It seems to me that London is a city where there is no shortage of history. I visited the Tower of London and was given a guided tour. With each date going back to the 1000s, I was astonished that I was standing in the middle of a structure over one thousand years old. And to think that all of it was right in the middle of a modern city, one of the most metropolitan cities in the world.
I particularly enjoyed my tour guide, who had enough wit to keep the tour entertaining for the whole hour of it. He was open for questions as well, and because all of us were from out of town, there was plenty.
My favorite part of the Tower was probably getting to see the crown jewels. The building in which they are held is guarded, and I managed to see the last bit of the guards changing. It was incredible to see the belongings of the rulers so far before Elizabeth II, and even her own crown was presented in the tower.
I can’t help but think of the way London has changed over the thousands of years it has stood, and how much the people have changed too. I look at bricks thousands of years older than me but I like to think about the person who held them in his own hands. What was he like? Would we even understand each other if we were to meet? London’s history has a funny way of making me think impossible things.
teafor0ne 