Last Thursday my friend Katie and I flew to London and met up with her friend who is studying in the city (aka free place to stay; great with the current condition of the dollar).
Friday morning, we woke up in a panic thinking it was one in the afternoon because one of the girls misread the clock in the state of her exhaustion. Instead of reading 10:__ she missed the zero and read 1:__. We all were bummed and thought we had wasted the majority of the day.
We were mistaken.
Once we figured out we had not wasted the day we went and had omelets, toast and tea for breakfast. It made my entire trip to finally have eggs in the morning (fyi: Spaniards do not eat eggs in general, especially for breakfast). Then we took the tube to the Westminster area, basically spending the remainder of the day around this part of the city. We experienced Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, the Imperial War Museum, the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, the changing of the horses (missed the guards at Buckingham), Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Thames, Big Ben, etc.
It was a busy day.
The other highlight occurred in the Churchill Museum--which was indeed my favorite part of the weekend--when the employee asked our group what language we preferred for the audio tour. Girl in front of me carelessly responds, "American." Guy retorts: "Well...I can give you American with English accents. Would that be ok?" It was funny. It was one of those embarrassing moments for ALL Americans as well. While being over here I realize there are many moments where we are not the best ambassadors.
Here are some photos from day one:
H.O.P. + Thames River (its brown and dirty like the city)
H.O.P. [up close]
Big Ben
neat.
Change dem horses
da man.
Here I should explain in detail the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. Briefly, once upon a time there was a great world war, in fact there were two. In the second one, the Germans wanted to control Europe and what-not. They quickly conquered and overran (i.e. blitzkrieg) Poland, France, the Netherlands, etc. Next on their list was Britain and Russia. Hitler had his minions, known as the Luftwaffe, engage in a long drawn out aerial assault on Britain. During this time, things looked grim for the boys; it appeared they would be the next to fall under German invasion. But under the leadership of Churchill and the strong resistance by the RAF and the general British people, they were able to hold off long enough for Hitler to pause the program--focusing on other nations--and never to return to the idea of invading again.
The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms are underground. The Museum simply documents Churchill's life from his speeches, role in British politics, his articles of clothing, cigars, pictures, memorabilia, and his paintings (yes, Churchill was actually a very talented artist). The War Rooms are an underground collection of rooms that Churchill and all his important leaders worked and stayed in during the war, especially during the bombings. We saw Churchill's office, his bedroom, the little kitchen where someone cooked his three specific large meals a day, the telecommunications room where he would talk to Roosevelt and Truman, etc. The place has barely been touched since the war ended.
The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms are underground. The Museum simply documents Churchill's life from his speeches, role in British politics, his articles of clothing, cigars, pictures, memorabilia, and his paintings (yes, Churchill was actually a very talented artist). The War Rooms are an underground collection of rooms that Churchill and all his important leaders worked and stayed in during the war, especially during the bombings. We saw Churchill's office, his bedroom, the little kitchen where someone cooked his three specific large meals a day, the telecommunications room where he would talk to Roosevelt and Truman, etc. The place has barely been touched since the war ended.
Maps.
Hitler.
*somebody drew this sketch of the Fuhrer on one of the maps...
Churchill and his Cabinet met here.
Oliver Cromwell + Big Ben
Buckingham Palace.
cottage.
anybody seen H.O.P.?
neat hats.
the abbey.
yonder
these saved my life...
*reminder: people drive/walk on the left
standard.
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War museum is huge. It documents many different wars including the World Wars, conflicts in Africa, and has a well done, albeit depressing, Holocaust exhibit. It also has a really awesome reconstructed trench that helps you imagine what it would have been like to fight on the Western Front during the First World War.
simulated trench.
follow me...
bad day?
old school.
give thanks
*these boats helped save the Brits @ Dunkirk. If I remember correct from prior reading in my life, Hitler could have killed a couple hundred thousand Brits and French at Dunkirk. He did not act quickly and they escaped. The war could have been over...instead those troops were able to fight on in the coming years.
Shakespeare's Globe
KT and I outside the Globe
*the original Globe was destroyed (along with all the other theaters) during the time of Puritan influence. Thus, not the original. Would have seen a show, but the season does not start until April.
Symbol of British Resistance
*St. Paul's Cathedral
**Through all the German bombings, it was not harmed whatsoever
#2
*Original London Bridge is in Lake Havasu...I have seen it
British Museum
*a collection of artifacts from several cultures and nations
Samurai
mummies
more graphic depiction
1st board game
this I did not know
typical greece.
Egypt
I would take this to the chin in a bar fight
THE Rosetta Stone
the eye (largest ferris wheel in the world)
tasted similar to guinness
It was cold, the city is very dirty and overcrowded. Some Brits were not too friendly. Lastly, I found myself on occasion not being capable of understanding their accent. In all seriousness, I encountered a few people that were much harder to understand than people speaking Spanish...
Even with all that, I really enjoyed myself. It was a fun weekend. Being one who loves history and literature it was a perfect weekend. I mean I got to roam in the same country as: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, Churchill, Cromwell, John Stuart Mill, Sir Walter Raleigh, all the King Henry's, etc.
Even with all that, I really enjoyed myself. It was a fun weekend. Being one who loves history and literature it was a perfect weekend. I mean I got to roam in the same country as: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, Churchill, Cromwell, John Stuart Mill, Sir Walter Raleigh, all the King Henry's, etc.
