Churchill War Rooms

On our last day in London, we visited the Churchill War Rooms. We took our time to see it slowly. We were on a very special place, the heart of Britain's wartime government during the Blitz.
"This is the room from which I will direct the war." said Churchill after became Prime Minister.

The Cabinet War Rooms, situated at Westminster, London's heart, is a historic underground complex that housed the British government during World War II.

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A place that we should visit with a special respect. We listened to the souds of the typists, the bells, the phones, Churchill's voice on the radio. We were again in the 40's. At war. We walked along the corridors and saw the staff dormitories, the private bedrooms for military officers and senior ministers, their workplaces, like Churchill's Cabinet below, and the Map Room where the officers in charge were responsible for producing a daily intelligence summary for the King.

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I enjoyed to see so many people there, visiting this extraordinary place. In the photo below, "The Dock", an undergroud in the underground, a place of hiding and protection.

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We had also the opportunitty to listen to the stories of those who worked there during those troubled years, without fresh air or sun, away from their own families.

After this impressive visit, we went to the pub The Marquis of Westminster, in front of our hotel, to enjoy our lunch before our departure. The homemade soup, the traditional fish and chips and the hamburgers were absolutely delicious. I guess I found my places in London:where to stay and where to eat. Also how to travel cheaper: with the London Pass, of course ;-)

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The Enchanted Kensington Palace (II)

These are some photos I took on the other rooms of Kensington Palace State Apartments . I must say I liked very much the light installations by Chris Levine. The quotes and the music were chosen by me.


There are two kinds of light- the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures.
James Thurber

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When you possess light within, you see it externally.

Anais Nin

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There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

Edith Wharton

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(William III of England, also Prince of Orange, a great militar general, has played here with his toys.)

Nothing in the universe can travel at the speed of light, they say, forgetful of the shadow's speed. 
Howard Nemerov

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In the last room, there were portraits of the seven princesses of the quest and in the walls there were dancing shadows...

The Doors, Light my fire

The Enchanted Kensington Palace (I)

On my birthday's morning, we went to the Kensington Palace to enjoy the exhibition "The Enchanted Palace", available to visitors until coming January, 3. At the door, we were given a quest to find out  each of the seven princesses in the State Apartments rooms.

These were the rooms I liked the most.

The Room of Royal Sorrows
Queen Mary II (1662-1694)

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In this room, we heard Queen Mary of Modena, second wife of King James II of England, weeping because of the rumors about the birth of her only surviving son, James Francis Edward. Most people believed he was a changeling brought into the birth-chamber in a warming-pan, in order to perpetuate King James II's Catholic dinasty. It was believed the real prince was a stillborn baby.
Those rumours, in spite of the privy-council investigations proved to be false, lead to the Glorious Revolution and the expulsion of the king who was replaced by his eldest daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange, who became Queen Mary II  and King William III of England, respectively.

The Room of a Sleeping Princess
Queen Victoria (1819-1901)

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Queen Victoria was born in 1819 on March, 24 in Kensington Palace. She was educated under the so called "Kensington System", an elaborate set of rules and protocols devised by her mother, the Dutchess of Kent, and her comptroller, Sir John Conroy, so she could become weak and be manipulated by them.
Constrained by day, she is free in her dreams...that's the message of this room.

The Room of Dancing Princesses

Princess Margaret (1930-2002) and Princess Diana (1961-1997)

Two symbols of fashion in this room.

In these photos, the tiara which Princess Margaret wore at her wedding to Anthony Armstrong-Jones in 1960.

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This room decoration is very beautiful, don't you think? :-)

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The Room of Flight

Princess Charlotte (1796-1817)

Princess Charlotte died following childbirth at the age of 21, after a year and a half of a happy marriage with Leopold Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld who became King of the Belgians in 1830. He was the uncle of the future Queen Victoria. She was the daughter of George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV). Her father had pressured her to marry the Prince of Orange, but her will to marry Leopold took the best.

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Tomorrow I will show you other rooms with the beautiful light works by Chris Levine.

Well Done, London!

I  really appreciated  the way how monuments are so well cared in London...

Not only the great ones...

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like the White Tower of William the Conqueror...

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but also the little shinny details...

as these ones ...

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I also enjoyed how they keep their History so alive and kicking...

During our visit to the tower we found here and there actors representing historical figures...

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"So, you are Portuguese...We are old friends." he said. "We'll send very soon an army to your country." he added very seriously. I think he was predicting the future, talking about the Peninsular War. ;-)

Almost at the end of our visit, we saw the place where Anne Boleyn and other well known historical figures had been decapitated...

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Of course, the Queen's Crown Jewels (I saw it twice) and the prisioner grafittis in Beauchamp Tower were also very special and interesting parts of this visit!

Time went fast... and after 5 hours in the Tower and many, many, steps later, it was time to leave...

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and visit the magnificent Tower Bridge...

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where we have been able to see more little shinny details, like this steam engine,

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and, at the end, to enjoy a beautiful sunset :-)

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London at night

We spent all of the following day in the Tower of London and in the Tower Bridge. We arrived at the Tower of London around 10.30 and we ended our day on the other side of the Thames, already in the evening.

The Tower of London

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The Tower Bridge

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We found many people on this side of the river setting up all the proper equipment to take good pictures during the evening, which was not my case.
:-)
I took my little, light and handy Lumix with me.

I regret I didn't take a picture of the photographers, so I could be able to show you all the atmosphere they give to the place. I perfectly understand their care. The spots are quite amazing, like this one for example, with Saint Paul's Cathedral behind the bridge.

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We ended our day in China Town in the restaurant Four Seasons where we ate very nicely for an affordable price. The restaurant was crowded and we needed to wait standing up, but the service was quick and efficient and the food delicious. I read many different opinions about this restaurant, but our experience was quite positive.

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What is your favourite restaurant in London? 

Belgravia

Last year, we didn't appreciate so much the hotel where we've stayed in London. So, this year, we decided to look for another one. We chose the Best Western Victoria Palace Hotel , which revealed itself to be a great budget solution. Happily situated nearby Victoria Station, we were very close to
the beautiful and wealthy district of Belgravia.

Looking at the buildings around and specially when we were being led to our downstairs room (why do you think we got a good price for it?;-)), I could only think of Rose and Mr Hudson of the unforgetable Upstairs, Downstairs, a British television drama I used to watch on TV in the late seventies...

 


The episode I chose to remember this televison drama was "Guest of Honour" and I did it for a particular reason. As you may know, Edward VII was the king of the United Kingdom when the story of Upstairs, Downstairs began. In this episode, he is the guest of honour of Lady Marjorie Bellamy. Trying to guess who was the famous guest, the cook, Mrs Bridges, suggested, on minute 3.48, the name of a very important gentleman and close friend of the king, the Portuguese ambassador Marquês de Soveral (Marquess of Soveral), honored by Queen Victoria and considered London's most elegant gentleman.

I read that the father of Dame Eileen Atkins, one of the authors of Upstairs, Downstairs has worked as the under-chauffer of a Portuguese ambassador, and I wonder if it was Marquês de Soveral.

We were still talking about Upstairs, Downstairs, that evening, when we went for a very nice walk in Belgravia to admire the beautiful buildings and we passed by the house of Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India. A nice journey beginning, I thougt.

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(the photo isn't good as it should, sorry.)

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The cookies made by my goddaughters's mother and sent to me as a gift. My friend L. likes to decorate cookies and cakes. In these cookies, you will find the words "Parabéns Sandra" which means "Congratulations Sandra". They were my birthday cake :-) I blew the candles yesterday evening. The cookies were absolutely delicious!!

From Coisas Minhas II

I coudn't get them earlier in the post office because I was in London. So, I can say I had a surprise party ;-) Very private, but a surprise party ;-)

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We arrived at home last Tuesday evening. Look at the surprise I had in my living room! No, this is not my cat, but the cat of one of my neighbours. My cat was on the sofa.They were both very quiet when we got in the living room. I didn't see him right away because his colour is very similar to the colour of the new TV furniture.

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He must have gotten in when my neighbour J. opened the backyard/living room door a little bit so that my cat could go to the backyard for a couple of minutes. J. was here taking care of the cat litter, his food and water supplies. My neighbour lives next door and generally when we go away, he comes twice a day.

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Yesterday, I was also in the post office to get my mother's present: a book about the European Royal Families who came to live in Portugal during World War II.They stayed mainly in the towns of Sintra and Cascais. Never in history there were so many crowned heads living in the same place at the same time. This book was written by the French Prince, Charles Philippe D'Orléans, married with the Portuguese Duchess Diana of Cadaval.

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Previously, my mother sent to me another book about a great lady I admire very much, the Portuguese Princess, Adelaide of Braganza. In times of crisis, the story of this Princess is in fact an inspiration. She almost got killed by the Gestapo. By the way, she married a Dutch doctor ;-)

 

I leave you now with the trailer of the musical I went to see in London: "Les Misérables".

Stay well :-)

PS1:I know I have been away. Sorry. But I've been very busy.

PS2: Thanks again to the ones who sent me emails and sms's of congratulations. :-)

From Dover to Calais

After picking up the car at the Hotel, we started our journey to Dover where we should take the boat to Calais, in France.

The travel between Dover and Calais is not expensive, about € 32,5, two persons and a car. It's a hour and a half journey.
I like to do this travel ;-) P&O Ferries has also a service of seven minutes massage which I like very much. You pay what you think is fair. In my both travels from Calais to Dover, I always asked for it.

In the movie below, you can get an ideia of the travel and watch the ladies doing the massages.



However, the journey between London and Dover didn't go quite well. We can't always trust our GPS, can we? Ours didn't work when we were  leaving London and besides we didn't see any signs pointing the way to Dover. We took a lot of time to find a place where we could park the car and ask for information. So, we lost our boat because we arrived 3 hours later!!!
Nevertheless, we had some luck! We got a place on the ferry of 22.30 and the waiting room was opened. We had a Burger King dinner and after I answered back to the Happy Birthday wishes sent by email and sms because we had free wi-fi too. :-)
We arrived at home around 5 o'clock of the morning.... We were very, very tired, of course...;-)

Ah, the highway to Dover is A2.
I guess I will never forget it. Besides, it has the same code name as the south highway of Portugal ;-)

See you next time, London!

Other emblematic places we visited and enjoyed...

Buckingham Palace square...

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The Victoria Memorial...

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St James Park...

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We had a lot of fun watching the pelicans...:-)

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The glamorous Harrods...
If you click on the link, you will enjoy a virtual visit through the beautiful rooms of this famous department store.
During our visit in Harrods, we saw the Portuguese brand of children clothes, Papo D' Anjo.

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Our last stop?

The famous Nothing Hill....Hugh Grant wasn't there, sorry ladies... ;-)

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The lunch? homemade hamburgers in a typical pub ;-) Cosy, delicious and not expensive...£7 each ;-)

London: Chinatown

Welcome to Chinatown in West End, London!

We went there coming from Savoy.

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What a gezellig (cosy/acolhedor) place!

The restaurants...

We went to Chinatown for dinner... at 5 pm ;-) Sooner than in the Netherlands. :-)) As you can see, it was dark already... and cold.
The smell in the streets was so good! And It seemed so cosy inside!
The prices were very affordable! We ate crispy duck and drank chinese beer: £ 12.5 for the two!!

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various supermarkets and stores...so many colours...

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ancient buildings...

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And look what we found! A Dutch bar...

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