Will Arrives
“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.”
Bro Bro Reunion—On Saturday (Jan 14) Jeff & Will drove south and Matt drove north and the Brothers Neumann met up in Stevenson Ranch (near Magic Mountain). After some Toppers Pizza, the trio shared a hotel room. On Sunday morning, Jeff handed Will off to Matt for the remainder of the journey to LAX.
Find My shows Matt in the parking lot and Will inside the terminal waiting for departure.
The view from Will’s window seat on his British Airways Boeing 777-300ER.
Flight tracker shows Will’s flight departing LAX in the rain (the green overlay) on Sunday at 4:20 pm local, 9:20 am London time.
Will skipped a day, arriving in London on Monday, January 16, at 10 am London time.
Will is a Potterhead of course, so standby for a barrage of movie sites. For our first stop we took the Tube from Paddington to King’s Cross St Pancras where we walked Will outside to reveal the stunning St Pancras exterior.
You may recall that in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, after missing their train to Hogwart's, Harry and Ron took the flying Ford Anglia from in front of St Pancras instead.
Out of the shoot with a big Harry Potter bang!
The obligatory British red phone box photo.
Will and Amanda examine wands at the Harry Potter Shop inside King’s Cross Station (the station where Platform 9¾ is hidden). I couldn’t believe it when Will rattled off the owner of nearly every wand in the line up. Well done Will!
“The” Dime
We had a light breakfast and some coffee inside the King’s Cross Station before continuing on the Hamersmith and City Underground station to the Green Park station.
A bit of context is in order. First, we had intended to go to a different station, but decided at the last minute to get off at Green Park so we could walk past Buckingham Palace.
Another piece of context is that this was the station where Pam, Amanda, and I departed when we first arrived in London two weeks ago.
For regular readers of the blog, you will recognize the third piece of context is the sheer number of solo “dimes” we have found since arriving in the UK. In actually, these have been the UK five pence coins that look strikingly similar to our dime.
With all that in mind, we were walking out of the Green Park station when Amanda spotted a dime directly in our path…only this time…it truly was a USA dime!!
We were all stunned, to say the least.
There he is, none other than FDR.
It was a place of significance, with a person of significance, that Pop Pop decided to sent a special message: “Well done Will; I’m so proud of you!”
In front of the Buckingham Palace main gates.
Such a beautiful day!
In front of the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace.
Will loves Winston Churchill, so we put off visiting Churchill War Rooms until he arrived. Here we are before heading inside.
Will hanging with the marine standing guard outside the Cabinet Room.
The room labeled Churchill’s private bathroom was, in fact, his secret room with a direct phone line to the US President.
One of the amazing artifacts preserved in the museum.
The front door to 10 Downing Street when Churchill was Prime Minister.
The black phone with the blue handset is connected to a scrambler in the case on the floor.
Hundreds of tiny pin holes show where ship movements were mapped throughout the war.
These sugar cubes belonged to Wing Commander John Heagerty, one of the officers who worked in the Map Room from 1939 through to 1945. Sugar was in short supply during the war and it seems Heagerty hid his ration. It was found in an envelope at the back of one of his drawers in the early 1980s. From the shape of one of the cubes, it looks as if the officer may have been using his own rationing system, shaving off small amounts of sugar when he needed it.
Will in front of Churchill’s private quarters. Churchill made four speeches from this underground bedroom.
Amanda’s favorite Churchill quote.
Will’s favorite Churchill quote.
Will in front of the secured entrance to the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street.
How is that for a glorious backdrop?!
One of the many dragons guarding the entrances into The City; this one was at the west end of Fleet Street.
The City of London, widely referred to simply as the City, is the original walled part of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century through to the Middle Ages. Modern London has long since grown far beyond the City of London boundary, but the dragons mark the old perimeter. There are now fourteen dragons demarcating the City.
Crossing the River Thames on Tower Bridge.
The Elizabeth Tower with Big Ben inside.
Can you believe you’re here Will?!
Westminster Abbey
The Palace of Westminster across the River Thames.
The Palace of Westminster from Westminster Bridge.
The London Eye from Westminster Bridge.
The London Eye from Westminster Pier.
Will and I pass through the same automated ticket gates in the Westminster Underground station that Mr Weasley struggled to operate in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Cheers! For he’s a jolly good fellow, at the Lamb and Flag pub in Covent Garden (you may recall our first visit to this pub in our Snapshots blog post).
Dinner is served in the upstairs restaurant.
A London Pride by the fire downstairs before heading back into the cold night air.
Such a great old pub for great friends.
The gate the death eaters blast through on their way to Diagon Alley to kidnap Mr Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
The theater in Leicester Square where the Harry Potter films premiered (and the last photo with Will wearing my beanie).
Piccadilly Circus (and Will with his new Union Jack beanie).
The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, popularly known as Eros, is a fountain surmounted by a winged statue of Anteros, located at the southeastern side of Piccadilly Circus.
Heading back to our hotel on the Tube.
