Day 2 of included tours - Part 2 - Covent Garden & The Imperial War Museum

Our second day of included tours continued with a bus ride to the Covent Garden Market. This shopping center is part brick and mortar shops and eateries as well as open air booths for craftspeople to sell their homemade goods. After a brief explanation of the area, we were left on our own to grab lunch and/or shop with a time to meet back at the bus. The market was decorated for the holiday season.

Dad and I walked through the market grounds which were even more crowded since the sun had come out. We didn't find much of interest in the shops but did stop briefly to watch a street magician. Making our way back to the bus, we came upon a small bakery and ice cream shop. Dad's lunch choice consisted of ice cream while I enjoyed a more savory option that looked like an inside out rectangular slice of pizza. No pictures as we were a bit too hangry by this point to think of the camera needing to eat first. 

Our final stop of the tour was to the Imperial War Museum, a stop that thankfully allowed our buses to pull up right in front. This visit was also self led with a time to meet back at the bus. There wasn't enough time to really tour every section so you had to be selective as to on which level you wanted to devote your time. We focused mainly on the World War II level.

This was a fun interactive feature that used a touchscreen to teach you how to set up an enigma machine with a new code key and decipher a sample message written in code.

We appreciated how there were several small benches throughout placed strategically near screens playing a loop of video footage. You could get a chance to rest in general or take the time to sit and watch the footage. I also liked to see that the video footage was accompanied by video of an ASL translator.

The view while standing on the front steps:

A section of the Berlin Wall on display as you walk back down to the street:

Looking back at the front door while standing by the above pictured piece:

On the drive back to the hotel, our guide and driver took us a longer way around so that we could get a view down the Thames River and see several of today's earlier landmarks at once.

Day 2 of our included tours - Part 1- Churchill War Museum & City Tour

Day 2 of included touring brought with it our earliest start yet at 7AM for Coach 1. All of the coaches were only spaced out by 10 minute intervals so the last bus left at 7:30AM. The first two buses were back by 4PM and the latter two back by 4:30PM. Today's tour was called Britain at War & Panoramic London.

The weather was typical for London with a rainy start. So of course our bus had to park just down the street from Westminster Abbey while our guide led us on a speed walking tour of London highlights to get us over to the Churchill War Museum. 

We did use our listening devices during the walk as our guide pointed out various landmarks. It was tough to keep up with the group myself and especially tough for Dad. Thankfully, we could hear the commentary and we had seen all of the main city landmarks on our previous visit. It was all we could do to just keep the group in sight. We had packed our lined raincoats so we could use them for both cold and rainy weather days but we had not anticipated this lengthy walk so did not bother to grab the small umbrella we'd packed. Still being on these pre-cruise hotel days, there was not a Viking provided umbrella available to use. 

Once we arrived at the Churchill War Rooms, we had the opportunity to finally tell our guide about how hard it was to keep up and ask him to please go slower or allow those of us with mobility issues to catch up before moving on. He was apologetic but kept insisting that we had to have rushed to make our scheduled time for this visit. While we did get escorted access down to the exhibits in an elevator, the walk had tired us out and Dad needed to sit out most of the spaces. 

Viking and the museum had set up some pastries, tea, coffee, and water exclusive for our four buses in a banquet room between the two main exhibit areas. After we'd both got some water and rested for a bit, Dad had me go on to see whatever else I could while he took a break. 

There was a self-guided audio tour that we were all given to use while down in the exhibits.

There were arrows around directing you as to what order to walk through the exhibits but even with just our first two bus groups, the space became very crowded. 

This stretch between the first two exhibit areas with an offshoot hallway to the banquet room was the only place with seating - a long bench against the wall.

We asked our guide when Dad didn't feel up to walking amongst the exhibits anymore if the bus was going to pick us back up. The guide insisted that we'd have to do the same walk back because the bus couldn't get any closer. We asked Dee (who'd arrived with another bus) about getting a taxi to take us back and she told us that would have the same problem as the bus. Dee was a lot more willing than our guide to seek an alternative solution and offered to have one of the guides lead us back to the bus early before coming back for the group so that we wouldn't have to rush. We took her up on the offer (the guide chosen ended up being our assigned guide anyway) and agreed to meet the guide up at the gift shop by a certain time. 

The pleasant surprise that we discovered when Dad was ready for us to slowly make our way to the gift shop is that you had to walk through the narrow passageways showcasing the glassed in room mockups. With everyone else either in the main exhibit areas or enjoying their refreshments, we were able to walk at our own pace alone through these passageways that would have been much more congested than the other hallways. This section was the main features of the exhibits that Dad had wanted to see so it was refreshingly nice to take our time and be able to see everything without being blocked by a crowd.

We ended up coming out of the small gift shop (at the time in the middle of remodeling) and had time for a bathroom break before our guide met back up with us. The walk back was much easier, especially since the rain had let up, and our guide stayed with us walking at a much more leisurely pace. This gave us the chance get some bonus commentary and questions asked about the area and his work with Viking as we made our way back to the bus. We were thankful to our guide and Dee for making such an accomodation and appreciated the time to rest on the bus while we waited for the rest of the group to finish their visit.

Our final stop of Day 1 is to the Golden Lion Pub

When we arrived at the Golden Lion Pub, we were surprised by a restored WWII tank and its owner/reenactor in uniform waiting for us in the pub's parking lot. Once he'd given a presentation on the features and uses of the tank, he took the time to answer all questions and posed for pictures. 

Once inside, we were offered tea, coffee, and some pastries before being led into the main bar area. The owner, Greg, helped tend bar to anyone who wanted to try an alcoholic beverage while he regaled us with the history of the pub. Greg talked until his staff gently reminded him of the time so that we could have time left over to explore the pub on our own.

The Golden Lion Pub is located in Southwick, pronounced Suthick, as we learned that locals don't pronounce the "w" when saying the town name. The entire village is owned by Southwick Estates, apart from the Church Lodge, which is why the Golden Lion Pub has a red door to match all the other owned buildings. The Church Lodge is the only one to have a white painted door. The lounge bar was used during World War II and the planning stages of Operation Overlord as the unofficial Officer's Mess. 

Inside the pub, the walls are lined with memorabilia, including a cardboard cutout to showcase the corner where Churchill, Eisenhower, Montgomery, and Smuts hunkered over maps to plan the attack. 

 

On the bus ride back to London, we were provided with water bottles. One unique thing about plastic bottled drinks in Europe is that they come with the cap that stays attached while drinking the product. It is meant to help reduce waste so that the cap stays with the bottle when tossed for recycling. Took us a few days before we finally figured out that if we press the cap as far down as it lets us, it will lock in place and we no longer had to hold it back when drinking to keep it from poking us in the eye!

Once back at the hotel, Dad opted to rest in the room while I visited the Park Corner Brassiere alone for dinner. I charged the dinner to the room as nothing outside of breakfast (and the pub pastries) was included by Viking in today's tour. Total cost for my meal was £49.16. I was charged £5.50 for still water which we soon learned was based on buying your own large bottle for the table. I was charged £6.00 for a single glass bottle of Diet Coke. We found that a lot of sodas on this trip were sold as these glass bottles which required a bottle opener to get into. We stocked up whenever in the Executive Lounge at the hotel so we could have some to drink in our hotel room. 

My Corn Ribs appetizer cost £8.00. It was basically a barbecue flavored corn on the cob that they cut down into strips. I was not expecting them to have cut straight through the center of the cob like an apple versus shearing off strips of kernels. I felt a bit silly trying to figure out how to eat such a messy appetizer. I left a good bit of it behind after trying to cut off the kernels from each section.

As for my entree, have you really been to England if you don't try the fish and chips? I have had this dish several times on several trips including our first time in London while dining at the Sherlock Holmes Pub. If we ever meet on a trip, ask me about the British bacon at that pub!

This "Cod & Chips" cost £24.00. I got some strange looks when I chuckled at how it looked like my fish was trying to escape the plate! Then I couldn't help but chuckle again when I made my first cut in the middle and watched it deflate back onto the plate. Guess even Londoners have their own version of Deflategate!

Once I tried the dish, I was pleasantly surprised at how light tasting the breading was despite being crispy. The fish was fresh and well cooked. The fish flaked nicely but also stayed together as several large chunks making it easy to eat. Ketchup was offered but I chose to decline instead dipping my "chips" in the tartar sauce provided. 

The remainder of my total included a £5.66 service charge and a £7.25 VAT (or Value Added Tax) charge. We asked our waiter on the first evening about tipping protocol and he pointed out that a 13% service charge based on your bill total is automatically added so no additional tipping is expected like it would be in an American restaurant. He did add that such an additional tip would be happily accepted, just not expected of course.