Imperial War Museum

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I planned to do a lot today as I mentioned yesterday.  However when 9:00 AM came around my body would have none of it.  I quickly pressed, what I thought was snooze, the button and didn't wake until 12:30 PM.  Hao and I ate at a sandwich place on Borough High Street for 3 pounds each = drink, chicken & bacon sandwich, bag of crisps.  We went back to Great Dover Street Apartments and picked up Sacha and headed out to the Imperial War Museum.

It was a 20-minute walk to the museum.  When I came here a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that it was catered for children but I was very wrong.  We checked out the ground floor exhibits which included one-man submarines (from WWI), artillery, anti-aircraft guns, tanks, and bombs.  We were really eager to check out what was labeled The Trench Experience. 

So we headed down to the LG floor to see the exhibits for D-Day, WWI, WWII, and various other British wars (lots of Middle East, colonial independence wars, etc.).  They had a ton of artifacts including uniforms, journals, diaries, weaponrr (handheld and otherwise), equipment, and propaganda posters.  They also had a land periscope made by the Germans.  It was not a replica.  They had set it up so that we could see St. Paul's Cathedral (roughly 2 miles away across the Thames).  All were set up on mannequins as if they were in actual use.  They had tons of captions relating to the artifacts: manufacturing origins, how it was acquired by the museum, functions, etc.  Also, they had very useful (and very biased) posters as to how Britain got involved with military conflicts.  I know very little about their political conflicts but I could tell that the captions were written by a British historian. 

I spent most of my time in the WWI area as well as the section of miscellaneous military conflicts involving the Brits (Gulf War, Indian occupation, Cyprus, Middle East, Vietnam War, and Korean War).  I found myself reading every caption.  They also had these interactive video touch-screen kioks where you could learn more about the artifacts in context.  These kiosks often had actual video during the war that did not hesitate to show gruesome features.  They also had computer generated graphics of battle strategies used, casualties, technology growth, and economic strength of the combating nations). 

I finally made my way to The Trench Experience.  It was a very neat display.  The manicans looked very life-like, probably due to the dim lighting.  There were all kinds of trench attributes such as mini-periscopes scouting for enemy attacks, dug outs for makeshift stoves, makeshift offices, and makeshift lives.  They also showed how the wounded were treated on-site.  They also showed how trenches were dug in zig-zagging right angles so that explosions within the trench would be isolated from the rest of the trench.  In the background they played the sound of exploding shells, men yelling, men dying, gun shots, and the sound of exploding gas canisters (mustard gas, tear gas, etc.).  Overall, an amazing display that was a great experience.

There were a total of 5 floors in the museum and I managed to view only two of them.  I definitely want to go back and cover what I didn't get to see.  One floor was dedicated as a Holocaust Memorial.  Another contained art (of all things!) during the war period.  Finally, the last exhibit was named Crimes Against Humanity.  I'm not sure what this one is about but the advertisement banner had a picture of a dark-skinned person who looked extremely malnourished (possibly Somalian or African?).  Anyway, it's a great incentive for me to go back and review the museum.

We left at 4:15 PM because I had a welcome dinner being put on by Butler.  The dinner was at The Spaghetti House on Goodge Street in central London.  I took the tube to get there at 5:30 PM.  I had an avocado vinagrette salad, lasagne, and fruit salad.  It was all very tasty and free (paid for by Butler)!  I tried walking the Tottenham Court Road a bit looking for a travel guide (like Let's Go, Lonely Planet, or something similar since I left mine at Donna's house) but most of the stores were closing (it was 7 PM).  So I caught the bus back home.

I'm currently planning a trip to Dublin, Ireland for February 21-24, 2007.  I have already booked my flight with Ryanair.com as well as my hostel with the Abraham house.  So far the trip costs roughly 60 pounds for round-trip and 3-night stay.  I don't know what to do there yet but the next couple of weeks will be dedicated to researching that area.

Tomorrow, I will be heading out to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.  I haven't decided if I want to walk there or not, it'll be a nice walk but it'll cut down on my time available to check it out.  The National Gallery, so I'm told, has a ton of artwork just like the Tate Modern Collection.  It is also free admission so I figured I might as well try it out.  If it doesn't turn out well I'll head back to the Imperial War Museum.  Also, I want to get to the Natural History Museum and Science Museum this weekend.