Churchill War Rooms

Day two arrived, and I set off for my visit to Churchill War Rooms.  

The sign on this building says Great Scotland Yard, but this is a hotel and not a police station.

 

I don't remember what this building is, but soldiers on horseback pop out of the two arches, so that's kind of cool.  

I loved London.  The buildings are all old and interesting, and there are monuments and statues everywhere--even in the middle of the street!  

I passed Downing Street, home of the Prime Minister.

You can't go down it; there's gates and guards. 

They certainly don't have arches and columns like this in my neighborhood at home.

I must be getting close now; there's Winston Churchill.  

And there's Big Ben again.  (FYI, the clock tower is actually named the Elizabeth Tower.  Big Ben is the name of the bell behind the clock.)  

A little graffiti next door to the entrance of the War Rooms.  

Methinks someone was not best pleased with Her Majesty's treasury department.  

This is Clive Steps, which you'll recognize from movies like Operation Mincemeat, and other WW2 movies.  The entrance to the War Rooms is under the little dome on the right.  

The underground war rooms are not as deep as you might assume.  They reinforced the ceiling with 6' of concrete.  

This little closet like cubby is where Churchill would telephone the US president.  

The door to #10 Downing Street during Churchill's time.  It was upgraded after an attempted bombing later.

One of Winston Churchill's paintings.  

His boyhood toy soldiers

And his medals

lots and lots of medals

A copy of a portrait of Churchill.  Not the portrait.  

A recreation of what the furnished sleeping rooms would have looked like during the war.  

Even Clementine, Winston's wife, had a room here for when she visited.  

I took lots and lots more photographs there, but these were some highlights.