Churchill Cabinet War Rooms: British Headquarters of WWII

Phone & Map

One blustery, dreary day in London Eric and I dragged ourselves out of our cozy home-away-from-home to do a bit of sightseeing. We were in that lazy sort of mindset (you get tired after 6 months of non-stop travel) and put off and put off going out for the day. When we finally got to where we were going, we were so glad we’d come!

War Meeting Room

My dear friend Emily, a former Londoner, had deeply impressed upon us the need to go to the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms. This is the underground bunker (beneath Parliament) where Prime Minister Churchill and his team essentially ran World War II. After they had won the war, the British officials essentially boarded up the place without moving or changing anything. Cold, dusty, and known only to a few, there it sat for the next 30 years, until the British government set out to archive and perserve the space and all that was in it.

Eric looks on to the Prime Minister's Secretary's Office

A door storing all the War Rooms keys...

Red telephone

What we are able to see now, is the space where the British government ran all their operations during the way, where Churchill, his family, and his staff lived- underground – for the majority of the war. The thing that struck us the most, was the integrity of the space. Everything was almost as it had been the day they shut the doors in 1945. Chairs pushed out of the way, notes pinned to the wall, ashtrays out, papers everywhere.

The phone bank and desks of the Admiralty; notice the bin that says "cigarette ends"

Green telephone

Name Boards of where certain Military groups were posted- left astray

And because everything has been untouched, the atmosphere of the place is alive and present. Dank and musty, industrial and harsh, you can tell what life would have been like for those scores of Secretaries and Officers who were assigned to live below the ground for years and years. Living and working in the same space, cowering during a bombing, frantically working during the in between times, knowing that your job is working to save lives on the front and at home.

Private Door

Radio workers room and bed, same space.

Prime MInisters Typists

It was not just Secretaries and Officers who were stationed below. Churchill and his family lived below for much of the war. His and his wife’s bedrooms are on display, as well as his office. You can see that by living and working down here, your life revolves all around the workings, news, updates and strategies of the war. There’s no escaping the office when you work down here, you work and off-work life revolves around the War.

The Prime Minister's wife, Clementine's bed room.

Map Room

Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Churchill's Office

This was a place that we thoroughly enjoyed visiting. I don’t know if it’s one of the top visited places in London, but in my book it’s a must see. It’s full of information and real life artifacts from this hub of war time history. They’ve done a miraculous job keeping it up and preserving the place, and the atmosphere is so present that you feel and get an impression of what the reality of being there during the war would have been like.

Above-ground weather indicator

Map Wall

Badges of Honor

That night Eric and I met up with our lovely hosts, Dan and Laura for a movie. We saw the Ides of March at the Everyman Theatre in Hampstead and had our first experience with couch seating, cocktails, and gourmet snacks at the cinema! Another wonderful day of our trip will live on in memory forever.

How polite.

Stay tuned for our visit to Shakespeare’s Old Globe Theatre!

The Victoria & Albert Museum: Our Favorite

Did you know most of the Museums in London are free? You can just walk right in and drop a dollar or whatever you feel like in a donation box-but thats it. That’s all the money you are ever asked for. How amazing is that? Free access for all!

Our favorite museum in London was the Victoria & Albert Museum. It focuses a lot on Design, so of course we were naturally drawn to it. Besides that it has exhibitions on jewelry, to paintings, furniture, iron work, gold and silver smithing and everything in between. I love the variety of the works and beautiful pieces they have. Their exhibitions are always dynamic too. When my Mom came for a visit (more on that later) we saw a recently opened exhibition on handmade objects from all over the world, called “The Power of Making”. From cardboard surfboards (something we had seen at a Maker Fair in California) to giant hand knit rugs, couture dresses and custom coffins, it was right up our alley promoting the idea of quality of craft and hand made tradition. We went back 3 times to this museum during our month in London, and it wasn’t enough!

This is a stone mosaic. We saw a video on how this is made and it was incredible. The whole thing is drawn, then hand carved from marble, and then inlaid backwards!

Commemorative London bowl featured in the Modern Design section

Toy windmill from the Modern Design section

Poster advertising Kew Gardens in London-love this print!

Eric loves this font. Johnston, designed by Edward Johnston was specifically created for the London Underground typeface.

I thought this bit was interesting. I love how seriously Britain took design.

Stone engraving

I loved these engravings on the outside rims of the windows.

Detail of the window engravings

Eric loved this artists sketches-Giovanni Tieopolo (I believe). We saw many of his paintings at the National Gallery. He so easily captures form, figure, weight and life.

These are pre sketches for a statue he planned to do.

Giovanni Tiepolo

Ahhh, the jewelry section. Two floors of sparkly sparkles. They had amazing, beautiful, stunning pieces there but you weren’t supposed to take pictures. Trickster that I am, I took just a few snaps before getting politely yelled at. A funny thing I noticed is that some of the pieces listed their origins as being taken in lieu of taxes from well born families! Can you imagine? The British government takes them in lieu of payment and gives them to their national museums. Incredible.

Carved Orchid Tiara

That blue gem in the middle is a GIANT cocktail ring that was literally as wide as 2 of my fingers.

I’ve got a few more interesting pictures from when we visited this museum with my Mom. I’ll post those when I start blogging about her visit. If you are ever in London I require that you visit this museum! It’s wonderful!

<3 Chelsea

Creeping Ivy- Oxford, England

Our first trip out of London was a jaunt to Oxford. It was really wonderful taking a day out of London, not that it’s not wonderful, but we all need a break from the big city once in a while right?

The illustrious Daniel told me that Oxford has a representation from every period of British architecture-that is to say, there is an example of every type of British architecture (ever) in Oxford. This means it has all sorts of charming old buildings and churches. It was definitely the most picturesque town we went to in Britain (granted we didn’t go to that many, I know there are a great many of them in Ol’ Blighty). We had a great day idling in a pub, wandering around, gaping at the technicolor ivy creeping up all the walls and peering into the gated university buildings. Every corner we turned there was some unique, incredibly picturesque detail and surprise. A secret bridge between to buildings, a tiny dome hidden behind a school wall, a giant wood gate with an immense peephole. It was incredible, the whole town was a just a jewel.

A gorgeous old building and big pile of bikes. You know you're in a university town now.

The beautiful spire of that building

Charming old door and entryway

Striking blue door in Oxford

Oxford University Press

Jude the Obscure, where we had lunch! Amazing food and such a great name!

Technicolor Ivy

After lunch we took a wander around town. The University campuses are sprinkled all over town so we strolled along peeking in through their guarded gates. Most of the campuses require an entry fee to enter and look around. They are lovely old buildings with lush green courtyards in the middle, most of the time. It would have been nice to visit one or two of them, but because we were dealing with pounds we were trying to save our nickels and pennies. I did get a chance to snap a couple of pictures of the inside areas.

Beautiful swirly door hinge, and a peek into the garden

How beautiful would this be to walk by every day to class?

I went a bit wild taking photos of Oxford. It was so beautiful! I could have spent a week looking around and admiring the town.

I loved this drainpipe with a little green oasis growing out of it.

One of Oxford's charming Spires

Open Window

Another example of Oxford's diverse architecture

A view of Christopher Wren's Sheldonian Theatre.

Blood red ivy in Oxford

Red Ivy taking over this buildings facade

Door within a door

Just your typical super cool covered bridge between two buildings. Why walk on the street when you can do this?

Door handle

Floral carvings

Golden Gate, looking into campus courtyard

The Radcliffe Camera

Oxford Church

Vintage Bike for a Cafe sign

The bones of ivy

Little hidden dome

Oxford Examination Schools

Where Examinations are dropped off I suppose!

Boats and Punts on the Oxford Canal

Oxford Canal

Domes

Stained glass door

Thought this was a bit of a stretch, Burritos via Mexico, via San Francisco, to the UK

Christ Church

Keyhole Gate

We spent the twilight hours in a cafe on Rose Place, sketching the Christ Church. Our day trip to Oxford was a wonderful change of pace. The town was peaceful and lovely and seems infinitely explorable. Besides it’s obvious interest with the University there, the architecture and general learned atmosphere were a wonderful experience.

<3 Chelsea

The British Museum, London

Here are some snaps from our visit to the British museum with Little Brett, who was finishing his European tour in London as well. The British Museum was pretty colossal, housing some of the most rare treasures the world knows about. They have a series throughout the museum of “The History of the World in 100 objects”. You know a museum has to have a pretty extensive collection to be able to boast a series like that. Two of the highlights were the Rosetta Stone, the stone that was the key to unlocking translation and understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphics, and a fully preserved Samurai suit.

The Rosetta Stone, with Greek, Demotic and Egyptian hieroglyphics.

The Mold Gold Cape, found in Wales dating between 1600-1900 BC!

Glass vessels

And now for the jewelry section. Sorry fellas….

Cameo carved out of gems

Beautiful gold and turquoise Swallow brooch

Lots of Swallow brooches!!!!

Butterfly and Moth brooches made out of minerals and gems

Ivy crown!! Can I wear this everyday? British from around 1900

Incredible lizard bracelet! Why don't they make jewelry like this anymore?

More fabulous flower and fruit brooches

Double Swallow brooch!

Ok, end of the jewelry section. Thanks for indulging me!

Eric and Brett's friend Hanna check out the inner workings of a clock.

Crazy gold boat, that is actually a clock!!

Eric and Brett check out the extensive clock collection

Amazing old cash register

Clay Vessels

Ancient turquoise dish

Pharaoh figurines

Pidcock's (is there any better name?) Royal Menagerie, featuring the ONLY black swan ever seen in the Kingdon and a cow with 2 heads!

Old spelling of animals including an Afs, a Horfe and a Wolfe

Full Samurai suit!

Eric, Brett and Hanna ponder what it's like to hold a Katana.

Samurai saddle and stirrups with mother of pearl inlay

Copy of Hokusai's "The Great Wave"

What an incredible museum to take in. And we only scratched the surface! And it was free! Can you imagine? That is the beauty of british museums, many if not a majority are free. All these amazing relics and all this information is at anyone’s fingertips in London. How lucky are they?

Next stop: Oxford!

<3 Chelsea

Remember, remember the 5th of November: Bonfire Night

The big excitement the first weekend we were in London was Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Night. Essentially, to celebrate the failure of Guy Fawkes in trying to blow up Parliament in 1605, the entire nations sets things alight, blows up fireworks and enjoys a general haze of debauchery (they are British though, so nothing too untoward).

Bonfire night in Lewes

Loads of people in Lewes for Guy Fawkes Night

An effigy of Guy Fawkes to burn

These pictures might indeed look like a war zone set on fire, and I must say that that was the general atmosphere of the whole night. Dan’s brother, John and his girlfriend, Rosie, rented a mini van and we all, plus their friend Smuggo, drove down to the city of Lewes (is it pronounced Loooos, or Louis? We’re still not sure) for the festivities, about 2 hours outside of London. Apparently, this city is renowned for their Bonfire night celebrations, where the surrounding four towns, plus Lewes, join up for a night of parades, fireworks, drinking and general madness.

Citizens dressed up as pirate smugglers

Fire, fire, everywhere

Citizen dressed up as a british foot soldier....bottle feeding his baby

And some people were dressed as Vikings

Little boys dressed up as Firefighters

Laura, enjoying the lights

Following the parade groups were men towing sawed off oil barrels (half barrels) in which they piled up the torches people dropped.

*At the end of the video I’m crouching behind Eric because I was too scared!

Basically, everyone was dressed up from the time period of Guy Fawkes and was marching around in a parade carrying torches. In a lovely addition, they were also dropping M-1000 fireworks on the ground every so often (i.e. every 2-3 minutes) that create a huge bang, a huge fireball, and a huge flash of light. Those bangs you hear in the video above are the little “firecrackers” everyone was dropping! KABOOM!

To be honest, this really freaked me out for the first few minutes, when I looked at Laura after the first barrage and she shouted “I’m SOOO SORRY WE BROUGHT YOU HERE” I felt a bit better. Like “Ok, I’m less of a wimp”. But after a while, we got used to the noise and the fire and got into the mood. We thought this was what all the bonfire nights were like and then Dan told us no, he’d never been to one this big before. When I asked, “Isn’t someone worried about people getting hurt? Isn’t someone going to sue someone???” they replied, “You’re such an American. No one is thinking like that here.” Fair point.

Dan is stoked.

War Veterans memorial. The whole crowd sat for a minute's silence. In the middle of all that madness, it was really powerful.

Lighting a torch before setting of the Veterans effigies

Lights going off during the Veterans memorial

Dan and John

"No Popery", a big theme in Bonfire Night. Apparently Guy Fawkes was a Catholic so "no popery" reinforces the fact that Bonfire Night celebrates his demise.

Effigy of the Pope

Gaddafi effigy. Yowza!

We ended the night on top of the hill above town, watching three simultaneous firework shows go off across the sky of the valley. Laura had brought sparklers so we played around with those for a while too. I won’t get into how we almost got in a fight with a pack of 14 year olds. You’ll have to wait to hear about that one!

Dan and Laura, sparkling

Firework casing I found

All in all, it was definitely one of the most exciting nights of our trip. We would have never even known about it except for Dan and his brother. We were really excited to be able to experience it. I hope we’re there next year for it!

<3 Chelsea

Harry Potter effigy!

Sightseeing in London

So eventually we ventured into the center of London to see some of the big sights. We popped up at Big Ben and Parliament, then wandered over to Westminster Abbey and crossed the bridge to poke around the other side of the river. Here are some photos from that day.

Did you know Big Ben is actually just the name of the big bell inside the Tower?

Lion in front of a statue by Parliament

Parliament

Golden Flags, London

Westminster Abbey towers over Eric.

 

This gargoyle had plants growing out of it's head. Teehee.

Big Ben at Night

London Eye

Eric and I in front of Big Ben and Parliament

Next up, Guy Fawkes Night!

<3 Chelsea

Spitalfields Vintage Market, London

When Laura told me there was a vintage market happening, in an old Victorian era building, that only happens on Thursdays, I knew what we were doing the next day (whether Eric wanted to or not, luckily for me, he appeases me in the vintage shopping arena).

Here are some snaps from that market, and the nearby Brick Lane.

Inside Liverpool Street Station, on the way to Spitalfield's

Fresh baked goods at Spitalfields

Union Jack and ice skates....

Bobby Hat

Brick Lane is an interesting area. Laura regaled me with it’s history: the area originated as a haven for the Huguenots who had fled France, then the Irish followed, then the Jews and now the Bengali (from Bangladesh).  It’s becoming gentrified by the hipsters moving in with many, many vintage shops and one-off coffeehouses but it is also the outpost of the Bengali community in London, with curry house after curry house (all professing to be the TOP in London) lining up beside the vintage shops. It’s an interesting diverse area that’s got two very different communities residing within it.

Watch out for that Stork!

Brick Lane. In English and Bengali.

Old Truman Factory, Brick Lane

We met up with Laura and Dan that night for some gourmet pizza (pumpkin and goat cheese, oh yes) in a place Eric and I would have never found. Love seeing a city with locals!

<3 Chelsea