The Tower of London

After Wimbledon, we found a tube station, so we parked our cars in a scary alley parking lot & hopped on & headed to the Tower of London. Poor mom threw out her knee & could hardly walk, let alone go up & down the stairs of the subway stops. And then she couldn't get her ticket to work. We were all laughing at her as she tried & tried to get through the turnstyle. It turned out that she was using her day pass from the previous day by accident . . . & naturally, it was already expired. Once she found her ticket for today, everything was fine & dandy.

The Tower of London looks like a castle fortress. It's really neat because it literally looks like a stronghold. It would be VERY difficult to break in or attack it. The crown jewels have been guarded there for hundreds of years.

The Tower of London was the first thing we have had to pay for on our trip. We've been very lucky everything has been free so far. The tower cost us 47 Pounds for our family to get in. QUITE EXPENSIVE. . . but worth it.

Once again, the girls wanted to be the guards or "night watchmen" of the tower.

The London Bridge is located right behind the Tower of London. It's hiding behind some trees, but it's there. We had to get a picture with it.

Inside the Tower of London are several different towers & buildings that contain several different things. The most popular is the jewel tower which is where the crown jewels are kept & guarded 24/7.

Cadence LOVED the tower guards. She kept asking them to stand by her in pictures. I liked their uniforms. They were good sports for us & LOVED our kids.

There were specific guards guarding the jewel tower. The girls LOVED posing with them because they couldn't smile or laugh. They were being cruel by pulling faces at them. But they never moved. It's amazing how still they are.

The jewel tower was amazing. I knew I was going to see the crown jewels, but I had no idea how neat the would really be. They have it set up so that the crowns are in glass display cases in the center of the room. You have to stand on a moving walkway & look at them as the ground moves you forward. It keeps the crowds moving, but also lets you look in depth at each jewel in the crowns. My favorite was Queen Elizabeth's Staff. The largest diamond in the world is set in the top. 534 Karat diamond!! Whoa!! It was GORGEOUS!! Just seeing those jewels was worth every penny we paid to get inside. They were AWESOME!!

Before we left, we took a bathroom break (which takes 30 minutes with 4 kids . . . 2 in diapers). Mom & Dad played London Bridge is Falling Down with the girls to pass the time. Then we were off for the REAL LONDON BRIDGE!