While in London, Will had one request: that we head out to Bletchley Park to see where the Codebreakers cracked the Nazi code during WWII. This involved a 45-minute trip on a train out of the city to the mansion and grounds.
We had a picnic lunch in the park where I learned that my brightly-colored mint green shoes attracted bees like nobody’s business. I escaped unstung.
In the mansion itself, I loved the detail on the ceiling of the ballroom-turned-conference area.
My favorite exhibit was set up in one of the old Codebreaker huts. It was all about the use of carrier pigeons to pass messages from Nazi-controlled Europe back to the UK. Many flew several trips and survived gunfire and Nazi hawks. The exhibit was called “Pigeons at War!” and the fact that the brochure featured a picture of a pigeon in a wee helmet swiftly endeared it to my heart. I’m generally staunchly anti-pigeon but I now have a new-found respect.
Will liked the exhibit about the life of Alan Turing. The exhibit featured a letter by Gordon Brown issuing a public apology for Turing’s persecution in the fifties which was bittersweet.
We also went to the nearby National Museum of Computing to see the Colossus (a codebreaking computer the size of a room). While I can’t really wrap my head around the details, the mathematics behind deciphering is truly impressive.
On the train home, I introduced Will to the wonders of the Kinder Bueno bar. He is now a convert.