Yesterday a group of us went to the Tower of London. We paid the very high admission prices and managed to spent around 4 or more hours wandering between the walls. When our class first arrived in London we took a but tour, and our guide commented that the Tower was old, possibly the oldest fortress surviving in Europe. Well walking around reminded me that the Tower of London was old. Now it is not the oldest building in Europe, but it was a place where I could be surrounded by history.
This history though is what I find so fascinating about the Tower of London. So much is shrouded in myth and legend, but there are also specific details that were meticulously recorded. What really struck me were the similarities between the stories associated with the Tower of London. It has two very diverse paths: the bloody with the torture chambers and the two princes, and court splendor with the Crown Jewels, the original menagerie, the Line of Kings, and the Royal Mint. The similarity that I found between them ties back to Court power and a monarch’s might. The Tower of London is a symbol of power unlike any I’ve ever seen. At it’s very core it demonstrates how important military power is, it shows how sometimes power comes from the deaths of enemies, but also how posturing and showcasing can be intimating.
My favorite part of the excursion was going from the Torture Tower to see the Crown Jewels, then later from the Line of Kings to the Bloody Tower. In everything I’ve seen this trip I actually find that the Tower of London may be what I now consider quintessentially England. Here I could find history, culture, prides, and darkness all of which were enclosed in a very small space. I loved the Tower of London and even with the outrageously high admission fee I would come again.