Monday, January 21, 2013
My Weekend
On Saturday a group of us went to see the Tower of London. I was expecting like an actual tower, not like a castle/fortress thing. I guess I didn't do my research before arriving in England... oops. But it was really neat to see. We had a tour guide for a little bit before we could explore on our own, and he was funny. Brittany, Jeni, and I stuck together while in the tower. We saw the Crown Jewels, which was pretty spectacular. It still just shocks me of how much history is in this city and that actual kings and queens wore those crowns. The diamonds on those things were big. I can only imagine how heavy it must be. We also saw a lot of armor that they wore back then. There were like horse replicas of the horses that certain Kings rode, or something along those lines. It was really cold on Saturday. There was like this "huge" blizzard here in England, and some classes got cancelled on Friday, or so I've heard. It's really funny to us because they literally only got like an inch of snow here in London between 2 days. There is this funny lady that works in the cafeteria at ISH who always talks to us and says stuff like "What do you want to eat, my friend?" Well she was talking the other day about how it was so cold out and about the snow and we're all just like "This isn't bad. Its much worse at home." Anyways, after the Tower of London we walked on the Tower Bridge. It was alright I guess. I know its a big bridge but I don't get why its famous or is an icon here. I suppose I should've looked into that as well before coming. Once we were done walking across the bridge we decided to come back to our rooms. We met later for supper at ISH and after that a group of us went to a place called Cider Tap. It was a little bar that specialized in ciders. I had some apple and pear cider. It was good. Across the way there was a little bar that specialized in at least like 30 beers. So a couple of us went there. I didn't get anything, but I tried a sip of Hillary's beer and it was nasty. After they finished their beers, we walked back to the ISH bar and hung out till about 12:30. On Sunday I just laid in bed all day and read a bit for a class and watched some more One Tree Hill.
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Hi Claire,
ReplyDeleteThis is what I remember about the "Tower of London" It was William the Conqueror, the victor at the Battle of Hastings, that put London under seige. Before he was to lay waste to the city...in a weird reversal...the leaders offered him the crown! He became king and immediately needed a symbol of his victory and great strength (his army) That is when the Tower of London was built. It was by far the tallest structure around...and towers were symbols of great power.
In another cool story...did you ever watch "Brave Heart" with Mel Gibson? He portrayed William Wallace in that movie. While the movie was pretty inaccurate...William Wallace was a great leader of the Scotts. He lead multiple uprisings and defeated a huge English army at Stirling Bridges. When we were in the United Kingdom...I had to see that sight. There is a tower memorial at Stirling Bridges. Well, Mr. Wallace was eventually captured and after his mock trial...he was hanged, drawn and quartered in front of the Tower of London. There is huge plaque noting the location. The four limbs of his body were sent to the four corners of the English empire to be a reminder to those of the consequences who take up arms against the crown! His head was dipped in tar and placed on a pole and displayed on London Bridge...which is not in London anymore...it's in Arizona!! Wow!
It is amazing the size of the diamonds and jewels as you have seen. I can't imagine how any horse could support the weight of not only the armoured rider...but the armour they put on the horses too! Must have been much huskier ponies back then!
Lots of amazing history...that's for sure!
Pat