Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt share a park bench in the heart of London, on a pretty, brick-lined square at the corner of Grafton and New Bond streets. Squeezed between the world leaders and smiling at a camera, a young woman has swung a shapely leg provocatively over Churchill's knee.
She is among the flock of tourists who take advantage of a sculpture that presents one of London's unique photo ops. Both bronze subjects have shiny knees, the legacy of many such encounters.
Cast in life-size bronze, the sculpture, entitled "Allies," is the work of Lawrence Holofcener, an American-born actor, novelist, playwright and sculptor who holds dual U.
K. and U.S.
citizenship. It was unveiled in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
The British Prime Minister, depicted enjoying his inevitable cigar, is leaning over to say something that causes his American ally to smile.
Perhaps he has just seen his political rival, Clement Atlee, pass by and is describing him, with typical Churchillean acerbic wit as "a modest little man with plenty to be modest about." -- or as "a sheep in sheep's clothing."
Churchill and Roosevelt became firm allies during the darkest days of World War II, and nowhere is that better evidenced than with this lifelike sculpture and at the Cabinet War Rooms, where a transatlantic hotline connected the two leaders.
Although it got off to a rough start, friendship between the two countries flourishes. Touring the British capital, you'll find many signs of Anglo-American relationships.
More than 37 million Americans can claim British heritage and more than 75 percent of the nation's "top 100" surnames originated in Britain.
Churchill himself was born to an American mother and English father.
Next year marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown settlement in Virginia. It is a time when "ancestral tourism" is flourishing as Americans cross the pond in search of their roots.
They'll learn about Winston Churchill's roots should they visit the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill Museum. The former was the underground headquarters of the war cabinet, where cabinet members worked, ate and slept as Hitler's Luftwaffe tried to destroy London. You'll see the kitchen that prepared three meals a day and the cots where they slept (although Churchill often preferred the risk of enjoying the hospitality of the nearby bomb-damaged Savoy).
The war rooms remain much as they did when they closed down in August 1945, with charts and map pins still in place, along with the BBC microphones from which Churchill addressed the nation, and the Transatlantic Telephone Room. Incorporated within the space is the Churchill Museum, opened by Queen Elizabeth in 2005. The museum combines cutting-edge technology, rare historical objects and thousands of images, film and sound recordings to tell the story of Churchill's 90-year life.
You can inspect his signature red siren suit and iconic spotted bow tie, both produced for him personally by a top West End tailor. On display are his school reports and love letters from and to wife Clementine. You'll view a sad 1940 photograph of Churchill and Clementine visiting the smoking remains of the Guildhall following a German air raid and a whimsical 1944 picture of Churchill with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and Monty's dog, Rommel.
But largely, this museum is about Churchill's words and phrases, such as "their finest hour." As the Daily Telegraph noted, Churchill "mobilized the English language and sent it into battle."
Language flourishes in Bankside, thanks to William Shakespeare -- although there was a time when cabbies were reluctant to take visitors to the seedy south bank of the Thames.
Over the last decade, energetic revitalization has converted derelict warehouses and abandoned Victorian railway arches into chic restaurants, shops and galleries, linked by a breezy riverbank promenade.
Anchoring the South Bank are such attractions as the Tate Gallery of Modern Art, a glittering showcase of modern and contemporary art occupying the site and shell of a former power station, and British Airways' London Eye, a giant Ferris wheel 443 feet high. Nearby is Vinopolis, a Disney-like themed museum devoted to worldwide wine production and its history.
One of the earliest projects in revitalized Bankside has strong Anglo-American ties. The recreated Globe Theatre was the vision of American actor/director the late Sam Wanamaker, an expatriated Chicagoan. One day, traveling the grungy neighborhood, he came across a plaque on a brewery wall that said, simply, "Shakespeare's Globe was here.
" That sparked a long and dedicated effort culminating with the reopening of The Globe Theatre in 1997. Arriving by barge for the opening was HRH Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Queen Elizabeth I as portrayed by actress Jane Lapotaire.
The original Globe burned down in 1613 when a stage cannon set fire to the thatched roof during a performance of "Henry VIII.
" Today's Globe is covered by a thatched reed roof that is the first such in London since the Great Fire in 1666 (the present roof is protected by a modern sprinkler system). Painstaking reconstruction with hand tools and Elizabethan techniques utilized a wooden frame held together with mortise and tenon joints. Walls are lime plaster mixed with goat hair.
Part of the audience occupies a stand-up area in front of the stage. In Shakespeare's time, the unwashed masses that each paid a penny admission to pack into this space were descriptively known as "penny stinkards."
Housed beneath the theater, an exhibition -- open year-round -- tells the remarkable story of the struggle to rebuild the Globe and brings Shakespeare's world to life with interactive displays and live demonstrations.
It will transport you to the world of Elizabethan Bankside, where gambling dens, brothels and bear baiting entertained crowds alongside theaters such as the Globe. You'll learn how shows were staged in Shakespeare's time and how special effects were produced -- from on-stage hangings to realistic blood and gore.
From the Globe, cross the timeless Thames via the Millennium Bridge, opened in 2000 -- a pedestrians-only bridge linking South Bank attractions with Sir Christopher Wren's architectural masterpiece, St.
Paul's Cathedral. Though damaged during the Blitz, this magnificent cathedral survived World War II and also has a strong American connection.
Visit the American Memorial Chapel, paid for by the British public to thank Americans for assistance during World War II.
Its paneling includes birds, plants and flowers of America and includes a medallion showing a portrait of Dwight Eisenhower. The Book of Remembrance lists the names of 28,000 Americans based in Britain who lost their lives. One page of this 500-page book is turned every day.
St. Paul's Cathedral took 33 years to build (1675-1708) and is where Charles, Prince of Wales, married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. It also has witnessed famous funerals, including those of Admiral Lord Nelson (1806), Arthur, Duke of Wellington (1852) and Sir Winston Churchill (1965).
In 1964, Martin Luther King preached there while en route to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Still in use is the 1695 organ that Felix Mendelssohn once played, while a constant source of wonder are the acoustics in the Whispering Gallery. It runs around the interior of the famous dome and features a wall that audibly conveys whispers across the gallery.
Perhaps the most famous American to take up residence in London was Benjamin Franklin. He lived at 36 Craven St., a lovely Georgian building that has been beautifully restored as is the world's only remaining Franklin residence.
It opened to the public in time to celebrate the 300th anniversary of statesman's birth on Jan. 17, 2006. Franklin lived there between 1757 and 1775.
With an artful blend of live performance, cutting-edge lighting, sound and projection technology, the Benjamin Franklin House tells the rich story of the famous U.S. leader, diplomat, scientist, philosopher and inventor.
The main character is Polly Hewson, daughter of Franklin's landlady, who became a "second daughter" to him. She accompanies visitors, assuming they are there to see Franklin on his last night, when he had to leave or risk arrest.
They'll get a sense of the complexity of the man and his times as they learn about how Franklin lived, his personal relationships, his musical inventions, scientific work, political triumphs and woes and his hurried return to America and the looming War of Independence.
News RSS