London Day 3
Day 3 in London was a bit of a slow start… Decided to sleep in and go out a bit later than normal. I have been averaging ~ 6-7 miles walking every day so I was a bit tired. 🙂
I took the tube down to Westminster station with the intention of going straight to the Churchill War Rooms. Well, I got somewhat lost and headed in the wrong direction and stumbled upon the UK Supreme Court building. Hmm.. Interesting. Decided to check it out and see if they would let me view the different court rooms. This is a newly remodeled building, very nice. There are 3 court rooms in this building . One of them only hears the cases of the different UK commonwealth countries – like BVI, etc. The other 2 courts are to hear the cases for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. I was in courtroom 2 where I met this security guy that apparently moonlights as a tour guide. He was very gracious and explained how the supreme court works and the meaning of the symbols in the room.
Fun Fact: The UK Supreme Court as an independent body is only 7 years old. It was not until 2009 that the Supreme Court became a separate body from Parliament. Before that, the members of the court were actually part of the House of Lords. Basically before 2009 Parliament wrote the laws that the Supreme Court had to interpret….. Hmmmm, talk about a conflict of interest!
I asked for directions and finally made it to the Churchill War Rooms. These are the underground bunkers from which Winston Churchill directed WWII. It is very interesting; they had everything down there. Even Churchill’s personal cook moved to the underground rooms to make sure Mr. Churchill ate well. I guess she did a good job since Mr. Churchill was a bit on the robust side.:-) I enjoyed the museum they have in there about the life of Churchill before and after WWII. I did not know that Mr. Churchill was a war reporter before he was Prime Minister. He was magnificent writer, not a very successful politician in his early years and I believe without WWII we would probably not know much about him. He was exactly what Britain needed to successfully navigate thru WWII and defeat Hitler. He never gave up, he had charisma and was a very good orator. Fun Facts: He was Britain’s Prime Minister twice. He won the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1953.
If you are a WWII war buff, you will love this exhibit. My son Francisco would have loved this place. We will come back, don’t worry Bibo.
After touring the war rooms it was time for a late lunch. I found a beautiful spot to eat at St. James Park, which is close to the war rooms and the Prime Minister residence.
I loved that the folks from London take the time to enjoy and actually relax during lunch. No rush. Lots of folks picnicking or just sitting on the lawn.
After lunch, it was a walk-a-thon basically. 🙂 I went to Trafalgar Square first and then did the West End walk on Rick Steves book. I downloaded the app so I was listening as I was walking. It is like having your personal tour guide with you. I will show you now in pics since this was a very long day of walking. I ended the day again at a bookstore. I was in heaven! I picked up a few books and headed back to my hotel. I think this was the day I grabbed dinner at one of the pubs close to my hotel. I was too tired to think much after 10 hrs walking.
Tomorrow is my day trip to Greenwich! Until next blog.
Much love, Ana ❤
Adventuring and other travel musings... 