"To the Americans: I hope you enjoy all of this wonderful history. It could have been yours, too-- if you had just paid your taxes."

Well folks, it's my last day in London.  :(  But it's also my last day before Dublin! :)

We had a slightly more laid back day today (only slightly, mind you).  We woke up a bit late, and made waffles for breakfast (boy have I missed waffles...), which was wonderful.  Then Clay and I had to go to Paddington Station to pick up his train ticket for tonight (because I stupidly paid with my credit card, so I had to collect the tickets), so that was a significant detour.  But again, a great adventure in public transportation navigation!

From there, we headed to the Tower of London, which comprised most of the day's amusement.  We had a quick lunch, then wandered around a bit, then caught a tour with one of the Beefeaters, or Yeoman Wardens (otherwise known as a resident tour guide with a funny uniform).

The Tower of London; or, more precisely, "The Enormous Castle Complex with Two Walls and Moat Built Around What Was Once a Tower in London".

 Our tourguide, a Yeoman Warden/Beefeater (who was hysterically funny).

The tour was great-- the guide was hilarious, and the history of the Tower is fascinating.  (Note: The title of this post came from his introduction to the tour).   We learned all about the bloody history of the Tower... in gory detail.  The Tower may not have been intended as a prison back when William the Conqueror built it back in 1070... but that's what it's remembered for today.  Many famous people were held in the Tower before being executed on a nearby hill (with the exception of seven very famous people who were executed within the complex); notably, Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard (another of Henry VIII's wives), Lady Jane Grey, Guy Fawkes, etc.  Several kings and queens were also imprisoned there for varying lengths of time-- it was a favorite punishment for political prisoners.  

"Traitor's Gate," through which many notable captives were taken into the Tower of London by boat--particularly Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey.

 Monument marking the place where those who were beheaded within the walls of the Tower were...well, beheaded.

 Where the Queens were held the night before being executed.

 The "Bloody Tower"-- where two young princes were killed by their uncle, who later became 

King Richard III.

This is all rather gruesome.... let's move on to some pretty, and less icky, parts of the Tower:

The White Tower-- the original Tower of London.

 Where the Crown Jewels are kept-- we waited half an hour to see them, and it was so worth it-- there is enough value in one of those crowns to bail most countries out of their recessions.  We also saw the world's largest cut diamond (530 carats), and at least four others in the top ten largest diamonds in the world.  It's a pretty impressive collection.

 King Henry VIII's armor (and his horse's).

 A really cool cannon.  I kind of doubt that it ever saw any battle... but there were several there that were used in the Battle of Waterloo!

 The last remnants of the Roman wall that used to mark the boundaries of London (back when it was controlled by the Romans, of course).

 GUARDS!!!

 A Trebuchet (aka, a catapult).

LOOK AT THE TODDLER ARMOR.  IT IS ADORABLE.  ALSO A BIT DISTURBING.

So yeah, that was the Tower of London.  It was pretty cool.

Clay and I went on another Tube adventure to get back to the flat, where we crashed for a little while before realizing that we had to eat dinner before Clay left to catch his train.  So we literally ran to a cafe, scarfed down some food, ran back, and got him out the door just in time for him to catch the bus.  Success.

And now I'm packing up and getting ready to leave for Ireland very, very, very early in the morning.  

Signing out from London..... see you tomorrow, Dublin!!!

I leave you with this lovely photo before I go:

"Hey you-- in the brown, on the right-- you're doing it wrong.  You forgot that Sunday is 'Wear your fuzzy hat day'.  You're out of the club."