We were ambitious and got up early to go see the Tower of London. Woof if you think you’re having a bad day, go listen to the “beefeaters” tell their “favorite stories.” The theme of the day was murder, torture and execution. Including Lady Jane Grey...nothing like a history lesson when you’re standing where she watched her headless husband wheeled off while watching the scaffold for her own beheading being built outside her window. Her crime? Being born.
We opted to do all of the gory towers first so the royal jewels and chapel would be a welcome reprieve. The chapel was my favorite part of the day. Despite the horribleness of the executions (many of the 46 victims were buried under the chapel until recently and the three Queens beheaded there are still under the altar), the chapel was peaceful and teeming with history.
So far many of my favorite places to visit have been the chapels. It’s a welcome surprise – in the last few years I’ve struggled to find where religion fits into my life. Of course hearing stories of Catholics harboring away and risking their lives to celebrate their beliefs reminds me my ancestors were badasses. Everyone has their moment in history, but for a lot of British history while everyone else was in class, the Catholic kids were smoking in the bathroom.
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