Day 3: St. Pauls, Imperial War Museum, and in Between

St. Pauls, the Millennium Bridge, and the Imperial War Museum, London

Today we had the realities of traveling with a toddler come into full force and learned some hard lessons in planning for sightseeing. Our original intention was to do breakfast, Thames walking tour, St Paul's, and Imperial war museum. A plan that was waaay too ambitious for our daughter and she let us know in the loudest way she can. It was around the 150th outburst of tears during breakfast that we realized we needed to slow down and cut out the Thames tour.

One of my must-do things whenever I am in London is to have a proper English breakfast and the only way to do that is at my favorite,  Regency Cafe. The set breakfast is cheap, good, and filling, but that is not what draws me there. The establishment is reminiscent of another era where blue collared workers would come in to grab a meal a cheap filling meal before heading to work. The gal at the counter has a deep penetrating voice that can puncture through the windows and be heard across the street. It is no wonder that the Regency will have a line out the door on any given morning. The traditional English breakfast includes a fried egg, (heinz) beans, rasher of bacon, and sausage. There are also fried tomatoes/mushrooms and black pudding, but I can't go full English.

Olivia insisting on having Mom's plate to herself.

St. Pauls Cathedral

After our heavy breakfast, we waddled over to a bus stop and made our way to St. Pauls Cathedral. I was looking forward to visiting this site since my first time in London back in 2007, but the church was going under extensive restoration and was closed. As I return to the freshly cleaned site, I have a deeper regard for the church especially as a symbol for the Londoners during the Blitz. Note: St. Paul's doesn't allow for photography, so I am using this from Wikipedia.

Source: Wikipedia

I was glad to finally be able to come inside and appreciate Christopher Wren's architecture. Learning that this was his first ever architectural accomplishment made me appreciate the building more. Visiting the American memorial chapel provided a somber glimpse into the appreciation of US servicemen who died protecting Britain. Lastly, the St Paul's crypt is the final resting pace for several heavy hitters in Britain's history including: Horatio Nelson (defeated Napoleon at sea) and the Duke of Wellington (defeated Napoleon on land).

The Duke of Wellington, source: Wikipedia

We didn't make it up to the top of the dome due to an afternoon event and, more importantly, a sleeping toddler to drag up with us. After leaving the church, we made our way to a nearby Tesco and picked up a lunch to enjoy at the IWM's outside garden. After grabbing our picnic meal we returned to the front of the church for some quick photos...

... we made our way across the Millennium Bridge and towards the Imperial War Museum.

Click here for 360 view

The walking bridge spanning the Thames dropped us off at the waterfront by the Tate where we found ourselves in the middle of a "Furry" meet up. If you are unfamiliar with this group, i'll refer you to here. Olivia enjoyed watching these costumed critters interact with passers by. At some point we gave up on the idea of having lunch at the IWM and figured that a bench in front of the Thames was just as nice for a lunch.

Imperial War Museum

After lunch we took a bus from Black Friars bridge down to IWM. Janine and I recieved the best complement from an older couple that was lost and needed directions and thought they would ask a couple of "locals" to help them out. Luckily, I had Google maps on hand and got them on their way, but it was nice to know that we didn't stick out too much like a sore American thumb.

IWM - First World War Exhibit (again)
My first trip to the exhibit would be best described with the biblical adage, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak and jet lagged."... or something like that. My second trip to the IWM proved to be much more fruitful in moving my gears as to how I might teach WWI next year. There were several moments of inspiration in how I could present information in such a way that could be half as engaging as the museum's brilliant display. The unfortunate part was that the museum had many more people touring and became harder to navigate with the summer crowds. Before entering the exhibit had a good talk with a couple of the docents about the WWI helmets that proved to be enlightening. For example, the pickelhaube (aka German spikey helmet) was a brilliant design in that the spike was able to deflect any cavalry swords to the head, but became useless during the age of mortar shrapnel.

Top left: British amputee recovery photos. Bottom left: WWI German Stormtrooper. Top Right: Sign warning soldiers that if they are hit, others will be harmed retrieving them. Middle right: A recreation of a trench with a British Mach V tank in the background. Bottom right: another trench sign warning solders

Holocaust Exhibit
After finishing the WWI exhibit my wife and I decided to check out the Holocaust exhibit. In my most jaded moments, I feel like I know everything there is to know and that this display will not affect me. I am always wrong. The museum did an excellent job chronicling the lead up to Hitler's final solution. The tragic and horrific atrocities committed upon the European Jews are chronicled in this display. Museum goers begin with what everyday life was like for German and eastern European Jews prior to the Nazis and slowly build up to the wholesale extermination at Auschwitz.

Although there were other great exhibits, time was against yet again as we heard the 15 minute warning announcement that the museum would close. As we made our way outside, the museum employee warned us that there was "spit outside." I looked at him in confusion and he immediately translated, "its raining." This was an understatement! Outside we were pinned down by rain with nowhere to go but forward. By the time we came to our apartment, our clothes were soaking wet! I also realized that in my hurry to get a sweater on that I had it on inside out. From the time of writing this, I think it may have nearly dried out by now.

After drying off, resting, and changing clothes we set back off and headed to a pub nearby. It is only fitting that we started the day with a proper English breakfast and that we ended it with some English pub grub. I enjoyed a Steak and ale pie and washed it down with a Sam Smith Hard Cider while Janine enjoyed a Chicken and ale pie. Our dessert was a warm sticky toffee pudding with a scoop of ice cream (again, couldn't go full English with the custard).

Tomorrow we will see the National Gallery and tour around Westminster.