GREAT BRITAIN - Best of Europe 2014 - page 810

Allow plenty of time, as this powerful museum—with lots of artifacts and video
clips—can be engrossing. The highlights are the main WWI and WII area, the “Secret War”
section, and the Holocaust exhibit. (Some sections, including the WWI exhibit, may be
closed for renovation until summer 2014.) War wonks love the place, as do general history
buffs who enjoy patiently reading displays. For the rest, there are enough interactive experi-
ences and multimedia exhibits and submarines for the kids to climb in to keep it interesting.
Cost and Hours: Free, daily 10:00-18:00, last entry 17:45, temporary exhibits extra,
£3.50 audioguide, guided tours usually Sat-Sun at 11:30 and 13:30—confirm at info desk,
Tube: Lambeth North or Elephant and Castle; buses #3, #12, and #159 all come here from
Westminster area; tel. [phone], www.iwm.org.uk .
Visiting the Museum: Start with the museum's latest pride and joy: the WWI galleries,
newlysoupedupforthecentennialanniversaryofthestartofthe“GreatWar.”Exhibitscov-
erthevarioustheaters,thenfollowthewaratsea,thehomefront,andtheTreatyofVersailles
and interwar years. The Trench Experience lets you walk through a dark, chaotic, smelly
WWItrench.ThenheadintotheWWIIsectionthatexplainsBlitzkrieganditseffects(seean
actual Nazi parachute bomb like the ones that devastated London). The Blitz Experience is
a walk-through simulator that assaults the senses with the noise and intensity of a WWII air
raid on London (begins every 10 minutes). End with a visit to a special exhibit celebrating
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, and the displays about conflicts since 1945.
The cinema on the ground floor shows a rotating selection of films. Up on the first floor,
you'll get the best view of the entry hall's large exhibits —including Monty's tank, sever-
al field guns, and, dangling overhead, vintage planes. Imagine the awesome power of the
50-foot V-2 rocket (towering up from the ground floor)—the kind the Nazis rained down on
London, which could arrive silently and destroy a city block.
Near the first-floor stairwell is the “Secret War” exhibit, which peeks into the intrigues
of espionage, and poses challenging questions about the role of secrecy in government.
The second floor has temporary exhibits and the John Singer Sargent room, an art gal-
lery of military-themed works; hiding behind the entryway is Sargent's Gassed (1919) and
othergiantcanvases.Acrossthehallisaprovocative30-minute film aboutgenocide, Crimes
Against Humanity . The third-floor section on the Holocaust, one of the best on the subject
anywhere, tells the story with powerful videos, artifacts, and fine explanations.
From Tate Modern to City Hall
These sights are in Southwark (SUTH-uck), the core of the tourist's South Bank. Southwark
was for centuries the place Londoners would go to escape the rules and decency of the
city and let their hair down. Bearbaiting, brothels, rollicking pubs, and theater—you name
the dream, and it could be fulfilled just across the Thames. A run-down warehouse district
through the 20th century, it's been gentrified with classy restaurants, office parks, pedestrian