LONDON: Of Towers and Bridges

My first castle! Probably because it's the most accessible, as it's located in central London. Be prepared for some knowledge nuggets.






^Snapped a few things while on the way there!

If there are temples and oriental palaces in Asia, then there's castles in the Europe. I've only ever seen castles in Disney movies. I think my favorite one was from Sleeping Beauty!

I actually only took photos of the outer facade of everything within the fortress, and the notable buildings I could see from the distance. Do you ever get those moments while travelling that you just want to appreciate what's in front of you as it is without having to feel pressured about documenting everything you see? While I love taking photos, it's also nice to simply experience it as it is.

This is how it looks like from the inside. You can easily see the modern buildings from afar.

New and Old. At the center is the Walkie Talkie building wherein it functions as an office space.

That pointy thing is known as The Shard, which is also an office space. Gosh, such ~*~snazzy~*~ buildings to work in!

The Tower of London has stood in central London for over 900 years. This place was used as a fortress, palace, and prison. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This building is known as the Waterloo Block where the Crown Jewels are housed. For centuries, this building has contained all the precious artifacts of the royal family. Photos aren't allowed to be taken while inside, but I learned a great deal of how the coronation happens and where it's usually held. Often times it was in Westminster Abbey.

This one here is the White Tower, which served as a dungeon. Today, it houses armories used way back then by Kings. There were shields, swords, helmets, breastplates, all the kinds of things you could imagine a knight would need for battle. A much more comprehensive collection is housed in the Royal Armouries Museum way up in Leeds, which we also saw!

This building served as a hospital. Everything here makes you feel ready for battle, really. It made me think about the importance of having a fortress. According to Merriam Webster, it's:

a fortified place : stronghold; especially : a large and permanent fortification sometimes including a town.

As much as it's important to have a strong offense, it's also important to have a good line of defense. I can just imagine how busy it must've been around here especially during war times.

My tour guide a.k.a. my sis explained to me that those little peep holes shaped like crosses were places where archers would fire their arrows against enemies.

It's believed that there should always be ravens living within the vicinity of the Tower, as they are the guardians of the place. If they should fly away or be lost, the Tower would fall.

From outside. There used to be a moat that surrounded the castle. Moats! I can imagine that there could've been crocodiles here at some point in time.

Right outside is also the Tower Bridge. I haven't really seen the London Bridge, which was the famous nursery rhyme we all used to sing about when we were still little, but here's the lovely Tower Bridge!

I've always wondered about how many times is this bridge lifted in a year? They say it's done at least thrice a day, and ships need to book a bridge lift 24 hours before sailing.

It's painted red, white, and blue, to celebrate the Queen's silver jubilee.

Aaack pretty cool detail.

I can imagine war ships coming in and going through the busy river Thames. But then now cars pass through daily and is occasionally lifted for passenger ships. 

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Thank you for reading, dear reader!

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