Day 14 - London

We got up at 4:30 am and made some sandwiches at Michaela and Toby's then snuck out into the chilly Zurich morning. We caught the first train to the main train station and then caught a train to the airport. It was lucky that we got there so early because there was some kind of hold up at the British Airways airline counter and it took us ages to get our tickets and bags checked.

We got on the plane and flew back to London. Once we landed, we got some food and caught a train into the heart of town. 

We walked straight to our hotel, called the Cherry Court Hotel, and dropped off our bags. Then, we walked by some of our favorite sites...

Westiminster Abbey...

Big Ben...and then we headed to the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill Museum.

In 1936, when war was considered a high likelihood and aerial bombings became a real concern, the cabinet war rooms were constructed under this building (on the right), which were the New Public Offices building at the time. This underground complex housed the British command center throughout WWII. Many of people lived underground here and as the air-raids became more frequent, a huge slab of concrete was inserted above the basement rooms for further protection. 

Miraculously, a bomb never hit the building directly, although the stairs where you see the statue above were completely destroyed. Churchill didn't like sleeping underground but he and his wife, Clementine, both had rooms here and they did stay here occasionally. He broadcasted to the British people from the war rooms four times throughout the war and made calls through an encrypted telephone line to President Roosevelt several times throughout the war. 

In 1945 when Japan surrendered, the rooms were abandoned. All of the pins marking the fronts and tracking ships were left in the maps. The were chalkboards listing how many enemy planes had been destroyed and ho many British planes had been destroyed. 

The place was absolutely fascinating. It was hands down the best museum I've ever been to. I was enthralled. 

The Churchill museum is also underground and occupies rooms where the dormitories for the staff used to be. The museum gives a thorough history of Churchill's life and was so well done. We loved it.

Don and I were both amazed that we'd spent days in London previously without knowing about this museum. It was so worthwhile and I would highly recommend it.

Here is a bust of the man himself - Winston Churchill.

Walking through the cabinet war rooms and listening to accounts of people who actually lived and worked here. I can't imagine living underground for years and losing friends and family each night the bombings occurred. 

This is the Cabinet Room. Just after Churchill was made prime minister, he declared that this was the room from which he'd direct the war. In total, 115 war cabinet meetings were held here.

The broadcasting equipment that was used to broadcast Winston Churchill's voice to those listening throughout the world.

Here is the room where they typists worked.

This was connected to the map room where drawers and drawers were full of maps.

This map was probably my favorite part of the war rooms. It was riddled with thousands of holes where boats, submarines, and planes were meticulously tracked through their missions. Absolutely fascinating.

This is the Transatlantic Telephone Room. The phone with the green handle that the man is holding is an encrypted phone line. The chalkboard behind the man on the phone lists the planes destroyed, etc. 

A view of the map from behind.

This was one of the war posters that I loved. I bought a bunch of funny postcards at the shop about keeping children in the country where it's safe and using spades to grow your own garden rather than ships to get your food... This one just made me happy. I bought a magnet for my fridge and it has become a mantra for me.

After our fascinating time at the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum, we walked across London to the Palace Theatre to buy tickets for the musical, Billy Elliot.

I saw these blossoms on a tree and it made me so happy! It was only January and the blossoms were coming out!

We got our tickets for the show, which required a copycat jumping photo...

And then headed to the British Museum. Don had been there before but I never had and it was wonderful.

Just inside the doors...

We saw the Rosetta Stone!

and lots of Assyrian reliefs and ruins...

I really liked this statue...

...and these big Assyrian carvings

But the best part of the museum were all of the statues that were removed from the Parthenon (not sure how I feel about the fact that they removed or stole them from Greece and brought them here, but still really fascinating to be able to see them). The Greek government has been trying since 1980s to get everything that was a part of the Parthenon back but with no success thus far. 

These beautiful sculptures of various godesses were on pediments around the Parthenon. 

One of the finest parts of the frieze (the part that runs along the inside of the triangular roof). There are numerous scenes of men fighting with centaurs.

The movement in the fabric was so lifelike. You could almost feel the wind and motion looking at them. What an accomplishment to achieve that kind of feeling with stone as a medium.

We stayed at the British Museum 'til it closed and then walked to a Thai restaurant and had dinner. After dinner, we went to this Patisserie for some delicious treats.

And slowly made our way across town towards the theatre to see our show.

We went to this gelato shop the last time we were in London so we decided to make a return visit. 

We got our favorite gelato, Bacchio. It is a chocolate hazelnut gelato and is absolutely delicious. Mmmm...

We walked through Trafalgar Square and got a beautiful view of the National Gallery and good old one armed Lord Nelson...

And then we headed to the theatre and saw Billy Elliot. I wasn't impressed with the music or the theme of the show, but I still enjoyed it. Don, on the other hand absolutely hated it but was a good sport despite. Next time, we'll look into the shows a little more thoroughly before picking one. 

We headed back to our hotel and got some sleep and then the next morning, we flew home. 

It was such a wonderful trip. We saw so many people that we love dearly and got to see and learn about so many new and exciting things. It will be a wonderful memory forever.