london, england - Day 20-26 - July 31 - August 6, 2023

Monday, July 31, 2023 - London England - Tower of London & St. Paul’s Cathedral

We awoke this morning on a pier in Greenwich outside London, England. We will spend the next six nights here and are excited to see London. Today, we took a guided tour to the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

The Tower of London is not a tower at all, but a complex of many buildings that represent the history of England. Inside the Tower of London are the Crown Jewels, an amazing collection of very important gems from all over the world. Photography was not allowed. We were quite surprised how quickly we were able to get through the crown jewels queue - it is known to take a very long time… I think we had a good guide. We went through the White Tower which was full of old armor and weapons - quite interesting. We also saw the Tower Green where several royals had their heads chopped off. One of the more fascinating things about the Tower of London was the pet ravens that are there; the Beefeaters (guards) have kept them as pets for centuries.

We then toured around London on a bus in the rain and saw many important buildings. We stopped to see the front of St. Paul’s Cathedral. We will visit the inside of later on this trip.

We returned to the ship for our last night on board.

Entrance to the Crown Jewels - No photos inside

Tower Green - location of the chopping block

Tuesday, August 1, 2023 - London, England - Disembark the Viking Mars and Churchill War Rooms

This morning we disembarked from the ship and headed to our hotel for the next five nights. We are taking a guided tour called “Churchill’s England”. Over the next several days we will explore all of the main places and events in Winston Churchill’s life.

We arrived at the hotel at 10am, but were not allowed to check-in until 4pm - after about an hour of confusion, the porters finally found a place for our bags so we could venture out and about around London. We took the opportunity to have some beers and pub food. We finally were allowed to check-in and we found our bags.

Tonight we are going to have a after hours private dinner in the underground “Churchill War Rooms” . This is an interesting place where the leadership of England ran World War II, a musty spot under the Treasury Department. I’m sure it was much worse during the war with many people assigned to it.

Pub Food in the White Lion Pub in Covent Garden area of London

Winston Churchill - we will spend the next five days exploring his life from birth to death

Entrance to the Underground Churchill War Rooms

Wednesday, August 2, 2023 - London, England - Chartwell

This morning we had a little later start and it allowed us to shower! We took the bus to Kent and then on to Chartwell. Chartwell is the home for Winston Churchill. He spent around 40 years off and on living there. It is a beautiful place with gardens and a studio for painting, which he did a lot. The house was given to the National Trust after his death. One of the stipulations was that a “marmalade cat” (orange tabby) must live at Chartwell. We were able to pet the current marmalade cat, Jock the 7th.

Jock the 7th - the current Marmalade Cat

Thursday, August 3, 2023 - London, England - Blenheim Palace & St. Martin’s - Bladon

This morning we set out early for a long drive to Blenheim Palace. Blenheim Palace, the birth place and childhood home of Winston Churchill. Churchill was born into aristocracy descending from John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough. His father was a member of Parliament. His mother and father were estranged, and he was raised by his nanny until he went off to boarding school at age seven. The palace is huge! You could spend days walking the buildings and grounds.

We then drove a short distance to the Churchill family church - St. Martin’s Church, Bladon. The grave of Winston Churchill is here along with members of his family. I was quite surprised that he was buried here and not at Chartwell.

Small portion of the ground at Blenheim Palace

Grave of Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine

Friday, August 4, 2023 - London, England - Bletchley Park

This morning we headed out to Bletchley Park. Bletchley Park, the home of the code breakers of World War II. We saw the Enigma, Bombe, and Lorenz machines and learned how they worked and how the ciphers were broken during the war without the Axis powers ever knowing. This was a huge benefit for the Allies in the war. There were many different people working in Bletchley Park, but one of the most famous was Alan Turing. The film The Imitation Game is about Alan Turing and Bletchley Park.

The parallels between Los Alamos and Bletchley Park did not escape me. Both places were full of very bright folks doing things that changed the outcome of World War II.

Upon our return to London, Shelly went to the Tina! musical and I rested at the hotel.

The Mansion on the grounds of Bletchley Park

Saturday, August 5, 2023 - London, England - St. Paul’s Cathedral & Buckingham Palace

After breakfast this morning we went to see St Paul’s Cathedral. It is a rainy day in London, which is not very unusual. St. Paul’s is the location of many important services in British history. It was the location of Winston Churchill’s funeral as well as the Wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. We went down a quiet London street to see the house where Churchill lived and died. We then made a quick stop at Buckingham Palace. Even though it was raining, it was a zoo! We drove by the Horse Guards at the ceremonial entrance to Buckingham Palace.

Shelly managed to get a ticket to the musical, Six. We got lucky and not have to catch our ride to Heathrow until 11am tomorrow.

london, england - Day 20-26 - July 31 - August 6, 2023

day at sea, north sea - Day 19 - July 30, 2023