Hever Castle

I had my first vistors from the good ol' U.S. of A.!  My parent were able to come out to see me and visit England for the first time.  Since they were here I decided that we needed to take a road trip and visit some of the places that were on my list of things to do here in England that can't be reached by train.  And lets face it, road trips are a lot more fun when there is someone with you!

The first place we went to was Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn.  Over the last few years I have been reading a lot about Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII.  So I knew I had to visit here.  To be perfectly honest with you, I got into the Tudor history by first watching The Tudors on Showtime.  And as a side note, I think Henry VIII would have had a few more wives if he looked like Jonathan Rhys Meyers!

The oldest part of Hever Castle dates back to 1270.  It grew over the 15th and 16th century and eventually came to be owned by the Boleyn family.  Anne spent her early childhood here and is the most famous inhabitant of the castle.  But she isn't the only famous inhabitant of the castle.  After Anne lost her head, the castle came under Henry VIII  possession.  He bestowed it to Anne of Cleves, his 4th wife, as part of the settlement of their annulment.  As the years went on, the castle was owned by several different families and fell into disrepair.  In 1903, American William Waldorf Astor purchased and restored it, using it as a family home.  Astor not only restored the castle, but he also bulit the "Tudor Villiage" and created the gardens and lake.

In what seems to be a big trend here in England, I wasn't able to take pictures inside the castle.  You also weren't able to tour the Tudor Villiage as it is only private events.  There is a lot of history of Anne and Henry VIII, as well as his other 5 wives throughout the castle.  There is a large collection of Tudors paintings as well.  The picture of Anne is probably my favorite.  There was also quite a bit of family pictures and history of the Astor family the further in you got.

There is a Yew maze just outside of the castle that was planted in 1904.  We actually made our way through it to find the center and our way out.  There really wasn't anything speaical in the middle, it was just nice to say we did it.

The gardens were amazing, even this time of the year.  I can only imgaine how beautiful it is in the spring and summer when all the flowers are bloom.  There are several different gardens that you can walk through and around.  There is also about an hour long walk that you can take around the lake.  We opted not to do that as it was a bit muddy and was starting to get late.  Here are just a couple photos of the gardens and the lake.



There is a really chess set made out of bushes on display outside of the castle.  I really can't explain it any better than the sign in front of it did, so I am just going to quote it here for you.

"The Tudor Chess Set -- The Topiary Chess Set is formed from Golden Yew and is based on the style of chess pieces used in the time of King Henry VIII.  It was planted in 1905 for William Waldorf Astor.  Standing in front of the chess set is an armillary sphere sundial dating from 1710. This astronomical instrument was used to measure the altitude of the sun, moon and stars, from which it was possible to estimate both time and latitude."

I always wonder if you guys ever think that I actually go to these places, since I usually don't include any pictures of myself on here.  But I promise, I do go to all these places!  I usually don't have anyone with me to take my picture.  But since my parents were with me, I was able to get a picture of me and one of my parents as well!



London Baby!! Part 1, Tower of London

I finally made a trip into London.  Or as I should say "London Baby!" 

My friends and I are big Friends fans and ever since I found out that I was coming to England, "London Baby!" has been said a lot.

I am still looking for a Union Jack hat to bring home.  I also have to remember to get a picture of me "inside the map" while I am in London.  I forgot this trip, but will try to remember for the next one.  I found a clip of Joey wearing this hat the other day and I'm pretty sure that this was filmed near the Tower of London.  So I figured it was fitting since that is what this blog is about.

The Tower of London is located on the north bank of the River Thames in Central London.  The first part of it was built in 1066.  Since that time it has served as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, home of the Royal mint, a public records office and home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

The Tower has several actors around to help transport you back in time.  They interact with themselves as well as the visitors to the Tower.  One of them is a bishop.  I asked if I could have my photo taken with him and he agreed.

Before the picture was taken he blessed me. And as the picture was being taken he said, "unless you are from Scotland. Then may the devil vomit on your face!"  So if you are from Scotland and visiting the Tower, don't tell the bishop where you are from!

White Tower

White Tower is the first part of the the Tower that was built.  It is a keep, which is often the strongest structure in a medieval castle, containing lodgings suitable for the King.  It is where Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was imprisoned while she was on trail for incest and treason.

Today it holds the Royal Armory of the past Kings.  It also has displays of the horses the different Kings rode. This is Henry VIII's armor and horse.

There are spiral staircases all over the Tower of London.  In the White Tower there is a spiral staircase that you have to walk down from the top floor to the ground level.  It is just about the never-ending stair case!  I will be very happy if I never have to see another spiral staircase, however I don't think I will be that lucky.

Traitors Gate

Traitors Gate is part of the St. Thomas's Tower in the Tower of London.  It was built to be a water entrance into the Tower.  The name Traitors Gate came about in the 17th century.  Prisoners were brought by barge along the Thames under the London Bridge, where heads of recently executed were displayed on pikes.  This is where 2 of Henry VIII wives, Queen Anne Boleyn and Queen Catherine Howard, entered.

Only 7 people were actually executed in the Tower before the World Wars.  Both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were on that list of 7.  They have a monument where the executions were thought to have taken place.

Yeoman Warders

Yeoman Warders have been the Royal Body guard since at least 1509.  They are more commonly known as Beefeaters.  It's not certain where this term came from, but most likely it is because they once recieved payment in rations of beef.

They give tours of the Tower of London and they also will stop and take pictures and answer any questions about the Tower you might have.  One was kind enough to take a picture with me and my friend Christine.

To become a Beefeater you have to be retired from the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth realms and must be former senior non-commissioned officers with at least 22 years of service.  They get to live inside the fortress along with their famlies.  However, they must own a home outside for when they retire.  I kept thinking how cool it would be to say that you live in the Tower of London.  Not very many people get to say that.

The Ravens

There is always at least 7 common ravens living at the Tower.  It is traditioinally believed that they protect the Crown and the Tower.  A supersition suggests that "If the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it."  They make sure that there are always ravens there...just to be on the safe side.

It is another job of the Beefeaters to look after the ravens.  They serve them 8oz of meat everyday.  Every other day they get a boiled egg.  The also eat chopped apples and grapes.  Apparently, the ravens love cheese.  They live on average, 40 years.

All in all, the ravens have it pretty good.  They can go where they want in the Tower.  They just can't go very far.  One of their wings are clipped to keep them from flying long distances.  They also all have names.  I think the Beefeaters cheat by putting color bands on them to tell them apart.  You can get very close to the ravens.  Although most people tend to stay away.  They are big birds, and as I heard several people say, with big beaks. 

The Crown Jewels

The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom are kept here at the Tower.  They are housed in the Waterloo Barracks.  They don't allow you to take photos inside so I can't share any of what I saw with you.  I can tell you that there are a lot of sparkles in here!

If you noticed in the picture there is a long queue to get inside to see the jewels.  I haven't really figured out why.  We walked by once and the queue was long, so we decided to tour White Tower first.  When we got out of there, the queue was gone and we were able to walk right in.  They even have a moving sidewalk inside to keep people from looking for to long,  We walked back by later on in the day and the queue was long again.  It was the strangest thing. 

If you are in London, the Tower of London is a must.  Just beware of the queues...and the sprial staircases!  You need the better part of the day to see it all.  This was on my must see list before I came and it didn't disappoint!