Tower of London and Rome

Today we went to see the Tower of London which was built for defense purposes and later used as an important person prison ground and place of beheadings. We had an incredible tour guide that told amazing stories and had served in the British army for over 25 years. It is considered a high honor to be asked to work there and certainly comes with perks. One, he gets to live there and two all of of his children are allowed to get married at the royal chapel on the grounds. If his children do this and their children get christened there and this continues on for generations to come his family will always have access to this special royal chapel. 

Anne Boleyn and several other notable figures were beheaded on the property and were later given suitable burials in the chapel. There are thirteen inside towers and seven outer. The buildings were almost a thousand years old and just the concept of seeing them still standing completely blew my mind. We also got to see the royal coronation jewels which was really cool that the queen had it opened up to the public. 

After that we left to go gather up our luggage from the AIFS center to head to the airport. At the airport and before our flight, Dailey and I met a young woman that was from Rome (now lives in London) and had studied in the U.S. when she was in high school and loved it. She even said that she almost didn't come home and had a really hard time adjusting to life back in Europe. She reassured us that it would be very easy for us to find our way around and was so nice to us that it really put me at ease before we arrived.

We have now arrived at the B&B and it is so much nicer than I was expecting. I really hope we are able to find our way around tomorrow without a problem. It is a little overwhelming that they don't speak very good English but hopefully it will all work out. Luckily the girl running our B&B speaks good English so that worked out really well. She supplied us with maps to help us find the metro from where we were staying in the morning and gave us a map of the city.

This morning I felt so blessed to have Dailey and Jenn. They have been so kind to me this whole time and I'm so glad to have them. I don't know what I would've done without them. I told them today that I was really thankful for their kindness and teared up because I have been so emotional. They met me at my bus stop (an extra half hour from their home stay) so I wouldn't have to travel alone to the student center. I thought this was above and beyond the call of friendship and just can't describe the feeling I felt when I saw them walking up the hill to meet me.