In my ongoing attempt to avoid the tourist areas of Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the thousands of tourists cramming the streets of those landmarks, I decided it was time to head out to sea! My first stop was the London Maritime Museum, which chronicles sea voyages from basically the beginning of boats to the 1940’s. London is actually the city it is because the river Thames connects the area to the ocean, and therefore it was a massive source for trading. However, as soon as shipping containers were invented, the facilities in London were inadequate and the city had already grown around the river…thus making it impossible to make the ports larger. So now most trading is actually handled in other places.
The museum was fun, and had a nice 50/50 mix of things for adults and children. A highlight for kids is the “map room,” which is a giant room about the size of four classrooms with a map of the world as the floor and that’s about it. Kids can run from South America to Asia, etc. It was fun to see the kids running around. They also had a sailing simulator, which let kids steer their virtual boat and watch the monitors for how they are doing. Best. Video. Game. Ever. As for the adult side, there were lots of paintings and stories of the various eras of sea travel, and some actual early boats. They also had a small exhibit covering naval battles of WWI, which was interesting. Not as glamorous or spectacular as other museums I have visited, but well worth an hour or two…especially if you have kids with you!
I then hit the high waters and took a ferry ride down the Thames. This was by far the highlight of my day. You get to see the city from such a different point of view while sailing down the river! We passed under the Tower Bridge and I got a couple of cool shots. I smiled as we sailed past the scores of people walking around the bridge and Tower of London like cattle (not a single tourist walking on water was seen).
My final stop of the day was touring the HMS Belfast, which is a retired WWII battle ship. Some advice: If you’re trying to get in shape, don’t bother getting a gym membership. Just tour this ship every day. This thing was huge, with many levels. Each level was accessed by just one narrow staircase that was steep and lots of times very long. Of course, I would not be doing the experience justice if I didn’t mention Jaime, the 6 year old boy in front of me on the tour with his parents. “Jamie! Come back here! We’ll go up the ladder later!” I must admit I got pretty claustrophobic in the engine room…and then there was ANOTHING LADDER GOING LOWER! Yes, below the engine room is the boiler room…and if I thought the engine room was bad…”Jaime! Stop that! Don’t touch that! Come over here!” It amazes me that people could live in cramped quarters like that. My dad was in the Navy on a submarine, and as soon as I got off the boat I had to text him that I had brand new respect for him. Once on the main deck the tour was more enjoyable, as we toured the laundry, the mess hall, the kitchen “Damnit, Jamie! Put that down! I’m warning you!” The dentistry made me thankful for the era I live in, and the living quarters made me reconsider going on a cruise one day. “Jaime! NO! We are not going back down! Come over here NOW!”
I would recommend this tour to anyone who is ok with 2-3 hours of climbing up and down steep, narrow ladders. If you can physically do it, then it’s a fascinating tour. The highlight of the tour was the compass room, which looked out over the front of the ship, where you could see the river Thames and all the sites. Wait…where is Jaime? I guess we lost him. Thank the maker.
-Jeff
Aug 7th, 2018
jeffinukraine2016 