We received free audio tours of the Royal Mews, which is why you will see headphones on the children. Here is a picture of the Scottish State Coach. This is the coach in which the Queen rode to return to Buckingham Palace after William and Kate's wedding.
Jack and Hadley liked the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, which was built for the Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the Queen. It is tricked out with special tires, and historical artifacts are held inside the Coach.
Were were able to see the horse stables, which have name placards for the different horses that are currently in service. Sidney found a Sydney horse (we didn't hold it against her that she spells her name incorrectly).
We also discovered that one horse is named Lexington, so we had to take a group picture.
The most fabulous carriage, by far, is the Golden State Coach, which is used for Coronation Ceremonies. It is made out of wood with a gold leaf overlay. The audio guide said that it is very creaky and very uncomfortable for the rider. It is very impressive in person!
We were able to see two of the current horses in service, but they weren't cooperating for the camera because it was lunch time.
After the Royal Mews, we headed back to the hotel to check out so that we could check into our apartment home for the next 5 days. We got settled in and then headed right out again for lunch at a local pub. By the time we finished lunch, it was around 4:30. We wanted to visit the Churchill War Rooms, but my guidebook said that the last admittance was 5:00. We took our chances and hopped on the Tube. We ran to the front doors of the Churchill War Rooms at 4:58, ready to beg our way in. Fortunately for us, they decided to try longer hours on an experimental basis, so they were going to be open until 7:00, with last admittance at 5:45.
This was a really moving and fascinating museum. I am so glad we had the extra time, because we needed it to see everything. Once again, we were able to get the kids a free kid-friendly audio tour, while we listened to adult audio tours. The museum is located in the actual War Room Bunker led by Winston Churchill during World War II. Here is a picture of the kids peering into the Cabinet Meeting Room.
Lots of staff and officers lived in this underground bunker for most of World War II. They were not allowed outside for days at a time once the bombing raids started on London. In order for people to know the weather outside, they updated this sign on a daily basis.
Churchill's wife and family had a bedroom and personal dining room in the bunker so that they could remain close by when he was working underground. I really liked this sign on the wall. Since everything was rationed during the War, they tried to politely remind everyone to conserve energy when possible. I wonder if a sign like this would work at our house to convince the kids to turn out the lights when they leave a room...
The old signage was left on the walls as it existed during the War Rooms use.
One of the most fascinating rooms was the Map Room, because it has been left in the exact same condition as the day the lights were turned off in 1945. They simply sealed the doors, and no one returned for years because it was kept secret for so long. They even discovered three sugar cubes that one of the officers had left in his desk in 1945. He hid them on a daily basis so no one would "borrow" them. They are now displayed on his desk.
As you can see by the key hooks, there were lots of rooms to maintain in the War Rooms. The kids were intrigued by the sheer number of keys that were maintained by one person.
Here is a picture of Churchill's personal bedroom in the bunker. He only actually slept in the bedroom three times overnight throughout the War, but he took a nap there almost daily. Apparently, he was big on naps.
Part of the museum also featured an exhibit on Churchill's life and his days in office. I know that he has many wonderful quotes, but I found these to be two of my favorites, because they show his human side. He must have been a book hoarder like Dan and me. The second quote just made me laugh.
Dan was fascinated by this enigma machine, used by the British to crack the codes used in German communications.
He also really enjoyed this letter written by the King to Churchill to implore him to please not follow through with his plans to be present at the D Day landings. Maybe Churchill had something in common with my Father-In-Law, who tries to be present at as many funerals as possible on a daily basis.
I tried to take this picture of the children in front of the Prime Minister's door. I was going to make some quip about future Prime Ministers. Somehow, my camera double-exposed itself (how is this even possible with digital cameras?), so some family pictures attached themselves over part of Sidney. I think that Jack, Joan and Jodie just wanted to vicariously experience our trip...
We finished our sightseeing for the day by re-creating one of our favorite lines in a movie. In National Lampoon's European Vacation, the Griswold family gets stuck in a traffic circle near Big Ben. Clark exclaims numerous times, "Look, kids! Big Ben; Parliament!" Instead of paying someone to drive us around in a circle, we just walked the kids over to the monuments and made them listen to us recite the line several times. I wonder what they will say about us when they are older. Lyndon's face says it all.
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