September Part Three - Bletchley Park & discovering a new cuisine!

 Something I had always wanted to do since seeing the film Enigma, was to visit Bletchley park to see the history of codebreaking, and to where Alan Turing and other codebreakers worked through the war to intercept enemy communications.

It's so, so fascinating, even though I don't fully understand it, and they have made it feel like the codebreakers have just gone for lunch, and you're snooping about, which gave it a really fun edge. Even the typewriters had little messages on them!

Many of the huts have been restored, although there is a few more to go. What I loved was the actually Bletchley Park house, with it's fantastic plaster ceilings and sumptuous decorations adorning it's walls. 

The flow of information and intelligence through Bletchley Park is extraordinary, and to think it was never discovered by the Germans during the war, and for many years the people that worked there were silent and unappreciated. I'm glad that now we are finally able to appreciate the sheer brilliance of everyone who served there.

There was this lovely little pond in the center of the site, and you can imagine the codebreakers sat here eating their lunch during a quick break, watching the ducks swimmingly blissfully around. And to be fair, that's exactly what we did! We also shared some birdseed with them, and they were very vocal in their appreciation!

Tickets for Bletchley Park start at £25.50 for an adult ticket, but if you book in advance you can save an additional 10%. See more at their website, Bletchley Park

We then headed into London, where we had two nights booked in a hotel by Hanger Lane station on the central line. Which was super easy getting into central London and back again.  It was already early evening by the time we had got ourselves checked in and then into London, where we had booked a table at Uzbek Corner. I've never had Uzbek food before, so was very excited to try it out. They do ask you to order at least 24 hours in advance, particularly as some of the dishes are slow cooked during the day to give you a mesmerising experience.

This was the Uzbek Dumplings, called Manti, which may now be my most favourite food ever! The were packed full of flavour, and were just perfection.

And this is Plov, a succulent slow cooked rice dish with Lamb and garlic. Honestly, I could have eaten kilos of it, the meat was so unbelievably soft and just fell apart in your mouth. Is this my new favourite place to eat in London? I think it might just be! It's a little tricky to find though, find the Queensway Market, head in and it's at the back. The market has a Turkish Bazaar kind of feel to it, and then you suddenly find yourself in this little corner, almost like it had been brought over from Uzbekistan. You will not be dissapointed, I can guarantee you that!