We began our summer holiday with 24 hours in London, a city I love and regularly visit. This stay was particularly poignant because we visited the Imperial War Museum, which offers a sobering reminder of how fragile our civilization is.
24 Hours In London: Culinary Contentment + Chilling Chronicles
I do love the Elizabeth Line, but after a long flight and when carrying a lot of bags, I find an Uber is so much more convenient. We took an Uber from London Heathrow to my sister-in-law’s house in Bermondsey, where we’d spend the night before our onward connection to Basel (at least that was the plan…) the following evening.
We spent the remainder of the first day just resting up…my sister-in-law lives along the River Thames in a quiet brick row house. London is full of a seemingly endless array of eateries, but Heidi and I stopped at Sainsbury’s and got some meat to cook and some greens to blend for our late lunch…it really hit the spot.
Then coffee at NoNo, a little coffee kiosk a few paces away, followed by the kids playing on the rocky beach looking toward the London skyline.
My sister-in-law and her husband were running a 10K in Southwark Park the following morning…but we slept in…followed by more coffee (hey, it was vacation after all!).
I had wanted to take the kids to the Tower of London, but we had not planned that in advance and tickets were sold out. So instead we decided to go to the Imperial War Museum, which I have not visited since 2007.
Truly, I could have spent 10 hours here…three hours was not even enough to get through the World War II portion, but the visit was a sobering reminder of the:
- Perils of unchecked aggression
- Importance of international cooperation
- Dangers of intolerance and xenophobia
- Enduring value of diplomacy
- Power of human resilience
- Importance of moral leadership
- Impact of technological advancements
- Shift in global power
- Responsiblity of the USA in promoting and uphodling global democratic norms
- Importance of remembering and learning from history
As the world changes so rapidly in this latest chapter, it’s sobering to ask whether we are on the cusp of a great readjustment or rather if this is a blip in a continuing story of progress. May we not forget the price of liberty and freedom. May we never forget that delayed justice is injustice and that the US has a solemn responsibility to be a force for good in this troubled world. Finally, may we not forget that appeasement in the name of peace is not true peace.
After our visit to the museum, we enjoyed brunch in a Tunisian restaurant called Tunisian Street Kitchen (12 Lower Marsh). The coffee was good…the green drink was good…the food was very good. I ordered the brunch special (£15.50) that included:
- Ojja: Tunisian eggs – poached in a rich and unique tomato sauce “shakshuka” style with mergez (Tunisian lamb sausage)
- Foul: Creamy fava beans laoded with delicious spices
- Hand: olives, cucumber, tomatoes, honey, jams and chamia (Tunisian sweet spread made with tahini)
Great place.
And that was that…we walked back to the house, grabbed our bags, and were soon in an Uber traveling back to Heathrow.
CONCLUSION
I’m in London often enough that I don’t feel like a tourist anymore, yet I’m so glad we spent a few hours at the Imperial War Museum. The WWII exhisbit was a sobering reminder of how Western nations rose to the challenge and how the US asserted itslef, depsite an ocean of separation, as a force for good, determinting the cost of not doing so was even greater.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Interesting timing…since the last Battle of Britain pilot just passed at 105 a few days ago.
Nasty a## food but I’m a normal American eater and would starve it had to eat that.
But loved the rest of the story on the museum. I assume you have been to the Churchill War Room, which is another sobering experience. Like you stated, the recommended time is not enough there either.
London is such an incredible place but all the type places you ate at shows how their decisions to allow unvetted people in from dangerous countries with dangerous religions will be their downfall from within.
Trump warned us about this years ago but now it’s fashionable for some to blame him for instability when he is trying to do the opposite and bring stability to the world.
I know this will bring out the Trump bashing but the UK will reap any future instability from their decisions, not Trump’s.
@DaveEdwards … +1 .
Interesting that currently even “Liberal Dem” women are beginning to laugh at their former herselves …
… particularly when they themselves “feel” threatened by the “unvetted dangerous” people .
Dave, you are an asshole.
It’s a compliment coming from you Ricki!
Glad to hear that, Dave.
I hope you’ve gotten over the incident with the banana and the illegal immigrant. Get well soon!
It’s not a compliment when EVERYONE agrees, you stupid racist bigoted vile MagaTurd.
I ask myself why bother responding to your racist garbage. It’s not like you can ever see the error in your ways or how truly awful your statements are. It’s not like you’re religious or actually gaf about anyone but yourself or can actually change your mind unless newsmax or your fuhrer tells you too.
I guess I respond to your vileness because you personify everything that is wrong with America .. and in doing so I feel a bit better.
Used to live near the IWM in the 1990s. While interesting then, I can see the space is much improved and inviting. Thank you for sharing.
I haven’t been to the Imperial War Museum since around ’82.
It’s worth a trip!
There is a viewpoint, not mine, that the United States, was at fault during World War II. According to that line of thought, the United States was justified for the war with Japan. It was a result of the Pearl Harbor attack.
However, that same line of thought accuses the United States of starting wars and being the aggressor in Europe. The rationale is that Germany did not bomb New York or bomb US embassies around the world. Instead, the US decided to bomb and invade Germany. True, Germany declared war on the U.S. in solidarity with Japan after Pearl Harbor but declarations of war are merely legalities. A state of war exists between North Korea and the U.S. because no peace treaty has been signed but there is no physical war now.
America, according to that line of thought, could have remained neutral or just supplied the UK with arms, not actually providing troops and going on bombing missions.
I don’t believe in that line of thought but it is different.
And that would have ended with Europe speaking German…
And the eradication of Jews everywhere
Yup, a viewpoint of Holocaust Deniers everywhere. It’s not aggression when you (or a country) comes to the defense of innocent people who are being murdered.
“extreme nationalist leaders promised people a better future”
Sounds familiar. Great museum, though. I actually find the WWI area to be the most interesting because we really don’t learn much about it or speak much about it in the USA.
Timely post. Thank you. ” the perils of unchecked aggression ” the world experiences now.
What a great review. We love Sainsbury’s, and always make it a point to pick up goodies before returning Stateside.
And the next time you are in London, try and have a meal at “The Summerhouse”. A fabulous boathouse restaurant on the Thames in the fabulous Maida Vale neighbourhood.
Fun fact…The War Museum is housed in a building that used to be part of Bethlem Hospital, better known as Bedlam. Basically it was an insane asylum. Seriously!
I used to love going to the Imperial War Museum as a child in the eighties. It used to have a wonderful adventure playground on its grounds, which was later removed. Really great museum.
Wonderful post from the area to the amazing museum I’ve never heard of but now badly want to see to the amazing Tunisian food. Great bulletin points, sadly each one in complete contrast to the views of the current administration which I suspect is no coincidence.
Matthew: BTW, since you were “sobered” by the Imperial War Museum (and per an old interview were “humbled” by the Pearl Harbor Memorial) you’d probably appreciate the Intrepid Museum in NYC and the other three Essex Class Aircraft Carrier Museums; Yorktown in Charleston, Hornet in Alameda, Lexington in Corpus Christi, each of which saw extensive service in the WWII Pacific Theater of Operations. (Midway in San Diego is a nicer more interesting museum in some ways but less historically significant having been commissioned eight days after the surrender of Japan.)
I find the kamikaze exhibit and video on Intrepid Museum to be particularly moving. Narrated by an (actor portraying an) officer who was KIA on USS Intrepid along with ~70 other crewmembers by a kamikaze and states his men call him the “old man” even though he (both actor and picture of actual officer) appears to be about 35 years old. Depressing that Japan started using kamikazes when they knew they couldn’t win the war mainly to inflict as much damage as possible and try to get better surrender terms.
“The attacks began in October 1944, at a time when the war was looking increasingly bleak for the Japanese. They had lost several decisive battles; many of their best pilots had been killed, and skilled replacements could not be trained fast enough; their aircraft were becoming outdated; and they had lost command of the air and sea. Japan was losing pilots faster than it could train quality replacements, and the nation’s industrial capacity was rapidly diminishing relative to that of the Allies. A tradition of death instead of defeat, capture, and shame was deeply entrenched in Japanese military culture; one of the primary values in the samurai way of life and the Bushido code was loyalty and honor until death.”
I’ve been volunteering on Intrepid Museum for a couple of years (and hopefully for many more years). If you’re ever in NYC with time to spare and interest, please let me know, I’d love to show you and your family around the Intrepid and the Concorde and the (space shuttle) Enterprise, maybe even the Growler (submarine); even if you are a former Air Force weanie .
Sorry, the 😉 (at the very end) didn’t copy correctly.
Sorry, the 😉 (at the very end after “weanie”) didn’t copy correctly. No disrespect intended, purely good natured sibling rivalry.