The Tower of London

There's been a lot going on this week.  John took Thursday and Friday off so we could spend the night in London visiting a friend who was in town.  We took the train to London.  Soon as we arrived, I used the toilet where my camera met with an unexpected fall off the hook on the wall and crashed about 5 feet to the concrete floor.  Yeah...it shook it up pretty good.  I tried using it, but discovered the autofocus and metering were out and there was a crack in the lens mount.  So, we took the camera to a camera store there and left it Friday morning.  I had to use my cell phone for our Tower of London and Kensington Palace tour.  I was bummed.

It was a gloomy, cold day in London which was rather fitting for this tour, however, didn't make for gorgeous fall shots.  As you can see, fall is peaking here and it is beautiful. 

Click on any photo to view larger.

We followed along with a tour by the Warden Yeoman, also known as a Beefeater.  It was a great tour.  He explained all the gruesome stuff that occurred in the towers including the beheading of Queen Anne, the second wife of King Henry the VIII, which I found to be the most tragic.

This was a very exciting part of towers, where they keep the Crown Jewels.  Unfortunately, no photos allowed.  But, they were incredible to see and makes you realize the wealth these families have.

The Ceremony of the Keys is a very popular event.  This ceremony is the longest running ceremony in England....hundreds of years without fail.  Every night when they lock up the towers, they perform this ceremony.  It is a free event open to the public, but we couldn't get a booking until May!