I started writing this while at London City Airport waiting to board and had a moment to finally sit and give you the highlights of travelling to London Town. Just finished it now.
First off, their transportation system is ace for the ancient system that it is. And yes there are delays, and the occasional bomb scare (just happened on Thurs.), and trains and people having to be rerouted...BUT! They let you know. Announcements, a person at every entrance helping to direct people to get where they're going. This, despite there being temporary maps of how to bypass and written instructions too. People appreciate being in the know.
Now, yes the system is a labyrinth with like 12 different lines crisscrossing and running under other lines, but there are signs everywhere and you'll eventually find where you're going. Eventually....
Signs on every crossing painted in big white letters to look LEFT! Or look RIGHT! Of course we looked both ways, but really, everyone ignores traffic lights. I mean, I was pretty shocked living in Germany where obeying traffic lights is the norm. Mind you, German traffic lights last like 30 seconds, so no one seems to mind waiting a bit. London, on the other hand has traffic lights that go on for like 3 or 4 minutes, which is an absolute eternity to busy Londoners, so they merely look, and wait for the next opportunity to scoot across on the red. Soon, we were Londoners too, except a few close calls with a double decker bus soon cured me of that insanity on busy roads.
Did I mention that Londoners also move fast! Really fast! No leisurely stroll in the park when you're trying to get somewhere. Or maybe it's the tourists moving like schnell too. Gotta do five different attractions in one day to get more bang for your buck with the London Pass.
There's a really cool Oyster card for the transportation system that we've been using. Load it up with money and you tap in and out at each destination and the fee is automatically deducted. Works on tubes, district trains, buses, even boats. Fast and efficient. The farther you travel through zones, the more you pay. What I'm puzzled about is that Toronto has a TTC commissioner who is from London, so...why isn't he doing the same thing for Toronto? I've heard about all the problems with the Presto card.
London is busy, I think busier than New York! There is a building boom everywhere you look; cranes in the air in every direction, but especially in the docklands where the O2 Olympic stadium is. A lot of people from the Continent want to live in England. Look what's happening in Calais! Plus, the City of London is very multi-cultural. Go on the tube and you'll hear German, Dutch, French, Italian, Chinese and Russian (lots of Chinese and Russians!) Serbians, Indians, Croatians, Greeks...and yes, even a few likeable Canadians.
There's lots to see and do in London and we tried to do it in a week, but our feet gave out and we only scratched the surface.
Some highlights:
1) Shakespeare's Globe Theatre - Not so imposing from the outside as a 20 sided white plastered polygon with silver grey weathered timbers, but then you step inside and you are gobsmacked with wonder. Everyone said "Wow" almost in sinc as we looked around and then up at this incredible masterpiece of ingenuity made to the exact measurements of the old one which burned down 500 years ago on that very spot. It rises up to 3 stories, with wooden benches all around to the covered stage which juts out into the audience who are standing in the cheap £5 seats and in the open air. Back in the day, the smelly rabble would stand there for a penny to see great theatre while for a penny more you could sit higher up on a wooden bench on the outskirts that was covered from the elements, because rain or shine, the show went on! Then, for another penny you could secure a cushion to comfort your bottom. Plus, the higher up you sat, the less affected you were by the ripe smells below...and they were ripe coming from most of a populace who bathed once in their lives on the day they were born. The pillars, walls and stage are painstakingly painted to look like marble with figures painted as well to look like statues. Food and drink would be served by wandering waiters and it was loud and noisy with the crowd very much participating and showing their pleasure or displeasure with laughter, yelling, swearing and the like. We wanted to see a play, but it was late October and the season was finishing and everything was sold out; nary a seat to be had until the whole thing starts again in April. So said our rambunctious tour guide, a burly actor who actually worked there. Just an excuse to come back to London!
2) Westminster Abbey - Old as dirt and seems to be more of a cemetery of who's who than a cathedral. There are over 3000 bodies of importance lying beneath the floors and crowded into walls and niches. Everywhere you look is someone's tomb. Most revered is King Edward the Confessor's tomb, high above and behind the altar. He was canonized a saint back in 1076 or so. He was a benevolent king who was married, but childless, so there was a fight for his throne between his brother-in-law Harold, and his Norman cousin William (aka William the Conqueror), who lived in Normandy, France. You can see the whole play out of the events in the oldest tapestry in the world, the Bayeux Tapestry which has its own museum in Bayeux, France. I was fortunate to see this marvelous work the week before which is in great condition despite being almost 1000 years old!
Anyway, the Abbey was actually an Abbey at first and there is still the cloister area that are the only remains of the original which is over 1000 years old! The rest of the cathedral is about 600 to 800 years old rebuilt by Henry II to make a more fitting place for the bones of the canonized saint. There is a poet's corner, a statesman's corner, scientist corner (Sir Isaac Newton), writer's corner, military corner and of course all the royals like Elizabeth I, her half sister Mary I aka Bloody Mary fir her scourge of Protestants, also Mary Queen of Scots, cousin to Elizabeth I who she imprisoned for more than 20 years until she executed her by the axe which was a grisly affair as the first couple of blows didn't kill her. There is also Henry VII and his wife and Henry VIII, along with slews of other kings and queens, princes and princesses and important nobles. No more room though for anyone else I'm afraid. Famously, there is a huge black basalt stone on the floor for Sir Winston Churchill, but he refused the 'honour', stating that 'people had walked over him his whole life and he wasn't about to let them walk over him in death!' He's buried in a church wall close to where he was born instead. One grave that is never walked upon is the WWI tomb of the unknown soldier. It is surrounded by a hedge of bright red poppies.
3) High Tea at Westminster Abbey - All that touring makes you thirsty, for tea that is; high tea! For those of you in the know, high tea is a pick me up between lunch and a later dinner. It consists of crust-less sandwiches cut into dainty squares with smoked salmon, egg, or ham and butter to name a few. Also fresh scones with or without currents with the iconic clotted cream and strawberry jam and an assortment of petit four pastries and of course a pot of steaming, fragrant elderflower tea to give you a boost of energy. The room itself is in the basement of the cathedral, plainly painted in soft cream that highlights the curved vaulted ceiling. Massive, dark oak tables line the walls with benches. On the walls are blown up photos of the cathedral, the ceiling, the choir, a gargoyle, etc. It was small and only seated maybe 20 people at best, but was cozy, warm and an intimate environment with the scent of fresh baking wafting in. We were energized after that lovely diversion to continue our trek through the city.
4) Tower Bridge- Everyone thinks this is London Bridge; at least Robert McCulloch, a wealthy American tycoon of oil and aviation did back in 1968 when he thought he was getting the deal of the century by buying what he thought was Tower Bridge for 2.8 million only to discover later after it was reassembled that it was NOT the ornate Tower Bridge, but the plain old London Bridge. At least that's what legend says and although there is no evidence that it's true, the story persists in popular culture. The bridge was reassembled to span the Colorado River in Arizona in the town of Lake Havasu City, unknown except for its famous bridge. I got to see it this summer. Nothing spectacular, but there it is.
What is special about Tower Bridge is its cantilevered roadway which can be lifted to allow big ships to come in. So, how many times was it lifted? ONCE! Yes! Right when it opened, then never again. Today, from the tower, the walkway above is now enclosed and has a glass floor like the CN Tower. Elowyn was pretty happy lying on such floor to take selfies of herself with the road and river below. You can visit the engine room too.
5) Chinatown and Soho - what's not to like? A colourful gathering place with Chinese lanterns and dozens of places to eat in a car free pedestrian area. We had dinner here our first night, then wandered over to Soho which is the entertainment district.
6) Portobello Market - Everyone loves a market! Even Steven who hates to shop, got into the jovial mood of the place. Streaming with people, this is both an indoor market with colourful, painted shops and temporary vendors there for the weekend crowds. It is a feast for the eyes, colours, scents! One stand was full of old silver teapots and cutlery, another had beautiful teapots and cups, there were hats galore to try on and all manner of scarves and unique and antique jewelry. Brick-a-brac and antiques, toys and games, linen and lace, tapestries and clothing, and all manner of curiosities to wonder at mingling with vendors of fresh food, buskers and musicians all vying for your attention. Where to look, what to buy, how to bargain? In a word, it was AMAZING!
7) Tower Of London - Had to get up early for this gem, under loud protest from morning adverse Elowyn who'd much rather sleep than sight-see. It was worth it. A lot had changed since I was there last over 20 years ago. More crowded for one thing. Beefeaters still there giving their tours. Crown jewels still there albeit in an upgraded interior showcase for the queen's 90th birthday as well as her diamond jubilee. Graffiti etched in stone from famous prisoners like the 15 year old terrified Elizabeth I and teenaged Lady Jane Grey who was only queen for 9 days when Mary I beheaded her and her young husband, pawns of the Protestants in the religious wars.
There was a zoo there too. A ZOO! Why a zoo? Well, the royals were given all manner of exotic beasts as gifts who tragically met their demise in the cold, damp, polluted atmosphere of coal burning London at the time. Elephants, rhinos, monkeys, birds, a lion no less could at one time be found there. Now they show off their skeletons. Yeah....
Highlight was seeing an interactive play that encouraged audience participation and moving all around the grounds of the tower. It was a play depicting the events of the Bayeux Tapastry again and the events leading up to the famous Battle of Hastings in 1066 when William the Conqueror became king of England and then asserted his unpopular Norman influence in Saxon Britain.
The tower itself is really the keep of this fortress and contains not former prisoners, but the armoury; the ammunition and cannon, guns, crossbows, arrows, swords, pikes, and all manner of suits of armour for man and horse can be found there. Pretty interesting!
There used to be a moat around the fortress, but it stank something fierce what with it being a chamber pot with dead bodies of animals and humans and a home for mosquitos and flies. Finally, the man in charge of it was so disgusted that he asked the young Queen Victoria to have it drained. She consented and so it was. You can still see the dirty water mark on the stone which was about 3m high. Now, grass grows there lushly, and as the Beefeater said, naturally fertilized!
8) Buckingham Palace - We knocked, but the queen wasn't in. She spends Mon. to Wed. at Windsor Castle and stays at the palace from Thurs. to Sunday. It's grandiose, has high security and a statue of Queen Victoria sits on her throne in front, sternly looking out from her perch on the crowds below her. Look to the left and there is a magnificent park with a nod to Canada with its ornate iron gate, gilded with gold showing the coat of arms of all the provinces. Called appropriately, Canada Gate. Inside are old stately trees with wide paths and comfy benches. Again, another beautiful and touching monument to Canada showing two tilted stone triangles with water running down it and scattered maple leaves engraved on it. There are maple trees all around and since it was fall, the red, orange and yellow maple leaves mingled with the engraved ones in the water. A path cut through these two triangles looking like trenches as they were deep. It was a monument to Canada's soldier's sacrifice during WWI; a poignant reminder of the loss of life.
9) Victoria and Albert Museum - This is an extra-ordinary old building which features art and celebrates design in everything from clothing to furniture to statues to shoes p, to stained glass and knickknacks through the ages with amazing plaster casts of original sculptures taken over 100 years ago. Some of these copies are in better shape than the originals and show more detail. Here you can see fabulous 17th century dresses in the age of Louis XVth with silk taffeta and intricate silk embroidery that is wider than three metres! Or the famous Bed of Ware, lovingly carved and massive in scale with a roof and heavy silk curtains. Or a mini Hall of mirrors like Versailles with Rococo ornamentation gilded in gold leave. This museum is a work of art itself and features a peaceful outdoor courtyard with lounge chairs around a reflecting pond with fountain. Low enough walk in and wet your feet and a draw for young children delighted to be near water. Aside from the glorious things to see, there are three enormous rooms, each differently decorated that are gorgeously Art Nouveau with painted ceilings, huge chandeliers or glowing orbs, painted tiled walls and intricate tiled floors and frescoes, all to enjoy while having a hot lunch of steaming soup, spicy pasta, curried chicken or of course the ever popular tea with currant scones as big as your fist served with clotted cream, marmalade and butter. Sit in one of these beautiful rooms, rest your aching feet, sip your hot tea, gaze around you and feel blissfully content.
10) River Cruise on the Thames - Now this was a treat, to see London while resting our feet. Sitting on an open air ferry sans roof and chugging away upriver against the current towards Tower Bridge while the captain's mate pointed out buildings of interest along the way while we sat and snuggled together from the wind and the fast moving tide that was coming in like a roar.
11) Eye of London - Well, it had to be done; can one go all the way to London and NOT go on this giant Ferris wheel? I think not! We booked tickets beforehand with a pre-selected time and for an extra fee, a chance to stand in the fast-paced line. Totally worth it as the sky was blue, the sun was shining and everyone and their uncle thought Sat. would be the perfect day to go on the Eye. The crowds were enormous! It was marvelous. The great wheel on the river never stopped turning. Kind of like a ski lift, hop on quickly and either sit down on a middle bench or secure a spot along the glass enclosure. Look to the North bank of the river for the best views of old London with the Parliament Buildings and Big Ben, St, Paul's Cathedral and the Monument to the Great Fire of London in 1666 which burned almost the whole city down. It was amazing and what views! Turn around and view a sea of cranes to the Portlands as London is growing and fast by the looks of it with the jagged Shard building, gleaming with glass and with the distinction of being the highest building in the EU at over 1000 feet with 95 stories, or the beloved Gherkin building with its rounded shape contrasting sharply with the straight edged buildings around it.
12) British Museum - What's not to love about antiquities with its extensive Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Asian, Babylonian, Assyrian treasures all with a dark side as Colonial Britain basically plundered this booty and took it home. The famous Rosetta Stone is here too which paved the way to translating hieroglyphics. There is also Medieval armour and Renaissance treasures too. Cannot see it all in one day. You'd need a week! Definitely has a wow factor.
13) Tate Modern - Gallery of Modern Art in an old powerstation building. Londoners and visitors LOVE this building and the masterpieces it contains from Picasso, to Dali, to pop artist Bridgit Reilly, and even a two chalkboard sized painting of Monet's waterlilies painted during his last years that takes up a room of its own.
14) Piccadilly Circus - Aah... something's always happening around this buzzing area full of lights and people; a monument with steps for people to sit down on and mingle and watch the world go by. I learned something too. Circus does not actually mean circus like I thought it did with performing elephants and lions and trapeze artists when I first visited as a kid only to be sorely disappointed when an actual circus failed to appear. No, it rather means where two roads meet with an open, public space. Apparently, circus comes from the Latin circle and I quote: " Piccadilly Circus is a round open space at a street junction."
15) Shopping at Marks and Sparks or Sainsburys - Oh yes, for all sorts of delicious goodies! Just roam the aisles filled with locals buying their pre-made lunches or dinners, or visitors buying clotted cream, scones, tart lemon curd, chocolate biscuits, in fact, anything chocolate from Minstrels to Flakes to Cadbury bars because they taste better in Britain (the milk is creamier, the chocolate richer). Also Scottish shortbread, and marmalades, and English chicken pies and savoury pastries, all sorts of spices and curries and chutneys and the best soups and sharp English cheddars. Mmmmmmmm! Oh, and of course all the varieties of tea. Our current favourite is elderflower lemon.
16) Oxford Street - Shopping Central, the high street of couture and boutique shops and more. I kept popping into different shops while the shopping adverse Steven and Elowyn listened to street musicians outside. Of course there are way too many other museums and things to see, some of which Steven and Elowyn went on, while I rested up one day with flu like symptoms caught no doubt by the close confines on the tube and the sneezing on board. They went to our friend Barry's exquisite hotel bar for lunch, Covent Gardens and Harrods for dinner, toured Churchill's Wartime Office and took a Rock and Roll Walking tour of Britain's greats like the Who and the Beatles.
Elowyn is now fully versed in the sights of London for the most part. We clocked up to and beyond 20,000 steps a day, which is about 15 km according to Steven's Apple watch, but felt more like a million steps with us falling to bed exhausted by day's end.
We loved it so much that we're returning in the spring in early May for the famous Harry Potter Studio Tour that was sold out, (we're all fans of the books and movies, especially Elowyn), also to see a play at the Globe and to revisit some of the museums and some we didn't see, then getting out of London to show Elowyn the English countryside and meet up with family and friends. And this time, I'm checking my luggage, so I can bring back clotted cream and lemon curd, among other things.
