August 6, 2026
Despite sleeping ten hours two nights ago, Aimee and I both had a fitful sleep last night in our London hotel. This morning we took the Tube to Westminster. We are a little early so we walked to the Thames bridge for a nice view of Parliament and Big Ben. It looks like it has been cleaned up significantly since our last trip. The gold trim is gleaming in the sun. The bridgehead has a monument to Queen Boudica, who is revered by the British for her unsuccessful defiance of Roman rule in 60 AD.
Afterwards we got in line for our appointment to tour the Churchill War Rooms. Eerily we are standing beside another monument to the 2002 Bali, Indonesia terrorist bombing.
At 9 am we begin our audio guide tour of the War Room. This underground bunker is where Churchill and his staff directed the British side of WWII. When Germany surrendered, there was great relief and everyone went home leaving this area untouched. It is a time-warp from 1945. This HQ was merely the basement level of a government building close to Parliament. It was greatly expanded as the war intensified. The structure was never blast-proof. Fortunately for the occupants it never received a direct hit. These basement offices were tight and claustrophobic, more like a dungeon. Most of the offices had cots nearby because the hours were long. Most workers thought sleeping here was safer than at home despite the target on this facility.
Half of the office space has been converted into a museum to Churchill. He was born to an American mother at the Duke of Marlborough’s Blenheim Palace. (We visited that grand estate in 2003.) He was an ambitious politician often taking risks. He maintained his popularity by penning war correspondence and dozens of books. His popularity skyrocketed leading the WWII effort. It is shocking to me that he lost reelection at the end of the war. He eventually regained office and was active in politics all the way to his death at the age of 90!
The War Room tour continues in the core where we see extensive maps and dozens of brightly colored vintage phones. To keep noise under control, typewriters were silent and the phones merely blinked. We also see Churchill's office and bed. It was very spartan.
Finished with the tour we went topside and walked toward Trafalgar Square with its Nelson Monument surrounded by four huge lions. Shockingly there are no pigeons. This area used to be famous for these aerial rats. The nearby pubs said they don’t serve food until noon so we found a bookstore cafe for a quick meal. The Cheese and Onion toasted sandwich was so delicious, we ordered a second one.
While eating lunch I made a reservation for Westminster Abbey. A ticket is very pricey. When I first visited in 1984 it was free and uncrowded. Unfortunately my visit then was brief and I missed all the highlights. On this visit we are given audio guides again. Mass is occurring so we spend the first half hour sitting and listening to the audio.
Unlike most cathedrals, the medieval Gothic architecture of this church is not the focus; it is not even second or third. Westminster is the spiritual heart of Britain. It is the site of royal coronations, weddings, and funerals. Eighteen kings are buried here starting with Edward the Confessor, the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings before the Normans took over. We see the majority of them but surprisingly they are not the highlight. Most of these tombs are elevated or behind ironwork. Plus most have the decorative statuary in a prone position making them mostly impossible to appreciate.
There are however lots of tombs of other nobles who must have been equally wealthy as their decorated tombs are just as splendid but significantly more visible.
This World Heritage Site is devoted to what put the great in Great Britain. More than 3300 famous Brits are interred here. Visiting Poets Corner and seeing the many authors from Chaucer to Dickens, it is hard not to be impressed with British literary history. There are also many illustrious scientists like Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton. Most are interred with simple name plaques. The more recent Stephen Hawking burial is slightly more decorated. Westminster is now an anachronism. Our modern grievance culture now only focuses on a country’s failures and missteps, not its successes.
The architectural highlight of Westminster is the Henry VII chapel at the eastern end. It was added during the Perpendicular Gothic period and has a stunning fan-vaulted ceiling. It also contains the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I.
From Westminster we walked north back to Trafalgar Square. We passed many more memorials. London is truly a city of monuments. I wasn’t surprised to see statues of Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela. But seeing Abraham Lincoln in London was a surprise. It was an old gift from the US celebrating 100 years of Anglo-American peace following the War of 1812.
We crossed Trafalgar Square for a quick visit of the National Gallery. I was pleased to find no line to enter this art museum. Aimee is reaching her limit so we speed walk the galleries. We start with the Impressionists which are my favorite. We pass a nice Caravaggio in the Baroque Hall.
In the middle of the Renaissance gallery, Aimee is saved from more torture with a phone call from an Irish cousin. We make arrangements to meet her in nearby Piccadilly Circus. We have a little family reunion at a local pub. Like many Irish, this cousin moved to London for greater opportunity. She brought along her daughter and two grandchildren visiting from Ireland. They are lovely.
