Layout 8 - Winston Churchill

Churchill sites like this are
available to you, too, if you give
thought to where you are and
where Churchill was....be
prepared to “drop everything”!
I did not ask about air conditioning in 1943, but of
course that meeting was in cooler November. Today’s rate is
$1515 per night excluding 24% service charge and tax.
There is much information on the Mena House and Giza
on the Internet.
We barely caught our bus back for the afternoon trip,
20 km to the world’s oldest pyramid at Sakkara, then the
long ride to Alexandria, where our ship welcomed us with
bagpipes, drinks and dinner. It was worth the rush.
The aforementioned concession was that I promised
Lynn, another cruise to Alexandria so she could visit the
famous library. She twisted my arm.
Lawrence of Arabia did not particularly like Egyptian
hotels. In a letter to his brother he remarked: “Here we live
in a marble & bronze hotel, very expensive & luxurious:
horrible place: makes me Bolshevik…”
Churchill had a rather different view. In his opinion,
international summit conferences were difficult enough
without the burden of sub-standard surroundings.
(Significantly after returning from Yalta, he had all his
clothes fumigated.) At Cairo in 1943, however, there is
every evidence that he found his accommodation suitable.
My own searches for Churchill, often reported in
these pages, are not unique. Churchill sites like this are
available to you, too, if you give thought to where you are
and where Churchill was. The keys are persistence—
coupled with patient civility. Also—when the opportunity
presents itself—be prepared to “drop everything!” ,
Endnotes
1. Richard M. Langworth, ed., Churchill By Himself (New York:
Public Affairs, 2009), 579.
2. Winston S. Churchill, The Second World War, vol. V, Closing the
Ring (London: Cassell, 1951), 289.
3. Sir Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, vol. VII. Road to
Victory 1941-1945 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986), 460-567.
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