Remembrance Poppies at the Tower of London

Remembrance Sunday is this week in the UK. The day commemorates the British and Common Wealth lives that have been lost in the two world wars and further conflicts.

Every year around this time, the Royal British Legion sells Remembrance Poppies made out of paper, buttons, plastic, sometimes even fabric for a donation that will go towards current and former British military. You can find them for purchase basically everywhere in the weeks leading up to this Sunday: shops, tube stations, markets, etc. And it's hard to not walk past a group of people without at least a handful wearing a poppy pinned to their shirts.

This year is even more special as it marks 100 years since the British entered WWI. The Tower of London has set up a powerful reminder and memorial: one ceramic poppy planted in the moat for every military personnel who passed away during the first world war. That's 888,246 lost lives and poppies to be exact.

My coworkers and I headed out on our lunch break this week for one last chance to see the poppies before they are removed next Monday. The crowds of people waiting to see it were massive, so unfortunately I wasn't able to get a picture of the full exhibit but you can see a small portion of it in the picture above. The poppies wrap all around the tower and even spill out from one of the wall windows.

But seeing the exhibition first hand was powerful. It is a beautiful, moving reminder of those that gave their lives, and I really enjoyed the sunny day out with my coworkers. Our attempt at a selfie in the middle of the massive crowds with the poppies in the background is below : )