Today we drove from just outside St Louis, MO to Salina, KS (west of Topeka - but east of Dodge City). I think we are in the middle of nowhere, Kansas. And it's been storming for hours. I think it started about at Kansas City - during rush hour and a thunderstorm with lots of lightening and hail - just fun stuff to drive through! The storm has continued to follow us, and I hear when we get to Denver, they have snow! I see a trip to the mall for some warmer clothes in my near future.
But before we left St Charles, a quick picture of Daniel Boone. He was an early settler of St Charles, MO. Also, Lewis & Clark were in St Charles.
So, the history lesson for today - we went to the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library in the United States. Where is this you ask - why Fulton, MO! Where else!? It was actually very interesting. In March 1946, Winston Churchill gave the famous "Iron Curtain" speech here at Westminster College. This was the first reference to the iron curtain, and many people believe that this speech sparked the beginning of the Cold War. ("From
Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.") It was touted as a "two for one" since President Harry Truman was also present and the two men rode the train to Fulton, MO for the occasion.At the school is the reconstructed Christopher Wren-designed Church of the St Mary the Virgin. This church was bombed in London, torn down and rebuilt in Fulton like a giant building jigsaw puzzle, as a tribute to Churchill.
There are also 8 sections of the actual Berlin Wall that have been sculpted by Churchill's granddaughter, Edwina Sandys. Pretty cool.
Very interesting indeed...
I'll try to be more witty tomorrow
No comments:
Post a Comment