You Really Got Me: The Tower of London

Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I don't know what I'm doin'
Oh yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night

You Really Got Me
You Really Got Me
You Really Got Me

-The Kinks (Song Here)

To say I've been looking forward to returning to this place is an understatement. It was the first thing I thought about after learning that this trip was a-go: the Tower of London.

This was my second trip to the Tower of London, the first being almost four years ago. It was one of the highlights of my previous trip. After stepping out of the Tower Hill tube station, I saw it, in all its glory.

My first glimpse of the Tower from outside the Tower Hill station.

Upon approaching the main entrance and catching sight Traitor’s Gate, as well as the best view of Tower Bridge, I felt back at home.

Traitor's Gate, from the outside. Prisoners of the Tower would be brought in via boat from the river Thames through this gate. Once you went in, you never came out.

Tower Bridge. To get the full effect, it must be seen in person.

Traitor's Gate, viewed from the inside.

 Everything in and about the tower was awe-inspiring: The White Tower and its collection of Royal arms and armor, the timbre-framed Tudors which survived the Great Fire, and, of course, the Crown Jewels.

A panorama of the main courtyard. Guest appearance by Dr. Chalk on the left.

Hopefully this photo does the Tudors more justice.

The White Tower, which is "the" tower, houses a vast collection of Arms and Armor.

There were two moments, however, that made my experience at the Tower almost magical. The first was during the lecture given to us by the Beefeater in the Church of Saint Peter ad Vincula, the Tower's chapel. When he started discussing who was buried in the Church, I noticed the sun radiating through the window. This illuminated the room, giving it an almost magical appearance. Unfortunately, the interior of the chapel, like the Crown Jewels, are no-picture zones. (But, that's what Google is for, I suppose) I then began imagining how many people of power and notoriety could have sat exactly where I was sitting. At that moment, I realized just how much history surrounded me, and was extremely humbled by it.

The second powerful experience I had was during our visit to the site where Anne Boleyn, among many others, was decapitated. The site had an overwhelmingly macabre feel to it, considering we had read and discussed Sir Thomas Wyatt’s poems only a few hours prior to our visit.

Memorial to those who lost their lives at the Tower. It was widely rumored that Queen Anne Boelyn and poet Sir Thomas Wyatt had relations with each other, much to the anger of Henry VIII. It is suspected that Boelyn is the subject of a portion of Wyatt's works.

Mask of an Executioner. Seems like we know where the Joker's smile came from. 

Just as I was taking it all in, I noticed one of the Tower’s seven Ravens standing all of three feet from me. I crouched down and started talking to it like I would to a dog, and it made no effort to run away. It stood there, as if it were listening to me. I was tempted to pet it. Luckily for us all, I was able to capture the moment on film.

Totally rad, man.

Those were two experiences that I would call “once in a lifetime”. I cannot wait to visit the Tower again, and become absorbed in a thousand years of history all over again.

View of the Tudor Houses from the White Tower. Notice the river Thames flowing in the background.

-Greg