I learned a great deal about his life and what he went through during WWII. It was interesting to learn how he was one of the only people who wanted to stand up to Hitler rather than appease him during the 1930s. Also, he was put in charge of the Navy in the First World War, but after a failed naval maneuver, which he was not solely to blame, he had to resign from that position. Then in WWII, when Prime Minister Chamberlain failed to stop the Nazi invasion of Norway, he was forced to resign. His successor didn't want the position. Churchill, who had opposed Hitler from the start and gained the people's admiration with his public speeches, was given the position of Prime Minister.
Both in the 1930s and in 1945 when he lost the election for Prime Minister to the labour party, he wrote about his military experiences. His books eased any financial difficulties he would have. He even won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his accounts of WWII. He continued to be a public speaker and talked against the threats of communism and nuclear war.
In his early life, he entered the military and passed the test for a cavalry regiment, which was an expensive position. On a military campaign, he was captured as a prisoner of war, but managed to escape and return to England. This made his famous throughout England and easily started his career off in politics. He had wanted to be a politician ever since he was a boy.
Moving back to WWII, he worked long hours in the War Rooms and was very respected and admired by his advisors, generals, and staff. He wanted to avoid the casualties of WWI so his strategy was in bold attacks rather than defense. His ideas would amaze or shock his board since they were so bold. Intelligence was a huge aspect of WWII especially because they had cracked the German's code without them knowing. The Japanese codes were virtually impossible to break.
England needed the U.S. and their colonies support if they were to win the war. Once Russia and the U.S. joined the fight for the Allies, Churchill was confident that they would win the war. They called Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin the Big 3. Churchill had taken his country from near defeat to total victory. He was awarded medals and honors all over England and the world.
He died in 1965 at the age of 90 and the world stopped to watch his funeral on television. 300,000 people went to his service and someone said that the age of giants in the 20th century had come to an end since he was the last of Roosevelt and Stalin to pass away. I got to see Churchill's living quarters and the meeting rooms, map rooms, and communication rooms that they used throughout the entire war.
After CWR, I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum and got a ticket to the "David Bowie Is" Exhibit that the museum has for a few months this year. It is very popular and has been selling out every day. My entry time was 14:45 so I had 2.5 hours to explore. I went to Monmouth Coffee shop to eat another delicious brownie. Then I went to Hyde Park Corner and walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe. I got to see the Vault which is a room with guitars and instruments from many famous musicians like Jimmy Page, Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Joe Perry, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix and many more.
Leaving, I walked through the Rose Garden in Hyde Park, which was beautiful.
I continued until I reached Royal Albert Hall. It wasn't open, but I got to see the outside. I briefly stopped into the Science Museum before returning to the Victoria & Albert Museum.
I entered the "David Bowie Is" Exhibit and it was awesome. It fully explained his whole career. It had the original letter that suggested he change his stage name from David Jones to David Bowie. Davy Jones was a member of the Monkees so his manager didn't want people to confuse the two. Bowie was chosen because of the double-edged bowie knife and because of a American Frontiersman character on T.V. who's surname was Bowie. He wrote Space Oddity very early in his career and it was his first big single. It was a word play from 2001: Space Oddessy, and it was aired on T.V. right before the Apollo 2 rocket launch for promotional purposes. It did very well in the charts.Bowie continued to absorb every influence of music, fashion, and theatre throughout his whole career, and he used it to inspire his own creativity.
They had an enormous amount of original lyrics, costumes, instruments, clothes, records, and other artifacts linked to David Bowie in some way. Bowie provided many of these items for the exhibit. Most of his hit songs- like Space Oddity, Fame, Rebel Rebel, The Man Who Sold The World, and others- had the lyrics Bowie wrote on display. The exhibit deeply followed his musical and fashion trends and growth. He had the ability and foresight to create shows of music and fashion that were ahead of their time but also in the moment. And when people thought they understood his direction, he could change paths and still have his fans love it.
I enjoyed seeing the synth David Bowie used in Germany for his albums "Low", "Heroes", and "Lodgers" that he made with the guidance of Brian Eno. This was his first big step into electronica. I remember reading something saying how Bowie's ambient pop blended great with Eno's electronic minimalism. Those albums were of Bowie's most groundbreaking albums, but the record companies didn't think they would sell well.
They had a section that commemorated his acting and showed clips from Labyrinth, The Prestige (where he played Nikola Tesla), Basquiat (where he played Andy Warhol), and other movies. He also performed The Elephant Man, the play, which had great reviews. He has collaborated with many famous people including Brian Eno, John Lennon, and Alexander McQueen. He was one of the first celebrities to work with McQueen. Bowie hired McQueen very soon after McQueen graduated with school and Bowie worked with him multiple times in his career. Early in Bowie's career when he was young, he opened for T-Rex. He has influenced generations of musicians, fashion designers, and artists for decades.
I came back to the Hotel and checked back in. I showered and walked to Caroline and Richard's house for supper at 19:00. I had a lovely time meeting them and talking with them. They are very warm and hospitable people. They served me a beer and prepared a delicious dinner. We had tomato and mozzarella with balsamic vinaigrette on a french baguette. For the main course, they served a lamb shank (lamb leg), roasted potatoes, cooked carrots, and a glass of French wine. Also, they had mint jelly for the lamb- which was traditional in England. We had 3 different cheeses and bread after the main course. Lastly, we ate fresh strawberries which were amazing. I could tell that they were in season. Every bite of food was fantastic.
Throughout the evening, we discussed family life and interests. They explained some British politics and how the British Royalty works to me. As it got dark out, I got a picture with them before leaving around 22:30 since we both had to get up early.
I was so glad to meet them both especially since Caroline's parents were such great friends with my grandparents. Caroline told me that her mother, Kate, brought us Beanie Babies from England and gave them to Namma. Then Namma would give them to us, and I didn't even know that.
I caught the tube to Leichester Square and walked up to Sports Cafe where i was going to meet Alex Canty, Paige Moore, and their friends. Luckily, I saw them outside of the bar. We all had gotten there at the same time. It was a special Tuesday Frat Night where only college kids could get in. It was packed with students and we ordered drinks and danced on the dance floor. It was funny to hear all the American club songs they played. After we left Sports Cafe, I said goodbye and walked back to my hotel.
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