There is a group of ravens that live in the Tower of London. There are at least seven of them (actually six, with a seventh in reserve.) The ravens are believed to protect the Crown and the Tower. A superstition holds that “If the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it.”

We visited The Tower of London with the Bennett’s and went on a tour led by a Beefeater who was pretty funny. Beefeaters are guards at the Tower and are actually called Yeoman Warders. They are technically responsible for looking after prisoners at the Tower and safeguarding the British crown jewels, but nowadays they act as tour guides. Many people wonder where they got that name. Some say it comes from the French word ‘buffetier’. Buffetiers were guards in the palace of French kings and protected the king’s food. The most common belief is that the name Beefeater originated from the time when the guards were paid part of their salary with chunks of beef. This took place right up until the 1800s.

London was horribly bombed from 1940 to 1943. The city suffered a second barrage of flying bombs and rockets from 1944 to 1945. About a quarter of London was destroyed. Quite a number of older London buildings show scarring from the bombings. Incidentally, these markings are incorrectly called shrapnel. Interesting!

This is pretty cool- a huge bronze horse head in London. I love it! When we toured around the city, we saw lots of great art. We also went to a place where many people’s heads were cut off. The public would make a party out of be-headings and hangings by drinking heavily. The day after the hangings, they wouldn’t be feeling very well so the term “hangover” was invented!

Westminster Abbey has been around for more than a thousand years and has been the coronation church since 1066. It is also the final resting place of seventeen monarchs!