Churchill, Chinese, and Lion King

Emily, Charlotte, Angie, Muriel, Ethan, and Mike

This afternoon took us underground to the Cabinet War Rooms. These rooms were a system of connected hallways and rooms used in World War II by the British government. They were built in response to the bombing in London and to alleviate the public's fear that their leaders may leave the city. Instead, Churchill and his team set up camp underground, having dining rooms, bedrooms, and a mini kitchen to keep them occupied in between military planning.

Charlotte, Emily, Kelsey, Ros, and Jenny

The Cabinet War Rooms of the British government in World War II

Entering the underground system of offices

An intro slide show including infant gas masks! (or actually, infant gas body suits)

Our man of the afternoon, Sir Winston Churchill

I did not know Churchill was a talented artist!

The War Rooms joined a Churchill Museum which I really found fascinating (I am super intrigued by World War II information). He was such a colorful character that it was fun to read his quotes and learn about his general tendencies and personal life. For example, he liked to wear velvet rompers, hated whistling, and was a very good painter!

On our way back to the flat, we stopped to monitor the filming scene that was parked just a block away from our flats. Mike did some detective work earlier in the day and found out a Leonardo diCaprio film was being filmed under a false name to avoid the paparrazi. Although we didn't see any of the star studded cast (Leo, Michael Caine, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, and others), we will still keep our eyes open! (The London Paper and London Lite tabloids have posted numerous pics of Leo about town, so I know he is here!)

The film crew lighting the interior Victoria House for their shooting

Several of us ventured down to Soho and Chinatown for some Chinese cuisine. We tried to shield Emily's (a vegetarian) eyes away from the various meats hanging in the window, but I think there were too many for her to totally block it out! After dinner, we departed to our various performances for the night. Emily, Ethan, and I headed to Covent Garden to see the Lion King. It was absolutely amazing!! Everyone has said the costumes and sets are awesome, but I couldn't really believe it until I saw it.. and I definitely believe it now!

Fifth show: the Lion King!