Nelson Travels: 2014-09-28

29 September 2014

We left the luggage with the hotel and set off for St. Paul’s. I had spent some time figuring out the best tube routes to get there we wanted to go. There was no sensible way to get from St Paul’s to Westminster so we started at St. Paul’s and went on to the Tower. The Circle line was back in service, which meant we might be able to get a quick look at Westminster Abbey on the way back to Paddington.

St. Paul’s is just amazing. So much more colorful than the Gothic cathedrals we have seen before. The ceiling mosaics over the Quire are so beautiful. I’m sorry they do not allow photography.

We don’t have a lot of time, but I listen to the first 20 min of the audio guide. We visit the crypt where both Nelson and Wellington are interred beside memorials to the generals of WWII that we learned about at the War Rooms yesterday.

Then off to the Tower. There is a longish hike between the Central and Circle lines at the Bank station, but we manage. There are a lot of people at the Tower. Not just the usual tourists, but people who have come to see the installation of 1 million ceramic poppies to commemorate the soldiers who died in WWI - all of them, not just the British. http://poppies.hrp.org.uk/

Field of poppies in remembrance of WWI

Royal Armor

Tower on the Jewel House

Jewel house

White Palace

We get in line to see the crown jewels. Pretty cool, but again no photos allowed. The Koh-i-nor and Cullinen diamonds do not look real. As we leave the exhibit, it starts to rain. Silly me with no jacket or brolly. I’ve gotten spoiled over the past 3 weeks. We duck into the White Palace for a look at the armor. They’ve up dated the exhibit and made corrections to earlier attributions and ownership assessments. Nice display. There are also examples of jousting lances, canons, swords, and other weaponry, and a nice view of the Tower Bridge from a window on the top floor.

Tower Bridge from a window in the White Palace

Michael wants to see the torture room for some reason. I buy a very cheap plastic poncho to shed the rain and we head to that tower. Not a lot to see – a replica of a rack, manacles, and another nasty device that keeps you folded in thirds. Ugh.

We’ve only scratched the surface, but we need to grab lunch and get back to Paddington. We find a Subway on the plaza – hey, it’s fast and it’s only the second one we’ve eaten at in 3 weeks. We hike back up to the tube station and catch the Circle line to Paddington. This is a lot longer ride than the Bakerloo line we’ve been using. I chat with the gentleman sitting next to me who (it turns out) works at Blenheim Palace; for the Duke of Marlborough, not as a guide. I end up with 2 free passes to the Palace; so if anyone is going to the UK before the end of 2015 and would like the passes, let me know.

The car service is on time and 45 minutes later we are at the Crowne Plaza, Heathrow. The room is a bit bigger than the Stylotel, J and the bar has good hummus.

Hard to believe we are headed home tomorrow. It’s been a great trip and there is still a lot more to see. I would have spent another day at Bath, another day in the Cotswolds, another day in the Lakes, another day on Skye, and a day in Inverness. Probably another day in London to spend more time at the places we went to. Now to get everything in the suitcase.

28 September 2014

Home stretch. Michael has a list of what he wants to do over the next couple of days. St Paul’s and Westminster are not open on Sunday’s except for services so we opt for Churchill’s War Rooms and the British Museum. The Circle line is still down so we go back to Charring Cross and walk down to the War Room Exhibit, which is quite good. Hard to imagine living below ground for 4+ years, but they did. Hard to believe that they ran the war with typewriters and telephones, but they did.

Typicla office bedroom for senior staff

Conference room

Room for 11 typists

Map in the map room showing the lines

Tally of V1 rockets

Churchill's office/bedroom. There was also one for Clementine

There is a contiguous exhibit of the life of Churchill, with ephemera, videos, and interactive displays. It’s very well done, and if you are a student of WWII, you could spend most of a day down there. They have interviews with the people who worked with Churchill and spent the war in those rooms. Churchill worked 18-hour days and so did most of the support staff. It’s very moving.

Then we headed off to lunch. I had a route planned on the tube, but the station I wanted to change lines at is closed until December. Pfft. Try finding a cab at Westminster on a sunny Sunday at noon. We were only 7 minutes late and the cabby assured us traffic was light. LOL.

Great lunch with Scott and Crystal at the Grazing Goat near Marble Arch. They’ve been living in London since 2000. For some reason, Scott and Michael have not met before – probably because Michael spent more time visiting his cousins on his mother’s side.

After lunch we head off to the British Museum. I thought I had been here before, but once inside, I am not so sure. It’s a huge place so we pick out a few things to look at. Egyptian mummies, clocks and watches, the Sussex Hoo burial, some Iranian metalwork, the rest of the Lewes chess pieces, and a lot of other things enroute. Another place where you could spend a day - or until your brain gets full.