From Past to Present

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Today was an extremely busy day. I went from London to Hampton Court and back to London again.

My day started with a train trip to Hampton Court, the home of Henry VIII. It is a very beautiful place and the history is unbelievable. The last monarch to live there was George II and he wasn't there for long. The Palace is broken up into three sections: Henry VIII; King William III and Queen Mary II; and the Georgian part of the palace.

The stain glass windows in the Henry VIII part are amazing. There is a large room that would in today's standards be called a dinning room, that only has stain glass windows. In one of the windows I saw the image of Henry VIII. The ceilings in every room are huge and usually have wood designs.

The Queen Mary rooms were interesting and beautiful. In one of her rooms the ceiling was painted. Unfortunate, it was not something she got to experience as she died before the renovations were completed. Her husband William completed the renovations none-the-less, and to her specifications.

After seeing the castle I then walked through the oldest maze in the world. I only got lost once, which I'm proud of. I was surprised when I found the exist. I figured I'd get lost easily three or four times.

I spent about 2 hours in Hampton and then headed back to the London to finish the rest of my site seeing. My first stop in London was the British War Experience. This museum is set up in an actual air raid shelter. In it they have rooms set up the way they were back during the blitz and then they added some additional rooms for the experience. On the walls in many of the rooms are the actual posters from back then and copies of front pages of the newspapers on various occasions. The experience starts with a film that runs you through how real people experienced the war, both at home and in battle.

As you make your way through the museum, you see a real bomb shelter, and when you go in, an audio plays the real sounds of what people would have experienced in that type of location, like bombs. Then you wonder through various areas highlighting the war efforts: Churchill at his desk; a communication room where you can hear the real Churchill, Hitler or Rousevelt giving their addresses to their respective nations; and there were also displays of women at work. The next room is a GI bar, right down to the smoke and pin-up girl on the wall.

After leaving the bar, you enter a hall way, where you're informed that you are currently under attack and can't pass through. After a brief period you're allowed to go through and what you find on the other side is a bombed out section of the city. There are burst pipes, wounded and dead people and destruction everywhere. It was amazing to walk through it, or rather in reality around it. This is the last room in the museum before exiting into the gift shop.

I followed that up with a trip to the Museum of London. Their exhibits go from pre-historic to the present. I enjoyed the museum very much. After seeing the war museum it was interesting to see this museums take on the 40s. I saw coins dating back to the roman period in London's history and the way stores would have looked in the 20s, 30s and 40s. It was a good museum. Best part was, I found the maps of the history of London that I wanted.

Today was a busy day, but tomorrow will be extremely busy. I will be hitting multiple sites in the city of London and then going out with my cousin and his wife for the evening. Can't wait.

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Photos

Hampton Court
Inner courtyard

Hampton Court
amazing windows

Britain at War Experience
communication room