Tower Dungeon

Okay, so this was awesome, even if somewhat unexpected. It's a haunted house. It really didn't even occur to me that it would be, because it's, you know, the middle of summer.

Now when I look at the phamplet it's obvious, but it wasn't when I bought the ticket. I just thought it was a historical, themed tour.

When you go in they'll search your bags for weapons, then put you through a line. There was something like 60 people there when I went and at least 25 in my group.

My ticket was 20 pounds, but that included the Jack the Ripper tour that I went on later in the day. I believe I got a discount for paying for the two together, and I also got 3 pounds off for having a student ID card.

So the tour was pretty great. When you first get inside you stand in a line and wait to be let into the first part of the tour. When you get in a woman ushers you through a door and down a ways. Then she goes and stands on a podium and beckons you to get closer and closer to her. She doesn't speak the entire time, then finally when you're all close she yells, and pounds her staff on the floor. I knew it was coming, but it still got me.

From there you go through a mirror maze and finally to another guide. They take you from one room to another, guide to guide. The actors were all great, and the decorations were fun.

Even though it is a haunted house they still talk about a lot of historical things that happened in London during different points in history. The plague, The Great Fire of London, Jack the Ripper. It was definitely interesting.

The only part that I can think of that was not historical in nature was Sweeney Todd, but how could they leave him out? That part was pretty fun. They put you in a room with chairs that move like a barber chair, and blow air at the back of your head so it feels like you're getting a haircut. Plus they keep the room dark the entire time.

The final part of the tour they give you the option of "hanging" or "freedom." It reminds me of the "cake or death," joke by Eddie Izzard:

"Cake or death?"
"Eh, cake please."
"Very well! Give him cake!"
"Oh, thanks very much. It's very nice."
"You! Cake or death?"
"Uh, cake for me, too, please."
"Very well! Give him cake, too! We're gonna run out of cake at this rate. You! Cake or death?"
"Uh, death, please. No, cake! Cake! Cake, sorry. Sorry..."
"You said death first, uh-uh, death first!"
"Well, I meant cake!"
"Oh, all right. You're lucky I'm the Church of England!" Cake or death?"”

 Really, which would you choose? All they do really is take you on one of those rides were they belt you in then take you up really high and drop you. Most everyone chose hanging. I chose freedom for two reasons. First, I don't like being dropped. No thank you! Second, I had my backpack with me and it can't go on the ride. So if you plan on doing this keep that in mind. I just didn't feel comfortable leaving my backpack behind.

Actually it was pretty funny, because as I was walking out a big tough looking guy who had been in my group came out with me. I was a little surprised to see him. Anyway, he looked at me and said, "So you chose freedom too, huh?" I thought that was pretty funny.

It's not that difficult to find at all. If you come out of Tower hill station, you'll need to cross Tower Bridge. From there keep walking straight until you come to Tooley Street. Turn right and stay on Tooley Street until you reach it. If you see the Shard (a glass building that looks like a shard of glass,) you are heading in the right direction. It'll be on the left side of the street.

If you come out of London Bridge Station, you'll turn right on Tooley and keep walking until you see it on the right hand side of the street.

If you come out of Monument Station you'll need to cross the London Bridge. It's the Bridge that runs parallel to the Tower Bridge across the Thames. Once you get across the bridge, keep walking straight until you get to Tooley Street. Turn left. Keep walking down Tooley until you see it on the right hand side of the street.

The Gift shop was pretty rock awesome. They had all sorts of souvenirs. Clothing, mugs, glass skulls, Harry Potter wands (I'm still trying to work that one out, cuz Harry was never mentioned,) postcards, books, magnets, even food, etc. I bought this spiffy magnet there.

Tower Bridge

The world famous Tower Bridge was made in 1894. I thought it was older than that. Still that's pretty cool.

Everyone crossing the bridge on foot wanted to take a picture of this. I was no different. For a minute though I thought that there was going to be some random stranger in it. It's situated well onto the bridge, so if want a picture too, just start walking across the bridge and you'll see it. 

There was a lot of traffic, car and foot. 

So this was pretty exciting. The Bridge, while completely functioning, doesn't open on a schedule. The likelihood of seeing it open is pretty rare. 

In 1993 the Bridge opened to the public, which means you can now go on tours inside it, instead of just walking across it. I didn't take a tour, but it was still fun to walk across. 

There was a security guard on the bridge at a gate toward the middle of the bridge to make sure no one would try and cross it before it went up. People were really excited to see it raise. I even heard a couple of British women say that they'd never seen it open before. That made me feel pretty cool. Here, I'd seen the bridge for about fifteen minutes and it was already raising. Maybe not fair, but pretty sweet awesome.

If you want to see the Bridge for yourself you can take the London Underground (Train,) to the Tower Hill stop on the District and Circle Lines. (This is where a tube map comes in handy.)

There are also Hop on Hop off bus tours that go by the bridge. The bridge is in a popular tourist area. Other nearby attractions include the Tower of London with their famous Beef Eater Tours, the Tour Dungeon, and a Jack the Ripper Tour, amongst other things.

Look Out!

I don't know about you, but I'm intimidated. Nothing quite as scary as a neighborhood watch Meerkat. 

How To Ride The Tube

Welcome to the Underground. Sounds so sinister, but it's actually just the tube, train, trax, six rail, whatever. Marble Arch is the one closest to my house. It's usually pretty busy because it's on Oxford Street which is a very busy shopping district. As with many of the stations in London you walk in and down a flight of stairs.

When I first went in to buy my Oyster Card, or rail card, I went to one of these machines. They must work because people use them all the time, as you can see from the picture. I, however, had no success with them. I tried using both of my cards and it wouldn't take them. I think that it might be for filling up your Oyster once you already have it. I'm just not sure.

I should have just gone here. It was quick and easy and my credit card worked here. They give you the card in a little plastic cover. You can put 20, 40, 60 pound plus on it, or you can buy a season pass, which is a month three months, etc. The month pass is 112 pounds.There are also tube maps just off to the side of the information desk. If you take the tube you'll need to get one of these.

Then you tap on and off. Usually most of them are closed, so make sure you look for the little green arrow that indicates you can walk through. Just tap your oyster card on the yellow pad, the gate will swing open and you can walk through. It's really simple.

When you get down to the trains it'll have a list of stops going north, east, south, or west. Just make sure you are heading toward the stop you want.

Then you ride the rail to where ever you want to go. These are my roommates. From left to right: Brooke, David, Kyle, and Maddie. Brooke usually poses for pictures. I don't know what she was doing here. It was really cute though.