London, Part 3: The Tour and the Tower

On the Saturday of their trip, Marina and Aunt Linda took a tour bus around London. From the upper level of the double decker bus, Marina photographed the sights they passed. Below, Big Ben...

Westminster Abbey...

St. Paul's Cathedral. I can't look at this without humming the song "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins. In front of the church, but not pictured here, is a statue of Queen Anne. According to Marina's tour guide, Queen Anne faces away from the cathedral because she lost her faith. She had seventeen children and they all died.


London Bridge...

Here is a view from the bridge itself...

From London Bridge, they came to the Tower of London. Looks ominous under the clouds, doesn't it?


Here is one of the eight resident ravens of the Tower, fresh from a bath. According to legend, if all the ravens leave the tower, the White Tower would crumble to the ground and there would be no more kings or queens of England. Ever practical, all of the ravens have clipped wings...


Marina with her Beefeater guide, Allen.


She loved the ivy covered wall of the Salt Tower.

There were carvings all over the walls of the Tower, written by prisoners.

Here is a carving of a sphere done by a man accused of sorcery...

A recreation of Sir Walter Raleigh's study in the Bloody Tower. Sir Walter's wife and children lived with him during his imprisonment, and he actually had the tower enlarged to accommodate his growing family.

One of the instruments of torture displayed in the Tower. It held a prisoner in a crouched position for hours on end...

Unfortunately, they don't allow pictures of the Crown Jewels. When I went to London eighteen years ago, we were allowed to stop and look at the jewels in an upper level, set back from the display, while you had to keep walking on the lower level or you would set off an alarm (non-motion detector?) Now you are moved along by conveyor belt. I guess too many people set off the alarm.