London 2025 - The Last Day

The Battle of Britain Memorial - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

ALL GOOD things must at some point, come to an end. Sunday was our last day in London (for this trip). We had scheduled a tour and admission to the famous Winston Churchill War Rooms. Our tour meeting time was late morning. We decided to take a walk around the general area of Westminster, as our meeting place was right next to the Westminster Bridge, on the governmental side of the river. To our disappointment, when we met down in the lobby, Todd informed us that Heather was feeling a bit "under the weather," and would be staying in for the day. It turned out to be a good call for her, as by the time we boarded our ship at mid-day on Monday, she was feeling a bit better. Unfortunately, I picked up whatever "crud" she had and by Tuesday, I was down for the count, skipping our first excursion day to Bruges.

Near the Entrance to the Churcill War Rooms
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

WE MADE the best of it, the 3 of us taking the Tube to the Westminster stop, where we walked around the Horse Guards grounds, and then on up to Trafalgar Square, taking in some of the grandiose buildings as we went. We found a pub (of all things 😁) where we stopped for refreshment, and then headed back to the meeting point next to The Westminster Pier on the Thames.

Governmental Buildings outside of MI-6 headquarters (Horseguards entrance in the background) - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

WE HAD not done the Churchill War Rooms on our week-long visit to London in 2021. I think Todd had been there years ago, but he was game to see it again. Since 2021, we have heard time after time that we missed one of the best things about the area. A "must do" excursion. So of course, we booked it. I think, sometimes, when we hype something that is indeed very good too much, it sets unrealistic expectations. This may have been one of those times. It was worth seeing, but I felt just a bit underwhelmed. The basement headquarters where the team of British leaders - military and political - did the behind the scenes work of defending Britain (and indeed Europe) from the Nazi incursion, is certainly impressive. It is one of those places that gives you a heartfelt appreciation for the mix of sacrifice, brilliance and perseverance of these men and women. Fascinating. But I will say that I think they could make some substantial improvements to the presentation. It is one of those deals where you go in, pick up one of those radio outfits with earphones, and then follow along. That basement facility is already a bit of a maze, and it is probably challenging to figure out the most logical way to lead people through. But it was very confusing, with what I think is probably a too complicated layering of the narrative, numbers and letters. That took a bit of the lustre off that part of the excursion and toward the end, we basically turned our units off and just walked through, reading the placards as we went. That needs improvement, in our opinion. In spite of those shortcomings, I think it qualifies as a "must see" in London.

The Red Lion - London, England
Close to Parliament, Almost every Prime Minister - including Churchill were at least ocassional patrons - as well as other Members of Parliament
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

I DON'T want to completely throw cold water on the experience, though. It was well worth it and I would still recommend it and even agree that that entire excursion that we did is a "should not miss," event. In my view, the best part of it was the first hour or so, where we took a walking tour of the immediate area, spending some time at the WWII memorial next to the Westminster Pier, and then walking past Downing Street and MI-6 headquarters. Our guide was an enthusiastic and erudite historian of the war years and it was fascinating to follow along, see some of these very historic sites, and learn a bit about the history of London during that critical time in history.

In spite of . . . shortcomings, I think it qualifies as a "must see" in London

IT WAS mid-afternoon by the time we finished up in the War Rooms, and we headed back to our hotel to freshen up. We had reservations at a well-regarded Indian Restaurant in SOHO: Tamarind Kitchen. This one did meet expectations. I have a mixed history when it comes to ethnic food. Forty years ago, during my college and law school years (and before), I had never eaten any Asian food and generally turned my nose up at even the thought. I went to one Chinese restaurant in Washington D.C., with some office mates one night. They knew my history, and steered me toward a very bland chicken dish. The closest I had gotten to anything "exotic" was Mexican (in fairness, American "Tex-Mex"), and maybe some Italian. My diet was pretty much American mid-west (meat and potatoes and a small variety of vegetables). After I got married, my wife set out to change that. We took our daughter to Disney and Cape Canaveral (then Kennedy) one year and she insisted that we go to a top-drawer Chinese restaurant and eat (more or less) family style. I became an immediate convert. I loved the food in Japan when we were there in 2015, and by that time had already acquired a liking for sushi. I had tried, and liked, the Indian "fusion" Chicken Tika Masala. But until this night, I had still never eaten true Indian food. So it was an adventure for me. As I had expected by now, I liked it. My only reservation there is that they do tend to prepare their dishes eat a little too spicy for me. Although we sadly missed Heather's company, it was a really nice finish to our eventful week in London.

TOMORROW, WE would head on to Southampton and new adventures - in the Norwegian Fjords.