LONDON! Day 10: Tower of London, Exterior

Everyone we talked to said we HAD to see the Tower of London! I agree...it's very, very cool. And it is still considered a royal residence. AND all the tour guides are actually the personal guard of the Queen.

Since you know I take oodles of pictures, I am starting with the exterior of the Tower.

Main Entrance. You walk across the bridge to enter the Tower. This is also where you meet with a Yeoman Warder for a tour. More on them later.

Not much of a moat any more but it still looks cool! This site also has historical significance for the Romans. It was actually the site for a Roman fort. Parts of the original, ROMAN wall as still intact!

Pretty cool, eh? And, when they were digging a new subway, they found the remains of a Roman watch tower just outside the fortress.

It's not every day that you come across something like this. You can still see the narrow openings that the archers would have used. Seems like anytime someone goes digging in London, they hit a historical site.

This is an exterior shot with the White Tower visible. The White Tower is what started the whole place. It was originally a castle before it became a prison for the rich and noble. See, whenever some got on the bad side of the king (like, say, his wife cheating on him), they were sent here before being beheaded on the Tower Green.

The story of Lady Jane Grey just tears my heart out. She was someone else's pawn, had nothing to do with the politics. She was just unfortunate enough to have the almost-right family tree.