Key Ceremony- Tower of London

"The Ceremony of the Keys is the traditional locking up of the Tower of London and has taken place on each and every night, without fail, for at least 700 years. The importance of securing this fortress for the night is still very relevant because, although the Monarch no longer resides at this royal palace, the Crown Jewels and many other valuables do."

Jonathan and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend this ceremony last night as special guests. Apparently it is incredibly hard to get tickets (numerous people have told us this), you have to send a request in writing months in advance, and you have even less of a chance of getting in if you're FROM here! But, because of Jonathan's connection to the Embassy, we were able to go last night.

We had a great time.... the evening started with a guided tour by one of the Yeomen Warders (or Beefeaters) giving us a history of the tower (or towers), showing us all the places where people were executed, where the various Monarchs lived and what they did, etc. It was fascinating to listen to, and very exciting! We went into the church where Ann Boleyn, along with many others, were buried (with their heads under their arms)!

Then before the actual ceremony our group was invited to The Club (the private bar where all the Yeomen Warders, and other guards drink) to chat and have a drink.... we spent the whole time talking with a couple Beefeaters who were hilarious (they only teased us a little for drinking diet coke!).

The actual ceremony was really short, and you couldn't really see that well, but it was neat to be there and know that it's been going on for hundreds of years!

After the ceremony we went back to The Club where they had a raffle, Jonathan won some cuff links. Then we headed home. We had a great evening, I felt honored to get the opportunity to be a part of something so historical and important.

(i would've taken pictures, but it was dark, and you couldn't take any pictures in the church or of the actual ceremony. we plan to go back during the day for one of the regular tours to see the crown jewels and walk around a little more.)