September 13, 2015 - London

We took the Underground “tube” to Tower Hill this morning so we could tour the Tower of London. We crossed the moat bridge and into the the castle.

As we arrived, there was a “Beefeater” guide giving an introduction to the castle and its history. He was not only informative, but quite funny.

We had the opportunity to go inside several of the buildings and see the Crown Jewels. They didn’t allow any photography of the jewels, but I can assure you they were amazing! The largest diamond is over 500 carats, but it wasn’t on display. All of the boys promised that they didn’t take it!

We also toured along where the Royal Menagerie was kept. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, there was a small zoo in the castle where animals that the royal family received as gifts from foreign countries were kept. They even had a polar bear which they received from Norway! Unfortunately, the water in the moat was also used as a toilet and was the bear died from the foul water. In the mid-1800s, the animals were moved from the Tower of London into a zoo created in the city.

In the armory, there were several full suits of armor from the royal family. Henry VIII is shown mounted on his horse, along with the horse’s armor.

It was interesting to see the armor of the Giant and the Dwarf – quite the contrast!

We ended our tour about 1:30 so we could have lunch before Tom, Stephan, and Christoph needed to leave for the airport. It was a great way for us to end our trip to England by sharing time with our former exchange students who are like our kids!
Tobey, Tyler, and I had one last view of the Tower Bridge before taking the tube back to our hotel.

Tobey and I continued on and went to tour Kensington Palace. Tyler went there with Katie, so he decided to skip it. Kensington was purchased for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.Queen Victoria was petite as a young woman and there were several of her dresses on display.
We marveled at her ball gown in the picture below. Try going through a doorway in that skirt! I guess you could use it for a table when you have hor d'oeuvres and drinks and aren’t sure how you will eat them!

She did have nine children, and by the time of Prince Albert’s death, she had lost her girlish figure.

There were also gown from Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana on display, as well as photographs of the royal family’s fashions through the years.

In another area we climbed the King’s Grand Stairway to the King’s apartment. It was very beautiful!

One of the last rooms we toured was the Gallery. The paintings were beautiful, as well as the ceiling. We both liked the clock above the mantle – it shows London as the center!

After our tour, Tyler met us at the Palace and we had dinner before he headed back to Oxford. We certainly enjoyed all the sights around Oxford and London, but more than that, we enjoyed spending time with Tyler.

We took the tube back to the hotel and finished getting everything ready for our departure on Monday morning. Tomorrow we will leave the hotel by 7:30 so we can commute to the airport for our 11:40 am flight.