75. Things to do in London: The Tower of London and Tower Bridge

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The shark deck. Don't get closer. That was a test of English.

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You've stepped back. What's going on? Don't you speak English? Yeah,

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you do, get closer. Good
afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Yes,

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welcome to our attitude Royal Palace and
Fortress, the Tower of London. I'm

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having water, Bill Callahan, and
for the next hour or so, I'm

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gonna be your guy. Together,
we are gonna tour the town. I'm

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gonna point out some of the famous
buildings and structures. You're gonna look at

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them. Then I'm gonna boil you
to death with their history. Sound like

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a plant. This week it's a
visit to the Tower of London. One

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of the coolest things I did there
and I see it read it number two

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on most lists of what you should
do in London, number one being the

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British Museum. I'll cover that in
a future episode. The Tower of London

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historic fortress, nestled along the banks
of the River Thames and the heart of

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London. As you stepped through the
gates of this iconic landmark, prepared to

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embark on a journey through centuries,
a fascinating history, intrigue and legends.

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Historically it was for protection and control
of the city of London. As the

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gateway of the capital, the tower
was in effect the gateway of the new

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Norman Kingdom. Cited strategically at a
bend in the River Thames, It's been

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a crucial demarcation point between the power
of the developing city of London and the

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power of the monarchy. It had
the dual role of providing protection for the

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city through its defensive structure and the
provision of a garrison, and also controlling

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the citizens by the same means.
The tower literally towered over its surroundings until

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the nineteenth century. Let's listen to
a tour guide here. I'm gonna take

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you on a tour of the tower. I point out some historic buildings,

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telling stories relating to them. Okay, stories, ladies and gentlemen, and

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not necessarily the truth. William was
looking for someone that felt a citadel to

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impress and dominate the citizen of London. He chose a site just inside the

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Eastern city worlds where once a Roman
fort had stood, and at ten seventy

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eight he authored a Build English First
Royal Parlace and Forces. In this country

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today we referred to it as the
White Tower, and it's over there behind

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those buildings, and don't buy the
looking is behind those buildings. So let's

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ad up until the White Tower,
the oldest and most iconic building within the

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complex. It was built by William
the Conqueror in the eleventh century. The

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White Tower stands as a symbol of
Norman power. Inside you will discover the

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awe inspiring medieval palace where kings and
queens once resided. Marvel at the beautifully

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restored interiors or doing with period furniture, tapestries, and armor at giving you

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a glimpse into the royal life of
the past. I also remember realizing how

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much smaller people were back in the
day. When you see the king's bed,

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you have a better bed in your
house than the king had. I'll

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tell you that. Inside the White
Tower you'll find the three hundred and fifty

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year old exhibition line of Kings,
which includes suits of armor worn by Henry

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the Eighth, Charles the First,
and James the Second. Keep an eye

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out for the towers famous ravens who
were set to guard the structure. The

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White Tower is part of a World
Heritage Site. Inside it a unique Romanesque

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chapel, The beautiful eleventh century chapel
of Saint John the Evangelist. Most of

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the towers windows were enlarged in the
eighteenth century. Only two original examples now

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remain in the south wall at gallery
level. The chapel was built for William

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the Conqueror, but he died before
its completion. It was first used by

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his son William the Second. King
Henry the Third had stained glass windows depicting

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the Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity
in around twelve forty a d. The

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chapel was also provided with such ornamentation
as a gold paint across in Henry's reign.

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The Chapel of Saint John's current barre
and unadorned appearance is reminiscent of how

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it would have looked back in the
Norman era. On the same floor as

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the chapel or the great rooms,
one of those contains a Norman fireplace,

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which is quite rare in Britain.
The fireplace sent it through holes in the

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side of the wall. Originally there
was protecting who to keep the smoke out

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of the room. It's also bloody
tower where dark stories of imprisonment and execution

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unfold. Discover the chilling tales of
notable prisoners, including the tragic fate of

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two young princes who mysteriously vanished within
the walls. Let your imagination run wild,

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minded tire London has been a palace
and fortress here for nearly a thousand

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years. Did I mention the word
prison? It was never a prison.

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It was always a palace and fortress. Beneficially, we did a three and

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a half thousand prisoners here. Many
people think that's all the tarriblender needs er

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all. Many people think all our
prisoners were executed. They all were executed

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three hundred and sixty three. It's
not that bad. It's about one in

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ten. It's obviously fat. I
feel that one. Yes, I understad

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that. Next another thing you want
to do that, you're absolutely going to

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do it. You'd be insane if
you didn't go to the Jewel House and

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see the Crown Jewels. Crown Jewels
a Great Britain are displayed in the New

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Jewel House, which was built back
in nineteen ninety four on the specially restored

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ground floor of the Waterloo Block of
the Tower of London. The display is

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organized to follow the sequence in which
the jewels are used in the coronation ceremony

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to innovative moving walkways prevent overcrowding in
front of the display cases containing the masterpieces.

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And they just recently and by recently
I mean May twenty sixth, open

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a new display at the Jewel House. This one features images and footages from

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coronations, including King Charles's that just
happened. The exhibit showcases Queen Camilla's coronation

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crown for the first time that was
made for Queen Mary nineteen eleven and adapted

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for the recent coronation. Charles Ferris
is a historian for historic royal Palaces.

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He said, we wanted to do
with ref show the Jewelhouse, but we

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didn't know it's going to be a
coronation year. It's an amazing opportunity to

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showcase this amazing collection while it's in
the public eye, as it hasn't been

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for many years. There's a new
found context for a lot of people that

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recognize some of the objects from the
ceremony. In November, the Tower of

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London will also host an immersive sound
and light installation that celebrates the collection that

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will feature imagery and footage of monarchs
and coronations pass and it'll run nine nights

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in November. It'll take place inside
the inner ward of the tower, projected

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on buildings which stood for nearly one
thousand years. The New Jewelhouse exhibition is

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included in general admissions. You don't
stress about that. We'll take a break

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and then we'll walk across Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge. You'll see it right

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outside the Tower of London. Now, let's be real. A lot of

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Americans, you probably think it's London
Bridge. This is the iconic bridge you

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see in all the pictures. That
one again. You know you grew up.

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You heard London Bridge is falling down. You see this bridge and all

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the pictures, you assume that's London
Bridge. That's actually Tower Bridge. We'll

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talk about London Bridge in a second. Tower Bridge is the one in the

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photos. Tower Bridge is the one
you want to see. Tower Bridge a

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magnificent feet of Victorian engineering that spans
the River TAM's adjacent to the tower.

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Take a stroll across the high level
walkway is offering breathtaking panoramic views of the

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city. You can also check out
the Tower Bridge exhibition. I did not

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have time to do that myself.
Where interactive displays and exhibitions illuminate the story

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behind the icon. Tower Bridge is
a working bridge. There's cars on it.

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Oh yeah. There's also like this
really nice river promenade that you can

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walk along there by the Tower Villon
and end by Tower Bridge. You want

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to do that as well, So
go check that out, walk across,

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check out the local area, and
you can also see London Bridge. Now,

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the London Bridge that you're going to
see, it's only about thirty years

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old. They took the old one
down, took it apart, and it

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was rebuilt as a tourist attraction in
Arizona. That sounds like an urban legend.

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Look it up. So you can
look at that and be like,

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oh, I see what You'reatting back
side about London Bridge isn't going to press

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you. Tower Bridge is and compared
to everything else in London, Tower Bridge

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is kind of knew itself. It
only opened in eighteen ninety four. It's

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a youngster, I'm telling you.
In the area. There's a church it

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was there that has been around since
the year six hundred. We don't have

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things like that in America. Maybe
you go up to Boston and you'll see

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like a seventeen twenty three out of
building. We don't have stuff this old

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alight. Next week I think I'll
do the London Museum. It should be

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a fun episode. You can follow
this show for free on Apple Podcasts or

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Spotify YouTube, wherever you get your
shows. Traveler is back. All right,

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enough with the negativity. Hi,
I'm Johnny Mack, host of Five

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Good News Stories. It's a podcast
twice a week. Every episode a curate,

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five heartwarming, uplifting news stories from
around the world, showcasing the best

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of humanity, tales of kindness,
fun animal stories, quirky items in the

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news, and you know what,
more often than not, something about McDonald's

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can't explain why. I'll bring you
a range of stories that will leave you

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