My favorite
way to experience a city is on foot.
To walk and see and feel the heartbeat of the city as life happens
around you. My mind clears. I’m not focused on anything in particular,
but yet I notice everything - the colors, the sounds, the smells, the
buildings, the trees, the people. For a
moment I feel as if I am part of this great city. I feel as if it has welcomed me with open
arms and is sharing it’s beauty, it’s energy, it’s pulse with me for a short
time. I’m not naïve. There’s a lot I don’t see. Not everything is good here. I don’t see the everyday life struggles going
on behind closed doors but I know they are there. I can only see the façade of this great city
and feel the energy of it, and for now that is enough. It’s overwhelming, yet serene. It’s bustling, yet calming. It’s full of strangers, yet feels so warm and
welcoming. That is what it feels to
wander the streets of London.
The Great
Walkabout
Saturday
was going to be a day of sightseeing in London.
The night before, back in the hotel, we planned out our route. The next morning, we put on good walking shoes, I stuffed a
couple of water bottles into my purse, and we jumped onto the Underground heading
towards Buckingham Palace, principle residence and primary workplace of the monarchy
of the United Kingdom. We weren’t the
only people who came to see Buckingham Palace this day.
We had
planned our arrival at Buckingham well. Shortly
after we got there, the Guard Band that precedes the Changing of the Guard
ceremony came marching down the street.
Their band uniforms have an eerie resemblance to the uniforms of the Wicked Witch of the West’s guards at her castle.
The band
was followed a short time later by the guards themselves on horseback.
This procession marched down the street in their brilliant red uniforms, passing right in front of us
and disappearing behind the gates of Buckingham Palace where the actual changing
of the guards would take place.
We turned
around and headed through St. James Park, another one of the eight Royal Parks
in London, towards Westminster Abbey just a couple of blocks away.
Westminster Abbey is steeped in British
history, being the site of many royal weddings (the most recent Prince
William and Princess Kate's), funerals (Princess Diana’s funeral was held here), and coronations
of British and English monarchs. It’s
the burial site of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Geoffrey Chaucer among
other notable figures. We didn’t go
inside the great Abbey. Eric and I have
been inside before and the girls, well let’s just say visiting another church
in Europe isn’t high on their list of things to do. Someday, when they are older, if they come
back to London, they will appreciate it more and they can visit it then.
Off in the
distance we could see Big Ben. We headed behind Westminster Abbey
where the Palace of Westminster sits on the banks of the River Thames, also
known as the House of Parliament.
This
magnificently ornate building is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House
of Lords, the two houses of the British Parliament.
It’s
impossible to fit this enormous building into one photo from such close range.
And attached to the House of Parliament is one of the most iconic images of London - Big Ben. Did you
know that Big Ben isn’t actually the clock but the bell inside the clock? Neither did I.
We crossed
the mighty River Thames. It is possible to get
the entire House of Parliament building in one frame from the other side of the River.
Just on the
other side of the river sits the London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel
because, you guessed it, it was formally opened on December 31, 1999. It’s the tallest ferris wheel in Europe and
when it was constructed back in 1999, it was the tallest in the world. I can attest to its size. It is tall!
Scary tall, and I’m not afraid of heights. Each air-conditioned capsule holds 25 people
who are free to walk around inside and look at the spectacular view it gives of
London. We didn’t ride on the great
ferris wheel. Given the size, the girls
were very hesitant, the lines were very long, and the tickets are
expensive. I would have enjoyed it, but
not with a child who was freaked out and crying the entire time because they
wanted off. We’ve had this happen on
rides before. Maybe next time.
We were going to follow the River Thames towards the beautiful Tower Bridge, another iconic symbol of
London. There is a wonderful walkway
that follows along the banks of the River that would take us right there. We couldn’t see the Tower Bridge at this point. It was around the bend in the River and then
down a ways. I hadn’t realized how far
of a walk it would be having failed to look up that little piece of information
when we were planning our walkabout. But
ignorance is bliss right? And we love to
walk so off we went.
It wasn’t a
dull walk mind you. We were in London
after all. The scenery along the River
Thames is beautiful and we had plenty of entertainment from all sorts of street
performers.
This lady in gold is heading
home after her shift is over. Or maybe
to her next performing location. Her act
is to stand perfectly still as if she was a statue on a box. Her costume was magnificent and if it weren’t
for the eerily human eyes peering out of her head under the gold makeup, she
would have truly been a statue.
Lunch! A hot dog and a bag of chips. Very American I know, but easy to eat while
you walk and take in the sights. Not the
cuisine we would normally do, but we were all hungry and didn’t really
feel like sitting down inside for a meal just yet.
Another
performer, or maybe a sand artist is a better description. His work was amazing, but this is England and
it was sad to think that at any moment the skies could open and wash this
beautiful sculpture away.
The Millennium
Bridge. As we walked past it, the Harry
Potter fan in me could see death eaters whizzing under the bridge causing it to
fall apart and drop into the river below as they left a trail of death and
destruction in their wake upon orders from their master, Lord Voldemort. In reality, the Bridge opened in June 2000
but didn’t stay open for long as there were reports of an uncomfortable swaying
motion as you crossed the bridge. After
only two days, the Bridge was closed for modifications to eliminate the
wobble. It wouldn’t reopen for two more
years.
We passed
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre which sits just off the banks of the River
Thames. The original Globe Theatre was
built by Shakespeare’s playing company back in 1599. The Theatre you see today is a reconstruct
which opened in 1997 close to the site of the original theatre.
Another
street performer – a dancing boy. No,
just kidding. The real act is the gentleman
playing the tuba which flames shot out of every now and again. Now how does he do that? The little boy who didn’t look tall enough to
be walking – he was just a spectator passing by who seemed to really like the
tuba music and decided to join the act and show off his dancing ability. Together they drew quite the crowd and
laughs.
Finally we
made it to our destination – the great Tower Bridge, completed in 1894. What a majestic bridge this is. As we approached, we were treated to the
sight of the drawbridge located between the two towers being raised to let a
sailboat pass. This stopped traffic for
a long time and in London, there is a lot of traffic. As it went back down, we made our way to the
bridge to cross over on foot. which is a much faster way to cross this bridge.
Just on the
other side of the River Thames sits the Tower of London. It looks more like a fortress than a tower to
me, but that is the name. The Tower of London dates back
to 1066 and throughout it’s very long history has served as a royal residence,
a prison, its been besieged several times as its control is important to the
control of the entire country, and currently it houses the Crown Jewels of the
United Kingdom. We had hoped to get inside to see the Crown
Jewels among other things but it was not to be.
By the time we arrived after our long walk, it was mid afternoon and the
Tower would only be open for a couple more hours. We were told the line to see the Crown Jewels
was almost two hours long and for the steep price of admission, it wasn’t quite
worth it on that day. Oh well, we still
thoroughly enjoyed our walk along the Thames.
We grabbed
some delicious warm roasted almonds from a street vendor to snack on and
decided to head towards St. Paul’s Cathedral which would take us through the
business district of London. As we
started our walk towards the Cathedral, we passed this pub. Oh I just love the names of the pubs here in England! Not sure this one sounds very appetizing though.
London is full of amazing and interesting skyscrapers.
This unique building which looks as if it is either broken or not
completed at the top is called The Shard. I don’t think I need to explain why.
We actually passed it on our walk along the south bank of the Thames but
since I am sharing skyscrapers with you here, I thought this was a more
appropriate place for the photo.
The
Leadenhall Building – also know as “the Cheesegrater.”
This is by
far one of the coolest buildings I have ever seen. We called it The Egg, but in London it is
know as The Gherkin. A gherkin is a specific type of small pickled cucumber. I bet the building
process was a wonder to watch as this unique example of contemporary
architecture took shape in the London skyline.
And this one we never figured out. Is it some kind of a heating/cooling system running all these huge buildings in the heart of London, or is it a piece of contemporary architecture intended to look like the mechanical innards of one of these great skyscrapers but actually filled with offices or apartments? In London, it could be either.
There were
all sorts of beautiful buildings we passed as we wandered the streets of the
business district,
and there were plenty of places to sit and rest our weary
feet while Eric ran around taking photo after photo after photo.
Finally,
after nearly six miles of walking, we made it to St. Paul’s Cathedral.
This great Cathedral was the site of the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady
Diana, held funerals for Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, and survived
bombings during World War II. Again, we
did not go inside. Eric and I were in
this beautiful church many years ago, climbing 528 stairs to stand atop of the
great dome for a view of London from above.
You have to pay an admission fee to get inside of the Cathedral, and
after six miles of walking, we knew the girls would not be interested in
climbing 528 stairs with us again no matter how beautiful the view is.
By now, it
was late afternoon and there had been very little whining despite the long trek
we had made that day around London. Eric
had been on his best behavior so a treat was in order.
Just kidding. The girls had been real troopers all day so
we ducked into a cozy pub for a bit of a rest and some refreshments.
We had
dinner reservations at an Indian joint in Soho so we jumped back onto the
Underground and headed down a quiet side street to the Masala Zone where we
enjoyed curries, naan, chutneys and a few things I’m not quite sure what they
were but they tasted great.
As we left
the restaurant, we ran into a surprise just down the street and let me tell
you, it is a strange feeling when you are on a different continent and run into something out of the blue that instantly brings you a little taste of home, figuratively speaking of course (thought I needed to add that since we had just left a restaurant). Can you tell what store this is?
How about now?
To some of you, this will mean nothing. But for me,
I grew up visiting the city of Red Wing, Minnesota that sits on the banks of the mighty Mississippi river on a regular basis, home of the great made in the USA work boot - Red Wing Shoes. In fact, we drive through Red Wing all the time
when we are traveling to visit Eric’s brother and his family. My sister works for the Red Wing school district. So I have known the Red Wing
Shoe brand my entire life and you can imagine my surprise when we ran into this store, a meer two blocks off of Regent Street, one of the most popular shopping streets in London where they usually sell shoes that look like this.
This is expensive real estate. Who knew Red Wing work boots are a fashion
statement!
This was
our last night in London so we strolled the streets taking in the lights,
passed by
a double-decker party bus filled with colorful balloons and complete with a DJ
in the front who was pumping out tunes for the entire street to dance to,
stopped at Hamleys Toy Store, a five-floor world of fun complete with kind of creepy life-sized Lego replicas of Prince William and Princess Kate at their wedding, alongside Prince Harry and Prince Charles (this is probably the closest we will ever actually get to royalty so I will take it - oh and sorry for the photo quality - this was taken with the camera on my phone),
and at last, we
found ourselves back in the middle of bustling Piccadilly Circus.
It was
late, but we weren’t quite done yet.
There was one more stop on the Underground to make. We wanted to see Big Ben at night and it did
not disappoint.
And across
the River Thames was the spectacular sight of the great London Eye lit up in
red. Now we were done. Time to head back to the hotel. What a great day in London. I don’t know if we will make it back again
during our two year stay here in England.
We have so many places yet to visit.
Oh, wait – I have to come back. I
never got my I LOVE LONDON t-shirt. I
can’t buy an I LOVE LONDON t-shirt anywhere but in London, right?
