Pick Sure and Place: Brought to you by The Tower of London: Executions in Every Century Except the 21st! (so far...)

On Tuesday, I went to the Tower of London. This is something I had been looking forward to since I arrived in January. I got even more excited about it once I got into the groove of my Music and Politics in Tudor England course. I didn't know much about the Tudor dynasty before this term, so visiting the Tower of London was a nice bonus and made me realise how much I've learned - and how exciting history can be! (That's right kids!)

It was raining, so our tour guided by a Yeoman Warder (aka "beefeater") was cut short, but he was very energetic and informative. I was squealing with excitement when I found out the chapel we were sitting in housed the remains of Anne Boleyn, Robert Deveraux, Katherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey, and Thomas More, let alone the thousands of remains sitting in the tombs just next door. After the chapel, we checked out the memorial at the scaffolds, and then the Bloody Tower where two young heirs, Edward V and the Duke of York, mysteriously disappeared to and were ever seen again.

We then visited the main prison available to visitors, on the walls of which you can see preserved engravings made by various prisoners through the 16th and 17th centuries. Next on the list was the Crown Jewels. Lets just say I may have salivated a little bit. We also explored the White Tower, which was full of armory, weaponry, and other gaudy objects (with the exception of the simple and elegant Norman chapel).

We made a quick stop in the torture chamber, but I got a distinct unsettling feeling so I left pretty quickly. I can't say I've had many ghost encounters, but that may have been the closest I've been to one. We had just enough time to walk along the tower walls before leaving.

I still have a hard time grasping just how long these grounds have been home to British Royalty and their prisoners. Seeing the stones laid by the Romans right next to the whitewashed White Tower that has been standing, in some form, for almost 1000 years was pretty mind boggling. Though unlike the graceful Windsor Castle, this palace demonstrates its royalty through its bloody history.