Don't Save the Sugar Rations for Another Day.

We walked almost six miles today. My feet are a bit sore. I miss my bed. And we all really really miss our Pluto! But I have this story running through my head:

Winston Churchill refused to leave the city when World War II was looming large on the horizon. Rather, he insisted on building secret war rooms under an unknown building where he could work, live if necessary and could manage his staff as they planned, plotted and worked to stop Adolf Hitler.

The rooms are a fascinating tour -- offices, bunk rooms, a regal dining room for Churchill and his wife to host dinners if they were trapped underground, map rooms, and a secret room that even his staff thought was his private water closet but which in fact was a telephone room where Churchill could conduct very private phone calls!

When the war ended, the rooms were closed and left undisturbed for years. When they were re-opened in the late 1970s a packet of sugar cubes was found on one of the officer's desks. The packet contained this officer's sugar rations. No doubt he was saving them for something special. He had, after all, placed them safely in the envelope and even put his name on them. And yet what stood out to me is the fact that he saved them so long he never used them at all. At all.

I don't want to waste a moment imagining something different around the corner. I don't want to save my energy for another day -- I want to walk, and see and do and experience everything we can before we leave London in a couple of days.

As as we do just that: we are cramming as much in as absolutely possible! We have toured the Tower of London -- the history fascinates me and we savored every story the Beefeater (Yeoman Warder) told but I have to tell you that wheelchairs and cobblestone are a rough combination. Poor Benjamin's teeth were rattling!

Volunteers are placing ceramic poppies in the moat surrounding the Tower. One red poppy to represent each man who lost his life in World War I.

The Tower Bridge.

Bulldogs!! (Ok...totally the wrong colors but they make us smile!)

Cate as a guard? Hmm...

After the tower we grabbed a couple of taxis and handed them the address for The Who Shop (You know...Dr. Who!). We probably should have worried when both drivers were concerned for how we would return to London. We were way way way out there and unfortunately being Dr. Who fans did not mean the Tardis could help with transport.

Mason going into the Tardis....the Dr. Who museum...because you know...it is bigger on the inside!

We walked through some interesting parts of town to get to the closest train station with wheelchair access. We walked a long long way through those interesting areas. :)

Our trip is winding down but we still have a bit more to see. My hope is that when we return we will have a whole new motto -- not just "mind the gap" or "Keep Calm and Carry On" but I hope we learn to eat the sugar rations each day -- not save them for a special occasion!!!

Sunset through the London Eye.