David's Diary: Saturday, July 7, 2001

Royal Parks and the War Cabinet Rooms

After our day off, you think that we would get off to a quick start. But grey skies and occasional showers saw us off at our usual noon-time start. We decided to take a walk through Hyde, Green, and St. James Parks. These three parks are linked together (along with Kensington Park) and make for a pleasant walk.

Canadian War Memorial, Green Park

Inside Green Park, behind Canada Gate across from Buckingham Palace, is a tribute to Canadians who lost their lives in World War I and II. The memorial is a fountain, embedded with maple leafs, that rises out of the grass. Over one million Canadians served in the two World Wars and 110,000 of those lost their lives. I always make a point of visiting the memorial when I am in Green Park.

Buckingham Palace

No visit to Green and St. James Park could be complete without stopping by to see Buckingham Palace, the official residence of Queen Elizabeth. Even on a wet and dreary day the crowds were out taking a look. Standing in front of the Palace are two guards who spend most of their time motionless in their guard houses. While we were watching, they had one of their rare moments when they follow a ceremony which takes them out of the guard houses and sees them walking back and forth in front of the Palace.

Victoria's Monument

Across the street from Buckingham Palace is Victoria's Monument. Most visitors seem to just use it as a platform to use for taking pictures of the Palace. But it is worthwhile to stop and take a look at the Monument itself. There is an incredible amount of detail. Be sure to stop and look at the fountains on the bottom of the Monument.

Our next destination was the War Cabinet Rooms which we reached by walking through St. James Park. The War Cabinet Rooms are where Winston Churchill and the War Cabinet conduced the Second World War. The War Cabinet Rooms are located under a major building and were reinforced with concrete. This was the center of communications and senior leadership throughout the War and was felt to be the safest place for Winston Churchill and all of his most senior advisors.

We walked back to Harrods and did our evening grocery shopping. Then it was back to the apartment where we once again made dinner for five. After dinner, we put on a movie on the DVD player in our new computer. While Jocelyn looked after Kevin and Allen, David and Karalee went out to check out the local pubs. We are starting to settle into London like we've always been here.