A Ferris Wheel, A Circus, & A War

June 12, 2017 - What a full day today was! I had an early breakfast and headed out to explore! I took a friend's advice and visited the Churchill War Room Museum. It is only several blocks from the hotel, and since the day was sunny I walked along the River Thames and enjoyed the views. Being a Monday morning everything seemed to be in hyper mode. Sidewalk cleaners were industriously sweeping and sorting recyclables, office workers in their crisp suits and carrying leather briefcases scurried along to start their day, a crew was steam cleaning the many steps to the bridge, but I moseyed along leisurely to reach the Museum.

If you enjoy WWII history, then this is a place to visit. Down below ground level, under six feet of concrete and steel reinforced floors in the actual area that the decisions and planning were done. Churchill and several others including support staff like typists, would stay in this building day and night for weeks at a time. The had sun lamps that they were required to sit under at least once a week, a cook on duty, and Churchill's wife even was quartered there for a time. A secretary was interviewed in the 1980's and we were shown a tape of the talking about her time in the war rooms. She was quite proud to have served in the war effort and shared that Churchill was a hard taskmaster and slept little. He expected all others to be as driven as he was and they learned to follow the scent of his cigar to know where in the building he was located and I would guess, be certain to be busy when he popped in!

It was rather humbling to know that so many life and death decisions came from the very walls that I was walking within. It is said that Churchill was a great battle strategist and some of his ideas were new and untried but often quite effective. The museum is set up as it would have been during the war years with the rooms left as though the owner had just stepped away. By today's standards and modern computers it is a wonder that they were able to accomplish all that they did. I recommend you visit here if you are in the area and enjoy the history of that time period.

After leaving the museum I strolled through St. James Park and enjoyed beautiful flower beds and saw a charming little cottage where gardeners once lived. The pond is home to pelicans, ducks, and geese. As I was exiting the park I noticed that group of horses were standing around on the parade grounds. I walked quickly over to see what was up and the riders were all in uniforms of red and white, with shiny metal chest and back plates and helmets. They paraded along the street in front of me with police escorts front and back both on horseback and in cars. I watched to see where they went but didn't follow them as they were to fast for me! I was tickled to have caught this scene!

I hung around at the park and sat on the steps at the base of a statue for awhile people-watching. Every form of dress you can possibly imagine was there in London this afternoon except I did not see a single cowboy hat! I guess they are all back home in America. I walked the long way home through the business district and it was a long way back going that way to the hotel let me tell you - zigzagging around and through the park and Picadilly Circus. I only got lost once making a wrong turn but London has quite a few "You are here" signs to get me back on track and headed back to the hotel to meet up with my travel companions.

Seven lovely ladies giggled their way into the hotel! Here they were! Some I know from the Thru The Stones conventions and some I had never had the pleasure of meeting till today. We settled into our rooms and headed out for their first view of the city!

Crossing the Thames we planned to ride the giant ferris wheel known as the London Eye which was erected in 1999 and at that time was the largest ferris wheel in the world. Larger ones have been built since then but we all really enjoyed being at the highest point in London! It moved quite slowly and was not scary in the least. It was fun to be able to see a good portion of London's rooftops from that angle!

Part of the afternoon was spent shopping for the perfect souvenirs. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a London stick medallion! We were getting pretty darn hungry by then since none of us had eaten lunch and we stopped at a pub and restaurant called The Sherlock Holmes. I ordered Beef shin and ale pie - so you suppose it really was a steer's shin? - with vegetables and chips. the flavor of the pie was okay but I wouldn't order it again.

We continued the evening by walking to Trafalger Square and taking a ton of pictures of the gorgeous architecture. Wandering into the shopping district of Picadilly Circus. It is not a circus as we may think with animals and acts unless you count the giant lion statues and the people doing odd and unusual things there! More shopping ensued allowing us to work up an appetite for dessert! I ate wonderful lemon cheesecake which made up for the beef shin pie.

It is now time to rest and reenergize ourselves for another day tomorrow in London! What an adventure!

A view inside the bunker that Churchill used during WWII

A toilet

Alstromeria

Gardener's Cottage

Horse Revue

A look at the Eye

A view down from inside the capsule

Beautiful horse statue