Byron In Bahrain: Tower of London

I confess. I wish I knew more about British history before I went to England. I'm sure if I had known more, I would have appreciated the Tower of London more. It's the number one tourist spot in London, and with good reason. This castle/fortress/prison/place of execution has more history then I've ever seen in my life. The newest part is over 800 years old, and the buildings contain more history than one could probably get in a week. It really is an amazing place, somewhere I'll visit again if I ever go back to London.

Yes, the Tower of London has the crown jewels. Yes, I saw them. No, I could not take pictures. The crowns I saw are probably the single most expensive things I've ever seen in my life. Holy fucking shit were they cool. There were probably about a dozen crowns, amongst many, many other diamond studded objects. Really, really amazing.

Me, listening to an audio recording of something. We had these headsets to guide us along. We could have gone with a live guide, known as a "beefeater" but they had huge crowds following them and it was really hard to hear what they were saying.

That has to weigh a ton. This picture (and the next couple) were taken inside one of the many, many buildings in the Tower. This particular building housed the armory.

See?

Cool.

In one of the courtyards. You can see how close the Tower Bridge is in the background.

The sight of many executions. See the next sign for who.

Rumor has it if those two falcons ever leave, the tower will fall. Good thing they clipped those bastards' wings. Note the armed guard to the left watching the birds. That's his only job.