Category Archives: United Kingdom

United Kingdom

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

We took a World War One and World War Two Battlefield tour with a company called Trafalgar. The bus tour began in London and would finish in Amsterdam after fourteen days. The tour followed some of the major routes of WW I and WW II. After touring London for two days and seeing some of the sites including the Imperial War Museum we headed to Portsmouth, England.

Trafalgar bus coach tour of WWI & WWII sites

We enjoyed the two-hour drive to Portsmouth watching the scenery along the way.

View on our way to Portsmouth, England
 We arrived at the Portsmouth historic dockyard. There we explored the historic location which was part of the launch of D-Day’s “Operation Overloard” that occurred on June 6, 1944.
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard location of part of the D-Day Launch

We went to the ship building school and a dockyard area where ships were being repaired. We walked through the school looking at different aspects of ship building.

Examples of some of the ships under construction by students at the school.

There were displays explaining aspects of ship building.  There was also some interactive activities. One activity was to crank a wheel and race your boat against other people to the finish line.

Boat race display at Museum

There was an area that had a rowing competition activity.

Shelley and Anne in rowing competition at Museum

There was even a station where you could climb the mast of a ship. We decided to skip that activity.

Station set up for people to climb a mast in the Museum

After the Museum we took a short boat cruise around the marina which provided us with some great views of Portsmouth Harbor.

Ray, Shelley, Jim, and Anne waiting for the boat cruise through the Marina

The views of the harbor from the boat cruise were very impressive.

The view from boat cruise in the harbor at Portsmouth

On the cruise, we saw several warships docked in the harbor.

Plastic hull minesweeper  designed to locate mines
British warship docked in Portsmouth Harbor

We came to the 558 feet high Spinnaker Tower located in the harbor.  The tower was built originally as a millennium project, however, ended up costing £36 million pounds,  £12 million pounds over budget. The tower was not completed until 2005 almost six years later than it was scheduled to be completed.

Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth Harbor

Portsmouth was an interesting city and was a very important part of WW II. We enjoyed our time there and saw some very interesting things.

“Ta ta and Cheerio”

United Kingdom

A great day in London

We signed up for a WW I and WW II battlefield tour with a company called Trafalgar tours. The first two days of the tour were in London and it provided us with some time to explore some of the iconic sites.

We walked along the Thames River and enjoyed some of the iconic views.

View of Elizabeth Tower “known as Big Ben” in London

We walked for several kilometers along the path near the Thames River. Along the way, we saw the Westminster Palace, a beautiful building with great architecture.

Elizabeth Tower in London
Westminster Palace in London
Another view of the Westminster Palace in London

All along the road that followed the Thames River, there were some great architectural buildings. Some of the buildings we recognized while other we did not.

View along the Thames River of some of the beautiful buildings

We walked for about an hour along the streets of London.

Wellington Arch in London
The Gates near Hyde Park in London

We went to Trafalgar Square and stopped there to admire the location and take a few pictures.

Trafalgar Square in London
Shelley and Ray in Trafalgar Square in London
Fountain in Trafalgar Square in London

We saw some interesting monuments on our tour through parts of London. There was a unique large bronze horse head statue.

Bronze horse head statue in London
Lion statue at Trafalgar Square

We went the Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards.

A view of Buckingham Palace from the garden area

There was a very large crowd of people gathered there to watch the changing of the guards.

Changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace in London

We walked along the Princess of Wales Memorial Walk and decided to take a picture of the plaque.

Ray and Shelley’s foot with the Princess of Wales Memorial Walk plaque

It was a very enjoyable day exploring parts of London. There were so many interesting things to see.

“Ta ta and Cheerio”

 

United Kingdom

Unique Indian restaurant in London

While we were in London, the four of us decided to look for a good Indian restaurant. We were told by our tour director to try the Masala Zone Covent Garden. We walked to the restaurant which was located not far from the Royal Opera House and the Covent Garden Market.

The front of the restaurant was unassuming and fairly normal looking, however, when you entered the restaurant it was uniquely decorated. Inside the restaurant, they had different types of dolls on display.

Dolls on display inside the Masala Zone Covent Garden Restaurant

Even on the ceiling and some of the walls, there were dolls on display.

Trapeze dolls on the ceiling of the restaurant

We did not have a reservation and the restaurant was fairly busy but we were fortunate that they had a table available.

Inside view of the busy Masala Zone Covent Garden restaurant

We sat at our table and enjoyed looking at the different dolls that were on display throughout the restaurant.

Dolls on display from the ceiling of the restaurant
Ray and Shelley at the Masala Zone Covent Garden Restaurant
Jim and Anne at the Masala Zone Covent Garden Restaurant

We ordered an Indian dish called “thalis” which is a traditional Indian dish you share.  The thalis dish was a mix of different foods and included curry plus little bowls of varied dishes.

Thalis dish from the Masala Zone Covent Garden restaurant

The meal and atmosphere were excellent and we really enjoyed the thalis dish. Afterward, we decided to take a walk around the area before heading back to the hotel.

We went and looked around the Covent Garden Market which is a popular spot in London.

Inside the Covent Garden Market

We explored the market and then went to the central square at the market. We came across a street performer from Canada who was doing a show.

Street Performer at Covent Garden Market in London

We stopped to watch for a while before eventually heading back to the Hotel. Overall it was a very enjoyable evening out with friends.

“Ta ta and cheerio”

United Kingdom

Imperial war museum in London

We went to the Imperial War Museum in London and spent several hours exploring the museum. There were exhibits from World War One, through to modern-day conflicts.

Ray at the entrance to the Imperial War Museum in London England

We went into the museum through a large pillar entranceway which opened up into a large interior view of the five floors of museum exhibits.

The view from inside the entrance to the Museum

There were original planes and rockets suspended in the air in the central area of the museum. One airplane that was highlighted was the “Spitfire” which is a British single-seat fighter aircraft. It was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries during World War II.

Spitfire on display in the Imperial War Museum

We walked through the museum and started with the world war one displays and worked our way to the current conflicts in the world. There was an enormous amount of information on each war and also artifacts from each period.

Tank on display in museum

We stayed in the World War two exhibits area of the museum for the longest period of time. We saw artifacts from that period and read about the WWII in detail.

We saw items from vehicles, guns, articles of propaganda to clothing and documents from the war. The overall detail of the museum was amazing.

The Iron Eagle on display was removed from the Reichstag building in the heart of Berlin by the Soviets. That afternoon Hitler committed Suicide in his bunker under the Reich Chancellery.

Iron Eagle from the Reichstag Building in Berlin 1945

There was an American airman jacket which had the B-17 Flying Fortress insignia “Leading Lady” on it. This airman was from the 364 Bombardment squadron which carried out 35 bombing missions.

An American Airman’s Jacket from World War Two

General Montgomery was in command of the Eight Army in Egypt in August 1942. He would visit him men in his Humber Staff Car.

General Montgomery’s Humber staff car 1942

We also came to a section of the museum which was focused on the Holocaust. The museum exhibit focused on the Nazi persecution and murder of Jewish people in Europe from 1933 to 1945. We walked through the exhibit and it was sad to see the belongings of Jews which were killed in concentration camps.

Shoes from the concentration camp

The horror of the war is visible in the exhibits and stirs emotions of sadness and grief.

After viewing the exhibits we went outside to admire the monuments and gardens at the museum. The front of the museum was lined with beautiful flowers.

Flowers at the Imperial War Museum

We stopped to smell the roses along the way.

Shelley admiring the roses at the museum

We came to a section of the Berlin Wall that was on the grounds of the museum. The Berlin wall was torn down in 1990 and a section was removed and brought to the museum.

Ray at a section of the Berlin Wall on display at the Imperial War Museum

We enjoyed the visit to the museum and found the exhibits very interesting and comprehensive.

“Ta ta and Cheerio”

 

United Kingdom

Taxi in London

We took a London  taxi for the first time the other day. It was an interesting experience in a unique vehicle. The design of the car is specifically for a taxi. The back doors open opposite to a normal car door. The inside of the back seat has room for up to five people. There are two folding seats facing backwards and a bench seat facing forward.

We got into the back of the cab and Shelley and I sat on the folding seats facing backwards.

It felt like sitting in the back of a fire truck, and brought back some fond memories. Anne and Jim sat across from us on the bench seat of the taxi.

The taxi ride was not the most comfortable because it was a bit cramped for four people. Overall it was a good ride and we saw some of the London icons along the way back to the hotel.

The taxi had a different system as well for the door. There was a lock system which was activated when we began to move. We could use the intercom if we wanted to talk to the driver.

It was one of those small but unique experiences we enjoyed while in London. 

“Ta ta and cheerio”