Had this trip been planned solely around my desires the stops would have included tours of FN in Belgium, SIG in Switzerland, HK and Walther in Germany, Beretta & Uberti in Italy and CZ in Czech Republic.
Our first day in London we came across a crime scene, the police were there arresting a young man while medics tended to the victim who appeared to have been stabbed, but we never got the details. This coincidentally happened the day after Trump made his comments about London's high murder rate.
Just a few blocks from our hotel was this famous tank known as "Stompie" to the locals. Otherwise called the "Mandela Way Tank", it is a WWII Soviet built T-34-85 Battle Tank, see the story here
On the first day we toured the Tower of London
Just one of the displays of armor in the Tower
I did not take many pictures inside as the lighting wasn't that good and I figured they wouldn't turn out, here are some of the guns I saw though (pictures by others):
See more pictures at TFB
That night there was a fatal shooting, just a mile or two from where we were staying in Southwark, see the story here
We stayed in this old Manor house that was once owned by the Knights Templar.....see more here
We headed to the mainland of Europe, landing in Brussels....I did see two Belgian Military Soldiers armed with FN-FAL rifles at the airport...didn't get a photo as we were on a tight schedule and I'm not sure they would've been amused.
We took a detour and visited the American Cemetery at Margraten, Netherlands, see my Memorial Day tribute here
We then headed for the Rhine River valley to search out castles and other historic landmarks.
This antique and hand cannon were on display at the Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar, Germany (the odd reflection is the curtains). Check out the square butt stock.
We came across this Gun Store in Rothenburg, but it was closed. I was able to find their website here
After touring Germany we headed to Prague, while there we visited the Presidential Palace, the Palace Guards were carrying ceremonial VZ-52 rifles
The real palace guards were armed with CZ Scorpions and CZ-75 pistols
Also in Prague we came across the KGB Museum....we didn't go inside as it was by appointment only...
Near our apartment in Prague was this ArmsCZ gun store, it was also closed (it was a Sunday). Note the graffiti on the wall
Back to Germany, the Munich police were armed with HK P7 pistols...
Also saw this AK-47 Hookah in Munich
Law Enforcement (and Military) in Italy were all, to the officer, armed with Beretta 92 pistols, this was taken at the Colosseum in Rome. They have Military detachments stationed around the ancient ruins in case of a terrorist attack.
Finally a gun magazine in a bookstore at the Zurich Airport
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