My first trip to London really satisfied two of my great interests: prisons and tea. I specifically enjoyed the Tower of London, the Clink prison, and having my first official afternoon tea at the Savoy.
The Tower of London’s history is fairly gruesome. Parts of it are rumored to be haunted my many ghosts, including Anne Boleyn. I’m interested in ghosts and ghost legends, but I didn’t happen to see any during my visit. I did get to see the ravens up close, which live in the Tower. I also really enjoyed looking at the prisoner graffiti in the Inner and Outer Ward Towers. Many prisoners carved graffiti into the walls during the 1530s-1670s. I also liked seeing Sir Walter Raleigh’s cell in the Bloody Tower and his writing desk.
One great place to see in London that I loved was the Clink Prison Museum, which is built on the original site of the Clink Prison. Unlike the famous prisoners of the Tower of London, the inmates this prison housed were more average. The best part is that the museum is very hands on, so I could test out old torture devices handle a lot of old items. There is also a lot of gory information about how punishment used to be handled, which was very interesting to read. Also, it was almost completely empty when I went in the middle of a rainy London day.
After a day full of sightseeing and gruesome history, my favorite part of being in London was getting to have afternoon tea. It was nice to get all dressed up and head to the Savoy, which is one of London’s most famous hotels, for afternoon tea. In the U.S., it is almost impossible to find an afternoon tea service like this, which includes unlimited pots of delicious British tea, an endless array of adorable tea sandwiches, and a large assortment of pastries and desserts. Plus, it is fun to stay in a place that has been graced by numerous celebrities, including Claude Money, King Edward VII, Charlie Chaplin, Audrey Hepburn, Babe Ruth, and even Bob Dylan.