Today is my day off from school and as of such I eagerly awaited for Nekol to be finished with classes, come back to International House, and for us to head out to Tower Hill. Today we were going to conquer the Tower of London.
Once we had paid for our ticket we decided to do the Beefeater a.k.a. yeoman tour. It was a rather dismal day, sprinkling a bit, and completely overcast but that did not keep the tour guide from being full of energy, telling us all about the bloody and terrific past of the Tower of London. Pretty much everything has happened within the Tower (which is actually comprised of 20 towers) from people living there, weddings at the church, beheadings, imprisonment, garrison, treasury, mint, vault, and so much more. It was absolutely fantastic getting to hear about all sorts of things that happened there.
Did you know the Beefeaters live inside the Tower? That's where they live, them and their families. Also, they are locked inside the Tower at 10 pm and as such they have a resident doctor and minister, who happen to live right next to each other just in case you don't get better. Heh. But yes, so they live on the estate so there are homes for them, cafes, and chapel. To become a Beefeater you must have been in the British armed forces (save the Navy because Navy is loyal to admiral and ship first) for 22 years and have 18 years of exemplarily service. As well as holding a high rank in the forces. After that, anyone can become a Beefeater (yes, even women, I saw one!)
Nekol and I walked around the walls and went and looked through the Crown Jewels and the King Henry the VIII: Dressed to Kill exhibit. The Crown Jewels are absolutely fantastic, when Nekol and I walked through the exhibit there were many projections of Elizabeth II's coronation showing off the different pieces of the coronation treasures. The First Star of Africa is the largest diamond in the world and it sits on top of the scepter...it's about 513 carats...yeah, exactly. It glitters like the sun and I was absolutely amazed by it. Everything else is just as gorgeous and beautiful from the swords to the plates and everything else you can think of.
There was also the King Henry the VIII: Dressed to Kill exhibit which was awesome because it was all the armor, weapons, and everything else King Henry the VIII had in his arsenal. There were even such things as gun shields...a shield with a gun attached to it, how ingenious? Apparently King Henry the VIII had a fascination with new technology and bought as many firearms as possible. He even had several mace/gun combinations in his armory...I'm still trying to figure out how this would work effectively without damaging one side or the other (smashing with mace and destroying barrel or shooting gun and destroying mace.) It even went so far as to show the horses of the different Kings of England (sorry, no Queens allowed here, this is a manly section.)
I was also able to see the spot where Anne Boleyn was decapitated. Anne had a fear of axes, as how it might take several tries to cut off her head, and so she requested that she be killed the French way, which is from a different angle and with a sword. So King Henry the VIII sent off for a specialist from France to help do the job. This specialist was so quiet that, as Anne knelt down to say her prayers, he pulled a sword out from a bale of hay and lopped off her head in a single blow. When he picked up her head, the crowd grasp in seeing the sight of Anne's eyes still being open and her lips still moving with prayer. Her head had been chopped off that quickly.
After the Tower, Nekol and I headed off to the Old Vic where we watched Inherit the Wind. It was an alright show, I was not blown away. The stage was rather long, which wasn't used well, and one of the first actors to speak didn't annunciate properly so it was hard to hear, and Rachel was hard to stand. Kevin Spacey did a rather good job but I don't know if this is because the part is a good one or if it's because he is Kevin Spacey, who knows. However, the Old Vic is a very convoluted space that is just awkward. The audience is shaped like a horse shoe and the stage is set up weird. Oh well, it was an alright show.
Tomorrow Nekol and I are cooking dinner for the 3rd floor, which I am totally looking forward to! Today was fun and tomorrow should prove to be the same!
<3,
Dre
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