We were off early this morning to visit the Tower of London. When you hear that you might think Big Ben or other towers but the Tower of London is a castle built right on the Thames. Construction began in 1066 by William the Conqueror, who was fearful of an invasion. Nothing like it had been seen before. He was fearful because he has just defeated the Saxons who had ruled the country.

We were among the 3 million who will visit the tower this year. It’s been a palace, a fortress and a prison. Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned there. Henry VI was murdered there in 1471 and the children of his rival Edward IV mysteriously disappeared while staying in the castle. Henry VIII’s wife Anne Boleyn was executed on the tower green in 1533. For over 800 years people were taken there for execution. Most executions were by losing their head.

We had a guided tour of the castle by a Yeoman Warder, who actually lives in residence at the castle. They are also called beefeaters and are 32 in number. He had obviously done the tour many times because he had about 50 of us roaring with laughter with his puns and stories. When he moved us from one location to another, he would say “let’s Beheading” this way. He knew the history of London tower well and told us some of the horror stories about those who came in alive and exited without their heads. On several occasions on beheadings, the executioner did not make a clean cut. It took several whacks to make the head come off.

He said executions were a big entertainment feature in the early years. He explained that having no social media, television or ways to travel far, locals were always looking forward to an execution. When a head was chopped off, the crowds would cheer and throw their hats in the air. Then the head would be paraded through town.

It took a couple of hours to tour the castle where the Royal Jewels are stored and heavily guarded. Karen had read that seeing the jewels first was important because a long line often formed there. We went directly there and were among the first to see all the crowns, jewels, silver and gold items used by the Royalty.

We paused to eat lunch after the tour and ended up at an eatery called the Slug and Lettuce. We both ate chicken—Karen had chicken skewers and I had smothered chicken covered with cheese and barbecue sauce.

After eating, we headed to the Tower Bridge, which is right next to the Tower of London. Many confuse the Tower Bridge with the London Bridge. The Tower Bridge was built in 1886 to ease access to London by a growing population. It took 8 years to build. The city had a contest to see who could come up with the best idea and a fellow from London Sir Horace Jones, who was the city architect won.

We were able to tour both towers of the bridge, which is a draw bridge. But residents could still enter town when the bridge was up by climbing the steps in the tower. One of the exciting events early on in the bridges history was when a double decker bus jumped from one side to the other as the bridge was being raised.

In 2014 the two walkways between the towers was altered by putting a glass floor on each of the walkways that is about six feet wide and about 33 feet long. So those walking across the enclosed walkways can walk over the glass and see the water of the Thames. Many of us—but not Karen—avoided walking on the glass floors. My excuse was that I didn’t want to take a chance of it breaking and me getting wet.

The huge engines used to raise and lower the two portions of the draw bridge were remarkable for their day. They have been modernized with electronic controls now. And, boats that want the bridge raised for them must request it by email at least 24 hours before passing through.

We left Tower Bridge and walked along the Queens walkway to see the London Bridge. And, it was not falling down as the nursery rhyme suggests. There was much traffic on it including buses, cars, bikes and pedestrians.

It was a busy day and we were glad to get back to the hotel and turn it.

Karen posing in front of the Tower Bridge in the top photo. In the bottom photo she is sitting on the glass floor hundreds of feel above the Thames River.