Fast Facts:
Well, I have a lot of these because we visited the Winston Churchill war rooms today, but majority of those can be viewed in the pics below.
To elaborate on some:
The transatlantic telephone room in the war rooms was thought to be a bathroom with the only flushing toilet for Churchill, but it was actually a room where he made secret phone calls.
Many of the people who worked with Churchill said that he was a difficult man to work with, but also it was an honour to work with him. Elizabeth Layton who was his personal secretary from 1941 to 1945 said, "It was not a joy to work with him, but an inspiration and privilege to work with him".
Churchill had a love for animals which is why he often mentioned them in his speeches. He also used stuffed animals to mark the place in his bookcase from which he removed a book.
He would often wear an easy one-zip suit that people called his siren suit. It is similar to what we call a "onesie" today.
In most pictures he is seen showing the "V" for victory with his fingers.
He fought in the Boer War in 1899
The BBC equipment room in the war rooms was the place where Churchill's speeches were relayed to the BBC.
The black telephone with the green receiver was called a scrambler phone used for secret phone calls in the war rooms.
Churchill was a great enthusiast for maps.
These war rooms were absolutely amazing. It has always been my dad's wish to go see them, but we had no idea how great it would be. We heard firsthand stories from those who worked in these war rooms for six years (pre-recorded of course); we walked through rooms such as the map room, the telephone room and even Churchill's personal bedroom that he only slept in three times for the six years that he stayed in the war rooms; and we saw things like the blackboard used to record the "score" of the war, the secret stash of sugar in one man's drawer during times of rationing, and the graffiti of Hitler on one of the maps in the map room.
Something that was so interesting was hearing that after the war was over, everyone who had been living and/or working in the war rooms put their telephones down, turned the lights off for the first time in six years, and resurfaced. It was something so amazing to imagine. It almost feels so far off that it didn't actually happen, yet it was only, just over 50 years ago.
We spent a lot of our time getting from one place to another via the underground. I was very sad to discover that my underground mice friends who frolick over the train tracks, had disappeared. Perhaps they had been escorted out of the underground along with the talented buskers, because we didn't see many of those either. It was also very funny to realise that besides the train noise and the voice announcements, there is absolute silence whilst riding on the train or walking up the stairs or the escalator. It makes you realise that most people are traveling alone...or they just aren't as vocal as us.
We went to see London Eye, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. Everyone had already seen it, but Jules was only two when she saw them for the first time.
She loved seeing these famous landmarks, but what blew all of our minds today was the extremely popular West End show Billy Elliot. This is one of our favourite movies of all time. It's almost as good as Les Miserables...maybe they are equal. We have seen two shows: Singing the Rain and Mary Poppins, but Billy Elliot could not even be compared to these performances. It was real and emotional and full of talent. The actors, who were mostly men and young children performed as if it was their very first show. The boy who played Billy had an insane amount of energy that spread all the way to the very back of the theatre. I am so happy that I can now say that I have watched that show. The tickets are extremely expensive, but we managed to come across a great deal that gave us all half-price tickets. I still cannot fathom how much God has blessed us throughout this trip...we have been able to do everything that we dreamed of doing and way way more.
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