Tower of London
The most important livestock at the Tower now must be the ravens. If they leave, the whole kingdom goes to the dogs, apparently.
Ravens are essential at the Tower of London
A lot of people love taking photos of old and new. Me too.
View of the Shard from the Tower of London
This is the White Tower, the first tower of them all.
The White Tower, the heart of the Tower of London
The guards at the Tower sometimes wear the big bearskin hats, but not at this particular time.
A young guard at the Tower of London, one of the Grenadier Guards
They give nicknames to new buildings in London before they’re even off the drawing board, it seems. On the left, the Walkie Talkie, and just right of centre, the Gherkin.
London skyline from the Tower of London
I have a membership to Historic Royal Palaces, so I can drop into the Tower for an hour at a time if I’m in the neighbourhood. This time, though, we spent the whole day. That’s what usually happens!
Disclosure
This is my standard form of disclosure that I am retroactively adding to all blog posts done before April 1, 2018, and will add to all new posts.
1. Is this experience open to the public?
Yes.
2. Who paid the cost of me doing this?
I did.
3. Did I get any compensation or special consideration for writing this blog post?
No.
4. Would I be as positive about this place if I had gone as a regular visitor?
Yes. I did go as a regular visitor.
2 Comments
susanonthesoapbox
November 7, 2016 at 2:24 pmJill, did you know that the Walkie-Talkie had to be fitted with a sunshade to stop it from frying the cars and shops below. It melted bits on a Jaguar and bubbled the exterior paint of a shop across the street. Incredible. Here’s a link to the story: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-23930675
Jill Browne
November 7, 2016 at 5:27 pmThanks, Susan– How could they not have seen this coming?!