Hello all,
Last night I met mum, dad and Jamie and we saw 'Wicked'. We had a quick dinner at Pret beforehand. We all really enjoyed the show, but unfortunately we're quite tired and the theatre very warm so we all felt a bit worse for wear afterwards!!' But I loved the music and everything, it was brilliant.
This morning I set off fairly early and met Mum and Dad at the Cabinet War Rooms. This is where during WWII Winston Churchill coordinated the allies and led us to victory! Many people lived underground here during the war. It had to be kept a secret so the Germans wouldn't bomb directly above, because if they did the war rooms probably wouldn't have withstood the pressure. The war rooms are right underneath 10 Downing Street.
They remain much as they were in 1945 when the lights were switched off. We got an audio guide and explored various corridors and rooms including Churchill's bedroom, the map room and the cabinet room as well as many others! There was a huge museum about Churchill himself too, with lots of video footage and information about the various stages of his life.
Churchill was born in 1874 and grew up feeling fairly unloved and alone as his parents sent him to boarding school when he was 7 and rarely - if ever - visited him. He was sent to train to be in the army but always knew he wanted to be in politics. He was involved in WWI decision making including the campaign to Gallipoli (which obviously was a failure) and then was elected prime minister in 1940 during WWII. During WWII Churchill directed the allies to victory and would often work 18 hour days. He was apparently quite a difficult man to get along with but I suppose he had a lot to stress about so he had a reason to be grumpy!!!! He died 24/1/1965 aged 90 and had a huge state funeral.
We all really enjoyed the war rooms as it was interesting to see where all the planning and strategising in the war panned out. I especially liked the map room as you could see all the equipment set up as it would have been then. For that time it was extremely advanced and impressive.
I had to rush at the end though as I had to go back to my flat and pack up. I had a quick look at 10 Downing Street and the marathon that was on and then headed back. I packed up my remaining things and then met Josh, the guy renting my room for the next three weeks. All went to plan and I set off to Jamie's!
We went and watched the Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the big screen around the corner from Jamie's flat. It was really cool! They had beanbags and an MC running games. We enjoyed some strawberries and cream and some unexpected sunshine while feasting on the twisties and pizza shapes mum and dad brought me!! We wanted Federer to win but never mind. It started to rain a little so we watched the end in Jamie's flat.
Tonight I'm staying here and then in the morning heading off to Victoria coach station to meet mum, dad and Brendon to travel to the Lake District - yay!! So excited. Seven weeks of being a tourist officially begin then. Doesn't feel like it at all at the moment!! This is my last big stint of sightseeing for the year. Gonna be nearly two months full of some more incredible experiences.
See you in Penrith!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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