Greetings from London! Well, I made it in one piece and everything is going splendidly…so far. I must say, I love to travel, but I always dread the flight to my destination. I’m a fidgety person by nature and I really hate sitting in airplanes. To my surprise, this flight was quite pleasant.
Last time I was on an airplane, I flew Virgin Airlines. This time I was on Continental. Quite a nice airline. Unlike Virgin, the seats were not cramped — Virgin makes you feel like a sardine — but sadly, the food was worse. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. The movie selection was quite good, but sadly, due to REALLY bad turbulence at the start of my flight, I was sick to my stomach and my only option was to “sleep”…or rather, lay with my eyes close praying that I would fall asleep. (I unfortunately do not have the ability to sleep on flights. I did however watch Date Night starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell. The movie takes place in Bergen County, NJ & NYC, which is where I live, AND I love Tina & Steve. (I’m a major “30 Rock” and “The Office” fan.) The movie was cute.
Right, but you guys don’t care about that. So, I am now moved into my temporary flat located around Notting Hill Gate. The area is really nice. My flat is about a 10 to 15 minute walk to the famed Portobello Market and the Notting Hill Gate tube is 5 minutes away. Also, Hyde Park is practically across the street! (It’s like 2 blocks over, but the edge of it is in front of me). I really really lucked out! The flat is tiny, but it serves my basic needs: working bathroom (well, I haven’t used the shower yet…fingers crossed), working kitchen, working bed, and cute table. There is a TV, but I haven’t used it yet.
my bedroom/living room
I arrived on Monday (7/12) and took it easy. Jet lag, moving in to the flat…the last thing I wanted to do was dive into my research. After moving into my flat, I spent the afternoon exploring my new home. I explored Portobello Road, which is really cool. It has a lot of antique shops, vintage stores, discount stores, food vendors…it actually really resembles New York City’s Greenwich Village. That is probably the best way I can describe it. I made sure to visit this place called “The Hummingbird Bakery”. It’s really famous and not to mention really tasty! I bought a simple Hummingbird cupcake (chocolate cupcake with green cream cheese icing) and it was heavenly! Later that evening, I met a very good friend of mine for a Morrocan dinner. My friend, Susan, and I met last semester when I was at UCL. We were in the same history class and instantly hit it off. She is working, but has been fortunate to take a lot of time off to see me while I am here. As a former history major, she graduated this year, she will be my research assistant and accompany me on my excursions! One last thing before I talk about research, at dinner, I thought I’d be adventurous and try “pigeon tagine”. I am all about trying new things, but that backfired. I didn’t care for the pigeon…too gamey for my taste.
great sign!
Anyway, so yesterday (7/13), Susan and I visited the Imperial War Museum. Since Susan and I both love military history, it is one of our favorite museums. If you get the chance to go, GO! It’s really splendid! While at the Imperial War Museum, I wanted to see what information they had on Enigma/ULTRA/Bletchley Park/Market Garden…pretty much anything that has to do with my research. I was quite successful. Last time I was at the museum, there was an exhibit on spies and such. Turns out, it’s still there! Huzzah for me! First stop on the day: “Secret War” exhibit.
When you first enter this exhibit, there is a HUGE display filled with spy novels, toys, games, etc…There are also two television monitors playing a James Bond montage. Something I am also embarrassed to admit, I am OBSESSED with James Bond. I don’t just mean, I’ve seen the movies and read the books. I have the 007 edition of “Scene It” (DVD based quiz board game) and I am undefeated! No one has come close to beating me. I know more about James Bond than Ian Fleming! I stood in front of the monitor with Susan and was able to name every movie that each montage scene came from. Pathetic I know….Sorry! I digress. Back to research.
“The names Bond, James Bond” – Dr. No
We entered the exhibit, which is divided into MI5, MI6, SOE (Special Operations Executive), and Secret Soldiers. I took lots of pictures of the little information blurbs (easier than taking notes). The exhibit is really well done. Susan and I learned a lot. The most exciting moment, for me at least, was when I came face-to-face with an Enigma machine! Wow! After spending months reading about the contraption, there is was, right in front of me! Susan started to ask me questions, which I successfully answered, and funny enough this American man appeared out of nowhere and started questioning me too! He thought I worked in the exhibit! Explained my thesis to him, which prompted him to ask me more questions for about 15 minutes. It seems I know my stuff because he was quite satisfied with my answers. Hooray! There was also a cute interactive station where you could play with a digital Enigma. It seems, if you encrypt my name, AKI = QYB. Good to know.
So excited that I found the ENIGMA machine!
After the “Secret War” exhibit, Susan and I made our way to the museum’s incredible WWII exhibit. This is possibly one of the most comprehensive exhibits I have ever seen! Bravo Imperial War Museum! While everything was interesting, I will focus on my topic. Funny enough, while the museum is comprehensive about most aspects about WWII, especially those pertaining to Britain, Operation Market Garden, is minimized. We got to a section of the exhibit that talked about Operation Overlord (D-Day) and the Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge), but there was no sign of Market Garden, which occurs between the two mentioned events. I was puzzled. I paced back and forth throughout the exhibit looking for any mention of Market Garden, but nothing! After ten minutes of desperate searching, something caught my eye. Hidden at the very bottom corner of the display case was a tiny rectangular blurb about Market Garden. The description was about as simple and vague as possible. This struck me. Perhaps because this operation failed and was planned by the British, the museum wanted to minimize and hide it? I can only speculate…
After the WWII section of the museum, Susan and I also visited a new mini-exhibit dedicated to Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, aka “Monty”. I KNEW I had to check this out…I mean, Market Garden was his “baby”, as I call it. I actually learned a lot about Monty. Apparently his father was a minister and they lived in Tanzania(? – can’t quite remember) for a while, before returning to GB. He wasn’t a great student, but joined the army and was stationed in India. During WWI, his regiment was called to active duty in France, where he was apparently mortally wounded; everyone assumed him to be dead. He survived and went on to have a vibrant military career! Inspiring guy. Of course, there was a blurb about Market Garden, but it was vague and simple. (hmm…I’m noticing a pattern here…) Either way, I still learned a tremendous amount about Monty and understand his personality a lot more. A worthwhile trip.
Overall, the Imperial War Museum proved quite fruitful. I learned a lot…and formed some new speculations.
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