Located on the banks of the River Thames, the Tower of London is one of Britain’s most visited attractions. It was erected by William the Conqueror in the 11th century, it used to be a political prison and place of execution. With over 400 years of gruesome history of torture, violence, execution and murder it’s no wonder the Tower is considered to be one of Britain’s most haunted places in addition to being its oldest fortress, palace and prison. The first ghost allegedly spotted in the building was Thomas Beckett’s, in the 13th century. 

WHAT YOU CAN EXPERIENCE:

One of the Tower’s most well-known ghosts is that of Anne Boleyn, the famous wife of Henry VIII whom he had beheaded in the Tower in 1536. It is said that the ghost of Lady Jane Grey also is at the castle. People have reported seeing phantom carriages, and dogs are even too afraid to go near the Salt Tower, where royalty used to be held before execution.

TOURIST INFORMATION:

Apart from the ghosts, one of the main reasons to visit the Tower is to see the working collection of Crown Jewels. There are 23,578 in the collection including one of the world’s most famous diamonds. There is so much to see at the Tower, such as the ‘Yeomen of the Guard’, the Ravens, Henry VIII’s armour, instruments of torture in Lower Wakefield Tower and the Traitors Gate, that one day may not be enough to explore it!

Address: 202-203 Grange Road, London SE1 3AA, United Kingdom

Admission fee: children £9.50, adults £ 16.50
web: www.hrp.org.uk/toweroflondon/

With some 900 years of history behind it, it would almost be a surprise if Edinburgh Castle wasn’t one of Scotland’s scariest sites. Over one million visitors come to see the castle every year. Built high upon a non-active volcano overlooking the city, Edinburgh Castle has a very haunted history. The Castle has a hidden underworld of secret tunnels built beneath it. When these tunnels were first discovered several hundred years ago, a piper was sent to explore. He kept playing so that his progress could be tracked by those above. About halfway down the Royal Mile the piping suddenly stopped. When a rescue party was sent, there was no trace of the piper. He had simply vanished. The lone piper’s ghost still haunts Edinburgh today, walking endlessly along the underground tunnel beneath the Royal Mile, the old city’s bustling main thoroughfare. His music can sometimes be heard from within the castle. Edinburgh also has its dungeons where prisoners were incarcerated, tortured and often perished. Like many castles, these dungeons are haunted by the ghosts of their victims. If the castle’s paranormal activity isn’t enough, Edinburgh also boasts the Mary Kings Close, an underground area of the city in which victims of the Black Plague were quarantined and left to die.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPERIENCE:

Many people have heard the sound of ghostly drums within Edinburgh castle, however few have seen the drummer. The reason for this is that the drummer ghost only appears when the castle is about to be attacked. Visitors in haunted areas report paranormal experiences, like shadowy figures, sudden drops in temperature and the feeling of something tugging on their clothes.

TOURIST INFORMATION:

There are several companies that run ghoulish ghost tours which depart from Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Their expert guides will take great pleasure in describing the rather brutal and often public punishments handed down to the citizens of Edinburgh, tell you stories of body snatchers, walk you round some of Edinburgh’s haunted closes and wynds and descend you into murky candle-lit vaults deep below Edinburgh’s city streets!

Address: Castle Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2NG, Scotland
Admission fee: children £ 7 , adults £ 13
web: www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk

– S jelenleg min dolgozik a zene területén? Készülnek az új dalok?

– Már nagyon nehéz újabb dalokkal sikert aratni. Nehéz a befogadó rész,
vannak terveink de a jelenlegi gazdasági helyzet nem alkalmas arra hogy
előrukkoljunk ezekkel. Reméljük lesz egy olyan időszak, amikor változni fog és
akkor győzünk.

– Mik azok a gondolatok, amiket a dalok útján szeretnének átadni az
embereknek?

– Én soha nem foglalkoztam politikával, nincsenek politikai gondolataim. A mi
zenénk az mindig a szeretetről, a szerelemről és a barátságról szól. Én ezen nem
akarok változtatni. Azt szeretném, ha az emberekkel jól éreznénk magunkat, és ők
úgy hallgatnák meg a zenéket, hogy ne gondolkozzanak azon, mit is mondunk.
Felhőtlen szórakozás legyen.

– Visszatérve a pókerre mennyire tartja veszélyesnek azt, hogy az emberek
akár a vagyonukat elveszíthetik miatta?

– Nem tartom veszélyesnek. A póker egy olyan játék, ami tét nélkül is
csodálatos szórakozást jelent mindenkinek.

Queen Mary Long Beach

Set against the backdrop of the dramatic Long Beach city skyline, the Queen Mary ship has been a coastal icon in California since 1967. She was purchased by the city at a cost of $3.5 million, and has been a tourist attraction and hotel ever since.

Veronica Hill of California Travel Tips tours this massive ship and learns a little bit more about its ghostly residents and the Queen Mary history.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Cunard Queen Mary launched at Clydebank, Scotland in 1934, and was the most luxurious ocean liner of Her time.

Roughly twice the size of Titanic, the RMS Queen Mary sailed the Atlantic for White Star Lines between 1936 and 1967.

Designed in the Art Deco style, this ship boasted the finest materials and modern comforts, including puncalouvers for air conditioning and a choice of fresh or salt water in the bath.

During its heydey, the Queen Mary carried famous passengers such as Fred Astaire, Greta Garbo, and Winston Churchill, who signed D-Day invasion plans right on the ship.

In fact, during World War 2, the Queen Mary became a troopship, swiftly transporting as many as 16,000 soldiers at a time. She was one of the fastest and largest ships in the War.

Adolph Hitler offered a $250,000 bounty for the ship, which was nicknamed the Grey Ghost. The Queen Mary weighs over 81,000 tons and stretches more than 1,000 feet.

Today, the Queen Mary Hotel in Long Beach offers a bit of nostalgia in a very modern city, with several fine restaurants and 365 updated staterooms, complete with flat-screen TVs and iPod docking stations.

Check out the Upper Deck, where you can get great views of the Long Beach skyline, then head over to the Observation Bar, which was once the First Class Lounge. In the Verandah Grill, you’ll spy a famous painting of Marie Antionette with a mouse in her hair.

Dozens of Queen Mary tours are offered day and night, but by far the most entertaining are the Queen Mary ghost tour and Queen Mary Dinner with the Spirits Tour, hosted by paranormal expert Erika Frost.

The paranormal investigation starts out with a gourmet Continental meal at Sir Winstons, which is worth a visit even if you don’t go on the Queen Mary tour, followed by a 2-hour exploration into the most haunted Queen Mary hallways and rooms.

Walking down into the ships engine room, Frost uses dousing rods and a recording device to connect with the most famous Queen Mary ghost John Pedder, who was killed during a drill in 1966.

“John got crushed in a door during a game of chicken or last man standing with friends,” says Frost. “He is the Casper of the Queen Mary. John is a person who’s in transition, he’s a lot of fun.”

Other ghost sightings include soldiers marching down empty hallways, a man wearing black boots in the restroom of Sir Winstons, and a very angry spirit named Henry who is believed to haunt the ships Green Room.

“Henry is bald, about 6 foot 3, and he’s just angry,” says Frost. “He is very bitter very angry, negative. He’s upset and frustrated by the fact that he was killed doing something he was passionate about, which was working in the boiler room. From what I understand a boiler exploded and he was scalded. I don’t usually open myself up to communicate with him. I try to focus more on the positive side of things, but it is a bit of an adrenaline rush when he comes around.”

We never did see any ghosts, but I did capture some weird green lights in the Engine Room.

Was it a ghost or a reflection? You decide!

TRAVEL TIP: Be sure to save your parking ticket stub on arrival. A lost ticket will cost you $85!

Credit: Queen Mary thumbnail by Mike Harbison/Stockxchg free stock photography