Greetings again from England!  I finally managed to get some photos sorted out, so I can really immerse myself in my duties as @DNB's Foreign Correspondent!

Notice me proudly sporting my Shadwear in front of Big Ben, the famous clocktower that dominates the Parliament Buildings in London.  I was really stunned when I first saw it; the building is beautiful, and much more ornate and colourful than any picture can ever do justice to.  

And here I am, on the same day, in front of Churchill's War Bunker, which is not far from Buckingham Palace.  It wasn't open to visit at that time of day, so I have made a mental (and now virtual) note to go back and visit as soon as I can!

And here is my favourite London attraction so far - the Tower of London!  This building is the White Tower, which was built in the 1070s!  No, that's not a typo, that's literally when this tower was built, making it nearly a thousand years old.  The Tower was made particularly famous in the 1400s and beyond, when it was used as a prison for political prisoners, traitors, and most famously the second wife of King Henry VIII, Anne Boelyn, who was beheaded after being convicted of treason, on very dubious charges if you ask me...  The spot where she (and many others) were executed is marked by a very interesting glass sculpture, which lends the whole place a very ominous, ghostly feeling.  


The Tower is also the home of the famous Crown Jewels, and the world's largest diamond (530 carats!) which is part of a sceptre in the collection.  Of course, for security reasons, you can't take pictures inside the room where they are contained, but I would say that they alone are worth the trip to London from anywhere in the world... they were really quite stunning.  The majority of the Crown Jewels had to be re-made in the 1660s, after the Monarchy was overthrown and then re-established, so most of the jewelry dates from that time.


Okay, that about covers things for this installment.  While I am loving all the history here, I have to admit that I miss beautiful North Bay, which has its own rich and complicated history as well!


Posted by: Kyle

Oh - I wanted to add that @DNB's own Whitney, the Kidz Dayz coordinator at the musuem, gave me a mini-lesson on building an Inukshuk one day this summer, so I put that knowledge to good use, and built this one in front of my house here.  I hope that it's a message to all Canadians that my house here is a safe and welcoming place for them to be!  Thanks for the lesson, Whitney!