London, England - Tower of London

Top of the list was the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.  I also had the Tower Bridge on my list and wanted to go to the top level museum.  Also, I crossed my fingers that a ship was passing and the bridge was raised.

RED POPPY UPDATE [Late October, sent to me by Terry Sloane]
This is an aerial shot of the progress of the poppies.  I will make reference to this photo when I show the poppy photos.  "Top" is alongside the river.  For our reference, we approached the Tower from the lower left corner, where all of the trees are grouped.  You can see a line of buses alongside the sidewalk.  We walked along the bottom from left to right. We then entered the large plaza on the right and and entered on the right side near the top.  You can see a walkway between the spilling poppies.  We walked all inside and existed from the top, the side along the river.

The first thing that we saw was the remembrance poppies planted in the Tower moat for those who were lost in WWI, 100 years ago for the UK.  The flowers aren't completely placed yet, but the field is growing and growing.  There will be more than 800,000 ceramic poppies planted.  The first poppy was planted in July and the final one is due on Armistice Day.  "The Blood Swept Lands and Seas" exhibition is done by artist Paul Cummins.

 This is the view of the poppies from near the river.  [UPDATE: if you look at the aerial photo, this is in the upper right hand corner.]

 The other artwork scattered around are life-size animals representing the Royal Menegerie. "Wire Animal Sculptures" are by artist Kendra Haste and are located all about the Tower.  A lot of animals were brought to the Tower of London and housed there.  This art exhibit recognizes the

 A peak at "The Shard".

 This marks the area where people used to be beheaded.  The memorial was designed by British artist Brian Catling.  The disks are scribed and invite people to walk around the memorial.  It was installed September 4, 2006 (no wonder we didn't see it on our 2006 adventure and tour of the Tower of London.)

 More of the Royal Menegerie.

 This soldier and several others were presenting life stories about World War I.

 A sneak peak at the Tower Bridge from along the river.

 A river front view of the extremely tall "The Shard".

 More poppies overflow in to the dry moat. [UPDATE: These poppies are on the right side.]

[UPDATE: These poppies are on the bottom right corner.]

 Look closely, there is an archer perched on top.

 Always notice the street sweepers!

 More from the Royal Menegerie.

 Our "Beefeater" giving a rousing talk about the location.

 A lawn area with Ravens. As long as the Ravens stay, all is good with the crown.

 We couldn't take photos of the Crown Jewels. This photo reminds us that the line was not long and that we were able to see everything without long waits.

We took a break and had lunch at a very nice cafe on site.

Want to see more poppy photos?  Google "Tower of London Poppies" and click on the images.