ENGLAND TRIP: Day 4, Part 10: Tower of London!

After Hampton Court Palace, we returned back to London and visited the Tower of London. Here's the thing- it's NOT just a "tower." It's an entire castle that was once used as such by royalty. It also served as a prison.
  The weather was VERY uncooperative. In fact, we had downpours, and it was quite chilly. 

Outside the Tower of London

TOWER QUICK FACTS FOR YOU
 Tower of London (also called Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, is a castle located on the River Thames in London. It was founded in 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The "Tower" is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat.
  Since 1100, the castle was used as a prison in part, but it also served as a royal residence. As a whole,  There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.
  HERE'S A VIDEO AS WE APPROACHED THE TOWER FROM THE OUTSIDE: 

FIRST STOP: 
The Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula ("St. Peter in chains") is the parish church of the Tower of London. It is situated within the Tower's Inner Ward and dates from 1520. It is a Royal Peculiar. The name refers to St. Peter's imprisonment under Herod Agrippa in Jerusalem. The Chapel is probably best known as the burial place of some of the most famous prisoners executed at the Tower.

Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula

FAMOUS PEOPLE BURIED IN THAT CHURCH: 
Three queens: Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, the second and fifth wives of Henry VIII, respectively, and Lady Jane Grey, who reigned for nine days in 1553. George Boleyn, brother of Anne, was also buried here after his execution in 1536, as were Edmund Dudley and Sir Richard Empson, tax collectors for Henry VII, and Guildford Dudley, husband to Lady Jane Grey, in February 1554, after being executed on Tower Green.
Thomas More and John Fisher, who incurred the wrath of Henry VIII, were subsequently executed, and later canonised as martyrs by the Roman Catholic Church, are also buried here; Philip Howard, a third saint who suffered under the Tudors, was also buried here for a time before his body was relocated to Arundel.

THE GHOST OF ANNE BOLEYN:  According to the website: (http://www.guide-to-castles-of-europe.com/tower-of-london-ghosts.html) the most persistent ghost in The Tower of London is the ghost of Queen Anne Boleyn.

King  Henry VIII accused Queen Anne of infidelity after he learned the baby boy she carried for nine months was stillborn.She was taken to TOWER GREEN and was beheaded on May 19, 1536. Anne's ghost is said to appear near the Queen’s House (on the Tower grounds), close to the site where her execution was carried out. Reports say she's seen leading a ghostly procession down the aisle of the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula. Anne's ghost floats down the aisle to her final resting place - She's buried under the Chapel’s altar. Her headless body has also been seen walking the corridors of the Tower! 

ROB'S GHOSTLY ENCOUNTER:
We managed to get in a short guided tour of the Chapel. As we walked in, I (Rob) became very uncomfortable. Sitting down in the pew, the discomfort level increased. I was anxious, nervous and even teared up. I felt like it was a woman's spirit who was tortured (mentally). I came to find out that the ghost of Anne Boleyn haunts the church, and believe it was, in fact her ghost, sharing those emotions. Remember, she was one of Henry VIII's wives who was beheaded, so the pain, and anguish she experienced leading up to her death was still being felt afterward.
HERE'S THE VIDEO I RECORDED AFTER WE LEFT THE CHURCH: