Day 2 - Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum

June 2 - Churchill

We were to start this day with a bus tour of London with a local Blue Badge guide. Quelle surprise, we were all loaded on the bus by 8:30 a.m., and she hadn't turned up! Again, there was inadequate planning or execution somewhere behind the scenes. 45 minutes late, our guide finally arrived breathlessly on her bicycle and we were off. I will say, parenthetically, that the tour operator began to spin a thread of lies at this point, claiming that the guide had had an accident and that was what had made her late. It was in no way true and everyone in the group knew it. But again - poor Paul! He was put in another awkward position in front of the group, even though the situation was not of his doing nor did he have the power to ameliorate it. Everyone was getting nervous by now.

We did however have our whirlwind tour of London by bus (shades of If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, with the delectable Patricia Routledge leading the group and singing out "Rally!" as she waves her little Union Jack in the British Museum). We finished up at St. Paul's Cathedral, where we could visit the American Memorial Chapel. Surprisingly, our entry to St. Paul's was not paid for, even though it was listed specifically as part of the itinerary. Due to the late start, we only had about 15 minutes to visit the interior. At £16.50 for a ticket it worked out to about a pound a minute. Not even enough time to join a docent on a guided tour. It was a real pity for there is so much beauty within and so much to know about St. Paul's that is absolutely fascinating.Thankfully I have been there before so at least I had a good idea of what I was missing.

We returned to the hotel for a fast lunch. Paul invited me to sit with him, and to add insult to the injury already inflicted on this day, our lunch didn't arrive until ten minutes before we had to board the bus again, for another run at the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. I could see my new friend was in a state of nerves not helped by having had to bolt an inadequate portion of his meal. I determined to offer him whatever reassurance I could possibly impart on this trip.

I enjoyed the afternoon itinerary tremendously. Once we finally got there and got in, the War Rooms had so much of interest to offer. You step back in time to the months and years literally lived underground by Winston Churchill and his War Cabinet and staff. You see how they lived and worked, without access to sunshine or fresh air. You comprehend the claustrophobia and undercurrent of nerves that must have affected all hands to some degree. Paul gave us the background on the decision to move the principal players in the conduct of the war to this secret location. We learned that Churchill preferred to stand atop the Cabinet Office building to watch the incendiary bombings on London than to endure them below ground. Not sure I would not have shared his sense of fatality in similar circumstances ... not that I can honestly imagine being in those shoes.

Adjoining the War Rooms is the Churchill Museum, also underground, maintained in what my mother would call a dim religious light. It offers a wealth of film, artifacts, photographs, etc. of Churchill's entire life, from birth to death, in pomp and ceremony, in war and peace, in personal victory and defeat. A comprehensive collection that has been brilliantly assembled and displayed, this was an experience that I will long remember.

That night I met up with a special friend. We had a bottle of wine together at the hotel, then dinner at Chor Bizarre in Mayfair, my favorite Indian restaurant, another bottle of wine, then Irish coffees ... can I just say, the conversation flowed and a good time was had by all.

Next day >