Tower of London and Museum of Science

The Tower of London is a must when in town. We woke up early to make the tours; the doors close sometime in the early afternoon.

The Yeomen Warders, also known as "Beefeaters," are the tour guides for the Tower in addition to being its caretakers. We hear some history about notorious places like Traitor's Gate, the chapel execution and grave site of Anne Boleyn, and the White Tower.

There is a long-held superstition, begun by King Charles, that Britan would fall if the birds leave the Tower walls. To this day, several huge ravens occupy the courtyard in front of the White Tower. Our tour guide is head Yeoman, making him responsible for the ravens and thus the future of the empire.



The White Tower has some artifacts like torture devices, the hatchet that beheaded Anne Boleyn, and some Kings' suits of armor. I took a picture next to King Henry VIII's very unusual armor. See if you can spot what is strange about it.



There is a reenactment of Guy Fawkes' grisly torture and execution. Several signs around the White Tower draw comparison between Fawkes' attempted terrorism, and the recent bombings in London. I'm unsure of the quality of this comparison, but the Britons certainly handled the Fawkes business decisively.

Next we head to the Museum of Science. Borja and I especially appreciate the collection of early computers. Some of Babbages original machines are on display, including the difference engine. Much to our dissapointment, there is just a single picture and caption about Alan Turing. This is strange considering Turing's important contributions to the development of the modern computer, and his war efforts to decrypt enigma codes. Maybe the British are still a bit uncomfortable about persecuting him for his sexuality.

Here are the pictures from today.