London Plans (07-24-19)

Our  trip planning started back in March, while Mike and Julie were at our house. Armed with maps, calendars and guidebooks, we started by making a rough plan of where we wanted to travel and what we wanted to see. Before we knew it, we had a basic plan that spanned almost 7 weeks, and included England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

In addition to deciding locations and itineraries, we also decided to fly first class.

Paul and I have flown first class before, but never for a long flight. After an easy security check, we headed to the lounge, where we were offered complimentary food and drink.  Great start to a vacation!

Each pod-like space had pillows, blankets, noise cancelling headphones, a drawer to hold miscellaneous belongings, a private television screen, and most importantly....














.....a seat that turned into a bed.
Since our flight left Boston at 9:40 pm on July 23rd, and arrived in London at 9 am in the next morning, we were really hoping to get some sleep- but as comfortable as the accommodations were, I think we both only slept for an hour or so.

 While Paul and I flew from Boston to London, Julie and Mike started their journey from Nebraska.  Our flights arrived within an hour of each other. We were so excited to see each other at the airport, that no one thought to take a picture!















Our choice of accommodation for London was a 2 bedroom, 2 bath flat, within walking distance of many of the sights we want to see. Unfortunately our short, 3 day visit coincided with a record breaking heat wave that had temperatures soaring near the 100 degree mark. 

After dropping our luggage at the apartment, we went in search of something to do. We knew that, as tired as we were, sleeping now would really mess with our body clocks.  We had made no plans to see anything specific on our first day, so it was quite funny to see us all "googling" to try and find out which museums are air conditioned. It's harder than you think in London, where air conditioning is rare, rather than the norm.

Having settled on the nearby Imperial War Museum, we set off on foot to find it. 

Although the exhibits in this museum include things from quite a few eras, such as this "Baghdad Car" - a car driven by a suicide bomber into a crowded book market in 2007-I focused most of my attention on World War I.

In 1914, Germany was busy trying to add to it's real estate holdings by invading other countries.  When they started invading France, by way of Belgium, Britain issued an ultimatum. Essentially, get out, or face the consequences.

The ultimatum was ignored and on August 14, Britain and Ireland declared war on Germany.

Each country thought that they would win the war quickly and relatively easily but modern weapons raised the casualty level to one never seen before, and the fighting was prolonged.  

On the plus side, seemingly simple changes, such as a new helmet design, started to make incredible improvements in the mortality rate. 

The new helmets were made from a single piece of steel, making them particularly strong. Unfortunately the first ones made were shiny, which gave away the wearer's location, but they quickly realized their mistake, and future helmets were given a matte finish.  This helmet design reduced head injuries by 75%!

This war was trench warfare....primitive by today's standards. A realistic trench with shadows of soldiers projected along the surface, gave a small sense of what it would have looked like.

Most Britons had "war fever", with children as young as 9 offering their services for the war effort. With the fighting dragging on and taking a huge toll, Britain was trying hard, unsuccessfully, to convince America to enter the war.  The U.S. refused, right up until Germany made a tactical error.

They decided to speed up the end of the war by starving Britain into submission.  Being an Island, Britain relied on imports for most of their food.  Germany began sinking any and all ships headed to and from Britain -including those from the United States.
On April 6, 1917, America declared war on Germany.

The balance of power had shifted, and on November 11, 1918, Germany surrendered.

Our brains having been crammed with as much new information as they could handle, we headed to a nearby pub for our first official meal in England.  I chose Fish and Chips, (with salad instead of chips) and ....mushy peas.  Mushy peas are apparently a common side dish for this meal. Hmmm. I'll try most things once, and now I can say I have tried mushy peas. 

Later in the day the temperature dropped to the mid 80s and we were able to relax in the gazebo outside the apartment.