gray London

Originally I had planned to head off to Paris for the day tomorrow with some other members of my group. Instead I opted to have a free day in London which includes a trip to the House of Commons to witness a question and answer session with the Prime Minister Gordon Brown. So this morning my buddy James and I headed to the American Embassy to pick up our tickets for tomorrow, and then we went to the Tower of London for the rest of the afternoon. The weather was rainy and gray, typical of what you would expect London to be like.
The Tower was a lot of fun. For those who don't know, the complex itself is not one large tower, but a fortress that used to be a castle, prison and execution grounds. In the center stands a large tower called the White Tower where that armory was held, and surrounding it are various smaller towers that held prisoners and residences for the guards. We were guided the first hour by one of the famous Yeoman Beefeaters who showed where various historical celebrities were executed and where their severed heads were displayed. In the picture on the right you can see where Ann Boleyn, Katherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey were executed. The tower is also home to the British Crown Jewels which are spectacular to look at but must be incredibly heavy and tedious to wear. Among other royal jewelery in the tower are lots of gold plated dishes and cups including a massive thing called the grand punch-bowl.
Around the grounds are tons of ravens, hopping on and off benches and creeping out the tourists. Legend has it that if you remove the ravens, then the nation will fall. Therefore they are kept on the grounds, with their wings clipped so they don't fly away. It was funny to watch these huge ravens, walking around the tower grounds as if they owned the place.
I'm very excited for the question and answer session with the prime minister tomorrow. Those who know me can attest that I am fascinated by politics and the chance to sit in the House of Commons is pretty cool. I guess that is what excites me the most about London; not just the great historical sights but the history that is being made today. I'll have to write a detailed entry tomorrow to let you all in the blogosphere know how it all went.