London Day Three, or Wheelies and Winstons

Busy day today, 8th August!  We explored miles of London with bicycles and we crawled through the subterranean spaces of Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms, located underneath Whitehall not far from No. 10 Downing Street.

We began our day walking to Waterloo Rail Station, pictured here, where we had a light breakfast before meeting our bicycle tour guide, Michael, of BrakeAway Bike Tours. 

Facing you on the right is Mike, the tour guide, along with the youngest and two oldest members of our group - 7 people on the tour in all.  The streets of London were absolutely teeming with tourists, and we were forced to walk our bikes frequently, rather than ride them. I did the most walking, and least riding, on this bike tour of the three I've taken in Europe (the other two being Amsterdam and Salzburg, as my loyal readers will no doubt recall.) Here's a photo log of some of what we saw:
 
Above: the London Eye and Wigs offered for sale to barristers and judges. Below: the Houses of Parliament and the clock tower housing the bell, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace. 
 


 
OK, so the blue chicken needs some explaining. It is standing on what is called the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. Originally this base was to be used for some official art piece that was either never finished or was simply too ugly to display (and that's saying something - some of the statues, of people or otherwise, cause spontaneous diahrea over here). Instead, this extra statue base has been given over to the public - and can you question the will of the people?? 

Our bike tour wrapped up at about 2:00 PM, and my Dad and I made our way by Tube to the Cabinet War Rooms. These were the reinforced passages and rooms underneath the government buildings known as Whitehall from whence Churchill and his fellows directed much of the war strategy during WWII. 

My Dad really enjoyed the exhibits and took tons of pictures. I admit it -- I really enjoyed the exhibit, too, though I had been there once before. I didn't take a lot of pictures.

From the Churchill War Rooms we returned to the hotel, got refreshed, and headed out to the Ship Pub for dinner and a couple of drinks. For those of you who have been dying for food pics, fret not -- I will be assembling a food-only blog entry for your entertainment in the coming days!

Tomorrow we're off to Windsor Castle and then to Runnymede, which is where the English barons forced basic concessions from the king - John. Those concessions, like the right to a fair trial, were memorialized in the Magna Carta which became the prototype social contract for modern democracies.
After that, an overnight train to the Loch Ness Monster!

Interesting VacaKen Sidebar, Entry Two:
I’ve put together a travel tips blog, too, called Travel Tips by Ken.  It’s more of a hobby for me, but I’ve actually earned a few dollars (literally) from the advertising on the site.  I’m still in the process of finishing all of the categories I want to offer, but I have uploaded a Men’s Packing List for Europe as well as advice on packing clothing, choosing travel technology, and taking the right travel accessories – and avoiding the stuff that just takes up space in your bag.