MAY 29 - 30, 2011
6 days.
And only 5 days until I'm stateside.
Crazy.
It's just a countdown now; trying to get a few last museums and things in, as well planning to visit my favorite London spots and food joints, before I haul out of here.
Anyway, just thought I'd mention that little number with the context of having started packing yesterday. Unreal where all the time has gone. And how much stuff I've managed to fit into my duffel. I feel like 90% of my things (that I'm taking home, at least..) are already packed into just that one bag. Crossing my fingers it's under 50 pounds - just kinda going off an estimation..
But after packing for a while yesterday, I gave into my buddy Pablo's request to go drink with him and all his Chilean pals. I wasn't too sure if I wanted to go out or take it easy, but Pablo twisted my arm with the words "Do it!", which I of course could not deny. Cue the easy button.
So I met up with him and a couple of his friends who I'd met before, but then the Chilean's just started flowing in. Like, who knew there were this many people from Chile in London, and that they all somehow know each other?! It was crazy, but a lot of fun. I've discovered that the more you drink, the more you believe that you can pretend to understand spanish. Just nod and laugh.. and say things like 'You have pretty eyes' or 'You are very nice' in Spanish to all the girls, courtesy of Pablo whispering the translation into my ear.. Haha I'll miss that guy. Guess I'll have to go visit them all down in Chile sometime!
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Today, after getting over some lingering effects from the previous night, I decided to go check out the Imperial War Museum, which I'd been very excited to go see - I was not disappointed. The place is huge and awesome, with exhibits for, and guns/vehicles/machines/clothing/etc from, almost every war since WWI. And thank god I could take pictures, unlike most of the museums here!
Very neat place
Absolutely massive guns, I think taken off a couple of British warships
Now that's some firepower
Ahh planes! I love planes.
And tanks! Which I also love. Looks similar to a German 'Tiger' tank, but I can't remember.
I think that's a British Mark V tank on the left. I only know some of them, so I might be wrong.
But hey. Sue me.
And more huge guns!
Maybe the American M4A2..?
Hmm looks British.. Maybe the one of the 'Churchill' models..?
Guy on the right might be compensating for something..
More big guns.. Probably from a warship, or a land emplacement that would face the ocean
A little 2-man Italian 'submarine' that could submerge close to an enemy ship while in harbor and place explosives underneath. Crazy Italians..
British 'Grant' tank..? Monty's (Montgomery, of course; the big guy himself) favorite form of transportation
A look inside a submarine: tiny cots and Heinz food!
Then down into the World War I section, with old British formal uniforms
.. and infantry
Machine guns
Infantry rifles and handguns, from various countries; including the German Luger (far right pistol) and American Colt-.45 (below it)
Battlefield model
British front trench line to the left, no-man's land in the center, and the German front line trench on the right.
Down in the trenches!
Wasn't gonna risk going blind with a flash in that dark room.. but it was neat: you walked through the 'trench' and looked in on scenes where mannequins portrayed daily trench habits and happenings.
Then onto the WWII section..
Crazy guy, that Hitler fella
These are the things they'd be dropping on London. Insane. No wonder there was so much destruction.
Massive battleship
More soldiers.
"Operation Overlord". D-Day.
A Rolls Royce-manufactured plane engine. Had no idea they used to produce those.
Tailwing of a German fighter jet. This guy meant business: each one of those little pained planes represents a 'kill' (shot down an enemy plane), each with a date underneath. 121 total over a couple years. The most in one day = 9.
Model of a plane
Of course there were more sections in between all of these that encompassed campaigns throughout North Africa, Italy, Japan, etc. but I didn't get any pictures of those. TONS of stuff though. Amazing.
Taken from a German building at the end of the war. Bullet holes can still be seen in the wings!
Then onto other confrontations after 1945.. here, the Warsaw Pact and NATO are highlighted.
A Vietnam section (previous to it were the Cold War, Korea, etc)
Makes me think of the scene from 'Apocalypse Now' with the helicopters, with 'Ride of the Valkyries' playing in the background
More guns and planes! Wish I knew more about specific planes, like I do about some of those tanks. I always like planes more anyway. I think they're harder to recognize though..
Inside one of the planes
.. and another one!
Vroom! Always wanted to be a pilot..
After that, I checked out the holocaust exhibition, which really was intense and moving. No pictures allowed though, which I understand. Takes you through the whole timeline: from the outbreak of the war and people being rounded up; to concentration camps, extermination, and mass graves; to ghettos and death squads; and finally to liberation.
Lots of emotion, especially with the pictures/videos/mementos and the old concentration camp uniforms on display. Intense stuff.
Last but not least, I kinda power-walked through the 'Secret War' section that outlined the history of spies during the various wars, as well as some stuff on MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service. I expected more crazy gadgets and stuff, James Bond-style, but other than a couple hidden-radio-in-the-suitcase cases and some neat little hidden-compartment items (batteries, haribrushes, etc. with secret compartments for storing things!), there wasn't much of what I expected. I'm sure there was more neat stuff there to see, but the Museum was closing so I had to kinda rush through it.
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After that, I came home (picking up some yummy Chinese for dinner on the way back!) and packed for a bit. Almost done now! My room looks so sad without any of the posters and postcards on the walls.. oh well. I still got a couple more days! I'm thinking I may check out the National History and Science museums tomorrow - I've already been there, but didn't get to see everything, so we'll see! Then tomorrow night, I'm going to see Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" at the Globe theatre!
So expect more fun posts in the near future!
Good music of the moment:
The Kooks - "Sofa Song", off their album, "Inside In/Inside Out"
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Only a couple days left!
Cheers!
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