I had been missing England for a long time, my last trip there having been with my friend Diane in 2003. So when I knew Glenna was leaving for India on the 13th of August, I bought a ticket for Sunday, the 14th for a 10-day trip. Glenna’s best friend Courtney, who’s getting her master’s in Germany and who loves London, said she could come for 6 days enroute to Ireland to be with her boyfriend. Perfect. Together we mapped out an itinerary which included lots of new things for both of us as well as familiar places.
For once I got a decent amount of sleep on the plane, arriving at 7AM (this was Monday) with a few hours to kill before I could get our room at the Meridiana Hotel and before Courtney arrived. I got some hot chocolate and a chocolate croissant and sat in a park, doing puzzles and watching kids playing while their mum looked on.
Oh, I mustn’t forget to say that I also found platform 9¾ at King’s Cross.
Then it was back to the hotel to check in and meet Courtney (she said it was so good to hear English all around and not have to tune in so intently to figure out the German). We quickly decided that though our room and bathroom were tiny for two people the location couldn’t be better—between King’s Cross/St Pancras and Russell Square tubes.
It was already afternoon, so we went to two nearby places—the British Library and the British Museum. The first was new to me (and fairly new itself). They have a couple of rooms filled with important manuscripts, letters, etc. from famous people as well as a Magna Carta. At the latter we saw familiar things—the Elgin marbles, the Nereid Greek temple, the Rosetta Stone, the Assyrian winged bulls, the Egyptian mummies, and other ancient things. Afterward we sat in the newish atrium and talked and talked for a couple of hours.
On the way back, besides admiring all the window boxes, we were tempted by some wonderful smells coming from a Sichuan restaurant and went in. Almost everyone was eating enormous hot pots. We had a smaller version of it as well as chicken with peanuts.
On Tuesday after a full English breakfast at the hotel (which we modified every other day—just too much food) the first order of business was to get to tkts at Leicester Square to get tickets for Billy Elliot. The line wasn’t even long since we were there early, and we got seats in the stalls.
We watched some classical musicians inside for awhile and then some street performers outside—a comic/slack wire artist who took forever to get on that wire, the highlight of the act, and some performers in gold and silver paint who hold a pose—I’ve always admired that since I know perfectly well that I couldn’t stand still like that. As I wrote in my journal, “we summoned the last bit of energy to take the tube back to the hotel and collapsed on the beds utterly exhausted”.
After a pub dinner at Victoria, we saw the wondrous Billy Elliot. The music by Elton John and the dancing were just great, and the show is carried by a 13-year old boy who plays the role of a working class kid who wants to do ballet which his dad is firmly opposed to. I got to introduce Courtney to the English tradition of having ice cream from a cup at intermission. A magical night and my favorite part of the trip.
Wednesday was our royal day. We saw part of the changing of the guard as we made our way through the crush of people to get around to the other side of Buckingham Palace, having walked along Green Park from the tube. First up was the Royal Mews where we saw beautiful coaches, the 1902 State Landau, a royal limousine, and some of the horses in their stalls and exercising. After eating a lunch that we’d had the foresight to buy beforehand, we went through the Queen’s Gallery, okay but not spectacular.
We saved the best for last—the palace itself. You go through on your own with an audio guide. I had done this in 2003 and wanted Courtney to experience it also. The rooms are beautifully and tastefully decorated with a different color for each room—and you get to see quite a few. As a tremendous added bonus, we got to see THE dress, the shoes, the bouquet, and the earrings as well as a film on the making of the dress narrated by Sarah Burton herself. But for me the best was the most beautiful wedding cake that I have ever seen—17 fruit cakes in 8 tiers decorated all in white with 900 sugar-paste flowers, leaves, and scroll work, each decoration with special meaning.
When we’d been through all the rooms, we went out the back entrance to the gardens, really a very large lawn with trees on the edge. We walked part way through it after visiting the palace shop where I was in heaven picking items to buy. There were lots of William and Kate things for sale as well as just palace items, and I got quite a few. Even Courtney got something—a book on royal wedding dresses.
Sunday was the start of my time alone. I went to a different hotel in another great location nearer Russell Square and got a single bigger than our double had been. It was a beautiful day, and I went to the 11:15 Holy Eucharist service at Westminster Abbey, a nice way to get in free. Actually it was a wonderful service; the organ and the choir were beautiful. And I sat right in the quire (our choir) in the first row of the section right next to the choir; one usher said to another one, “The Duchess of Grafton is not with us. Why don’t we put these good people in the front row here?” In pictures of the wedding I can see exactly where I was sitting, and I suppose the Duchess was there that day. The cloisters are open on Sunday though the church isn’t except for services, so I wandered through that familiar place (I’ve always been partial to cloisters—in a previous life I think I was a monk.) and then bought some more commemorative wedding items in the shop. That afternoon I saw Sarah’s Key which I had just finished reading; it was quite faithful to the book and very good. After walking around some more, I intended to have Chinese for dinner but went in the wrong door and had Indian again which didn’t hold a candle to the other Indian meal.
the robes and wigs we see in British films, but the courtroom itself was very modern. The litigant had invested £25,000 in an investment company and had run into all sorts of stonewalling when he became disillusioned and wanted his money out. Everyone had loose-leaf binders full of exhibits, and the lawyer frequently referred them to one page or another. At first I was thinking that the litigant should have read the fine print of his contract, but gradually I turned against the company when the testimony showed that he really got the runaround. After an hour the judge excused the jury for a break and then addressed the others, saying that with the next witnesses it wouldn’t be necessary to go into so much detail because it was clear that there was deceit, fraud and theft. Wow! Do our judges say such things also?
I then walked around the St Paul’s area, watching the City (business district) people with their dark suits and ties at lunch. I still hadn’t seen any royal commemoratives other than Kate and William, so I took the tube to Notting Hill Gate and walked down Portobello Rd. I wasn’t hopeful that much would be open on a Monday, and I was right. But then I went to Christie’s to see all the items that were to be auctioned the next day. I picked out a favorite item, two beautiful inlaid small chests, and intend to see what they went for when it is posted.
It had been raining again, but by the time I was outside it was sunny again for my walk to the lake in the middle of which is Diana’s gravesite. There was also a small Greek temple with a picture of her and a quote from her and one from her brother’s funeral oration. The one-time stables are now used for exhibits about Diana’s childhood (one school mistress wrote on her report card that she “needs to be careful where she puts her capital letters”—imagine how many teachers would have to say that today), marriage, death, condolence books and charitable work. I finally found a non-Kate and William commemorative, a very pretty mug with a picture of Diana and some adjectives describing her. On the bus back to the station, another guy and I missed it and went way past Northampton. We had to get off at another town and walk ¾ of a mile to another station to rectify our mistake, and in my hurry I left the cup on the bus. Luckily it was turned in so I'm going to get it back though the shipping is twice as expensive as the cup!
On Wednesday, my last day, I first went to the Globe Theater, taking the tour led by one of the actors who gave us lots of information about the building itself (built with the same materials and methods as the original) and the theater scene and living conditions at the time of Shakespeare and then visiting the very interesting museum. One of the exhibits was a dress that was a replica of one Queen Elizabeth wore; at that time I was reading a book about her. A new play called God in Soho was being rehearsed while we went through, so we got to see a bit of it. They warned people before the tour started that the play contained “filthy” language. I made one more attempt to find some royal items in Camden Town and struck out again but had another pub lunch, this time steak and ale pie, chips and lager. I hadn’t visited Fortnum and Mason yet, so my next stop was there. Among other things, I got some shortbread made for Highgrove (Charles’ home and charity) for my friend Diane; they were awesome. I wish I’d gotten more. My last event was to see Beautiful Lies, a very funny and very good French movie with Audrey Tautou.
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| Notice to all Hogwarts students |
For once I got a decent amount of sleep on the plane, arriving at 7AM (this was Monday) with a few hours to kill before I could get our room at the Meridiana Hotel and before Courtney arrived. I got some hot chocolate and a chocolate croissant and sat in a park, doing puzzles and watching kids playing while their mum looked on.
Oh, I mustn’t forget to say that I also found platform 9¾ at King’s Cross.
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| Entrance to British Library |
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| Atrium at British Museum |
It was already afternoon, so we went to two nearby places—the British Library and the British Museum. The first was new to me (and fairly new itself). They have a couple of rooms filled with important manuscripts, letters, etc. from famous people as well as a Magna Carta. At the latter we saw familiar things—the Elgin marbles, the Nereid Greek temple, the Rosetta Stone, the Assyrian winged bulls, the Egyptian mummies, and other ancient things. Afterward we sat in the newish atrium and talked and talked for a couple of hours.
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| Yummy hot pot |
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| Beautiful window box flowers |
On Tuesday after a full English breakfast at the hotel (which we modified every other day—just too much food) the first order of business was to get to tkts at Leicester Square to get tickets for Billy Elliot. The line wasn’t even long since we were there early, and we got seats in the stalls.
Next was a walking tour by a Sandeman’s guide which left from Hyde Park Corner (which has wonderful murals on the walls on the way out.) This company uses young people (students, would-be actors) as guides. The tours are free; if you like their presentation you tip the guide at the end. Courtney had been on five of these before in various cities and had recommended them (even if Rick Steves doesn’t). She didn’t think it was quite up to the standard of the others, but I thought it was great—partly, I’m sure, because our actor/guide was great to look at!
In the two hours or so, we walked down Constitution Hill toward Buckingham Palace and then along The Mall past Clarence House (where Charles and Camilla live) and St James Palace (the long time home of the sovereign which is why we say Ambassador to the Court of St James), and up Marlborough Rd to Pall Mall where we saw several beautiful gentlemen’s clubs. Then it was on to Trafalgar Square and through the Admiralty Arch to Whitehall and down The Mall in the other direction for a ways to Horse Guards Rd along St James’s Park and Horse Guards Parade. The latter was under construction for the beach volleyball arena for the 2012 Olympics (everywhere there were signs for it—they are obviously very proud). We ended up at Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey. All of this was familiar territory, but it was nice to go with a guide and hear his amusing stories and bits of history.
Lunch was from a Pret A Manger, the second of many stops at one of those--cheap and tasty sandwiches. Next we walked all the way up The Strand to the original Twinings tea shop. We took the first of several buses on the trip (I’ve always used the tube almost exclusively, but the bus is often faster and you get to see things. With our Travelcards, we could hop on and hop off any public transport at will. Besides there aren’t very many buskers in the tube anymore which I always thought was great fun when you were on seemingly interminable walks underground to switch lines) because by this time our legs were hurting, but we still had to walk some to get to the next stop, Covent Garden.
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| Mural at Hyde Park Corner tube |
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| Our guide and Parliament |
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| Swans on St James's pond |
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| Original Twinings Tea Shop |
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| Comedian and slack wire artist |
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| Holding a pose |
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| Betty across from the Victoria Palace theatre |
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| 1902 State Landau in the Royal Mews |
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| The cake! |
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| Courtney with Buckingham Palace behind |
Dinner that night was at a Lebanese/Moroccan shop for delicious wraps and smoothies. Then it was on to Leicester Square to see Bridesmaids, a movie which I had seen but which Glenna had really hyped and Courtney wanted to see.
Thursday it rained off and on and was generally gloomy, so it wasn’t our best day though there were still fun things. The weather generally was cool from now on (60’s), and I had only brought a very light jacket with three-quarter length sleeves. I was never really really cold, but I could have used something heavier.
We then walked up Baker St to Cavendish St to see Paul McCartney’s house—not imposing from the outside. Next on the list was a birthday surprise for Courtney. The addresses were on the itinerary I made, but she dutifully had not looked them up. The first place was Panzer’s grocery which has American foods sprinkled throughout and the second was better, The American Food Store—almost all American. I knew that she was getting tired of the heaviness of the German food and so thought this would be a treat. I told her she could have whatever she wanted, and she picked Diet A&W root beer and Reese’s peanut butter cups (just as Glenna had predicted—and which were soon gone) as well as Pop Tarts and a confetti cake mix (I told her she could make it for her own birthday which she did, and they all enjoyed it.)
The day ended well anyway. We had a delicious South Indian dinner—thali and dosa--at a place between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. We had read that London was outrageously expensive. The hotels really are compared to what we are used to in the US, but we went to lots of free places and events and ate rather reasonably and well.
We then walked across London Bridge to Southwark Cathedral. We intended to go to evensong, but it was a spoken one so we left after watching a cat sleeping peacefully on a kneeling bench for a few minutes. This was the parish of Will Shakespeare, and there is a memorial for him inside. Outside it bustled with people enjoying the nice weather.
We walked through a centuries old market under the Overground tracks which made us hungry. So we ate at a recommended hamburger place GBK, and it was pretty darn good. After dinner we walked along the Jubilee Greenway along the Thames to the Tate Modern which is housed in an old power plant. Though this was a must on Courtney’s list, neither of us thought it was spectacular (we didn’t pay to see the special exhibits), but we did see one of the most expensive paintings in the world. We walked over the Millennium Footbridge along with hundreds of others to Mansion House tube to get back to the hotel. Another good day but hard on the feet.
Saturday was the day for Greenwich which was new for both of us. It was partly sunny, but we also got caught in the rain. We got there by cruising down the Thames; our guide was a very amusing and informative East Londoner. Greenwich is a naval town, home of the Royal Naval College. We went through the beautiful Painted Hall and the simple but elegant Chapel and then the National Maritime Museum, full of all sorts of exhibits, the most interesting of which for me were the ones about Admiral Nelson.
At 12:55 we watched the red ball on top of Flamsteed House go up slowly and then at precisely 1:00 fall back down. Then we climbed the very steep hill (nicknamed Cardiac Hill) to the observatory, going through the house which had interesting exhibits on how time is told at sea and doing the very touristy thing of putting one foot on either side of the prime meridian and taking a picture.
This was the day we wanted to go to a pub, and we picked well—good food (one of my favorites, a Ploughman’s lunch) and the delightful company of a British couple from Yorkshire who insisted on buying dessert for us, another of my favorites, apple crumble. To get back to London we took the new Docklands Light Railway, stopping at Docklands on the way. This is a one-time slum, now the home of gleaming high rises amidst the canals. And all along the river near here, old warehouses have been renovated to create very expensive apartments ($1.7 million for a one-bedroom). There is an incredible amount of construction all over, all getting ready for next year.
After by chance getting to Google chat with Glenna (who had gotten to Mumbai and was learning her way around), we had a yummy Italian meal near our hotel after which Courtney had to pack to go to Ireland tomorrow morning. I'm so glad she came to London; we had a great time.
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| Sherlock characters in wax |
Thursday it rained off and on and was generally gloomy, so it wasn’t our best day though there were still fun things. The weather generally was cool from now on (60’s), and I had only brought a very light jacket with three-quarter length sleeves. I was never really really cold, but I could have used something heavier.
A real highlight for Courtney was first—the Sherlock Holmes Museum. It was at 221B Baker St appropriately. We got to see all four floors of the building, the lower floors being the sitting room and bedrooms of Holmes and Watson with artifacts from the period and the upper floors given to Madame Tussaud-like characters from the books. It was a lot of fun.
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| If you long for some American food |
The Kensington Roof Gardens was supposed to be our next stop, but there was an event there—oh well, it was rainy anyway. We walked down Kensington Church Street so that I could see whether the royal shop where I’ve bought many things was still there, but it wasn’t. Bummer. Next was supposed to be Syon House which is near Kew Gardens. We had to buy a supplement for our Travelcards to get there, and when we did no one had heard of it. It was there somewhere but because of the pretty steady rain, we decided to bag it. My feet were aching with every step, partly because my shoes didn’t have a good cushion on the bottom and partly because they were swollen. Courtney figured we walked 6 miles a day. But the good news for me was that my energy level was fine—all that good iron I’ve been taking to get my ferritin level up.
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| Traditional thali (in front) and dosa (in back) |
Before heading back we walked up to Piccadilly Circus where we saw that the famous sign is partly scaffolded. But there’s always plenty of activity there. Courtney said over and over that London has everything, that you could never tire of it, and indeed it does and you won't.
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| Gardens and Moroccan pavilion |
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| Just flowers I liked--perfection |
Friday started with the Kensington Roof Gardens, open this time. They are on the open-air 6th floor of a building owned by Richard Branson. He converted the rather large area into wonderful gardens with trees, bushes, gorgeous flowers, running water, ducks and flamingos, and Moroccan decorations. What a wonderful place that would be for a wedding reception, I told Courtney.
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| Albert Memorial |
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| Kids splashing in the Diana fountain |
Then it was back to Hyde Park starting at the Kensington Gardens end where we saw Queen Anne’s lace, special to Courtney’s grandmother, and then the Albert Memorial which I’d never been up close to before. It’s quite an elaborate memorial; Queen Victoria was really in love. Next was the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, an oval-shaped water trench with ups and downs and rocky parts and waterfalls ending in a still pool, all to symbolize her life. The best part really was watching the kids playing in the water. One little girl was so excited that she took off her clothes and ran all over the place until her mum could catch up with her to put on her bathing suit. It was a perfect memorial for Diana, and it was a beautiful day, just right for such activities.
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| Victorian room at Geffrye |
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| The Monument |
We took a bus but got stuck in terrible construction traffic and then had the bus terminate its route. Oh well, we walked down to Piccadilly Circus to yet another Pret A Manger before taking the tube and a bus to east London to the Geffrye Museum, a hidden gem. The place is an old almshouse which has been converted to a set of period rooms of the middle class. Outside there are gardens from each of the periods. Really interesting and very peaceful. Next stop was the Wren-designed Monument—to the Great Fire of 1666. Courtney walked all 331 steps to the top in incredibly short order; I sat at the bottom and read, reminiscent of the many times I have done that with Glenna.
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| Cat sleeping through Evensong |
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| Griffin on London Bridge |
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| Millenium footbridge |
Saturday was the day for Greenwich which was new for both of us. It was partly sunny, but we also got caught in the rain. We got there by cruising down the Thames; our guide was a very amusing and informative East Londoner. Greenwich is a naval town, home of the Royal Naval College. We went through the beautiful Painted Hall and the simple but elegant Chapel and then the National Maritime Museum, full of all sorts of exhibits, the most interesting of which for me were the ones about Admiral Nelson.
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| Painted Hall at Greenwich |
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| The red ball at 12:55 |
At 12:55 we watched the red ball on top of Flamsteed House go up slowly and then at precisely 1:00 fall back down. Then we climbed the very steep hill (nicknamed Cardiac Hill) to the observatory, going through the house which had interesting exhibits on how time is told at sea and doing the very touristy thing of putting one foot on either side of the prime meridian and taking a picture.
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| Skyscraper at Docklands |
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| Betty and Courtney in our hotel room |
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| Cloisters of Westminster Abbey |
Sunday was the start of my time alone. I went to a different hotel in another great location nearer Russell Square and got a single bigger than our double had been. It was a beautiful day, and I went to the 11:15 Holy Eucharist service at Westminster Abbey, a nice way to get in free. Actually it was a wonderful service; the organ and the choir were beautiful. And I sat right in the quire (our choir) in the first row of the section right next to the choir; one usher said to another one, “The Duchess of Grafton is not with us. Why don’t we put these good people in the front row here?” In pictures of the wedding I can see exactly where I was sitting, and I suppose the Duchess was there that day. The cloisters are open on Sunday though the church isn’t except for services, so I wandered through that familiar place (I’ve always been partial to cloisters—in a previous life I think I was a monk.) and then bought some more commemorative wedding items in the shop. That afternoon I saw Sarah’s Key which I had just finished reading; it was quite faithful to the book and very good. After walking around some more, I intended to have Chinese for dinner but went in the wrong door and had Indian again which didn’t hold a candle to the other Indian meal.
Monday started with a long walk toward St Paul’s. My first stop was the Old Bailey. These are the criminal courts which the public are allowed to attend. The only thing
on was a fraud case, but it was really interesting. We stayed for an hour (couldn’t just walk out). The barristers and judge (addressed as ‘my lord’) were dressed in
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| The Old Bailey |
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| City workers at lunch on the steps of St Paul's |
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| Mosaic photo of Marilyn |
The most interesting exhibit was two large pictures of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. Each was composed of hundreds of very tiny square photos of them in various poses. The shading of these little pictures made the larger picture of them.
After all this walking, I really needed to sit down awhile, so this was my opportunity to have a cream tea—not the whole sandwiches and cakes type but just tea and scones with clotted cream, my favorite part anyway. The café was the same one where Glenna and I had had tea and scones after visiting the Victoria and Albert museum on a five-hour stopover on our way back from Morocco.
I had some time to kill before the evening’s activity, so I walked over to Hyde Park and sat on a bench and watched the world go by. That evening I went to Royal Albert Hall for a BBC Proms concert, another first for me. I had chosen a seat above, to the left of, and behind the orchestra. What a good choice. I could see all the instruments that played, the conductor’s face, and the rest of the audience. It’s a huge, beautiful place, and it was full. The selections were from Wagner, Liszt, Brahms, and a world premiere piano concerto. The Englishman next to me, about my age, said this was the first concert and wasn't it wonderful. Indeed it was.
Tuesday was my day to take the train up to Northampton and bus to Althorp House, the home of Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother. The outside of the house was pretty ugly, but the inside was full of paintings, photographs of the family, beautiful furniture and an incredible number of books—though one earl had had to sell many of the rare volumes to pay off the debts of his dad. The audio tour was narrated by the earl, and he made it very personal.
After all this walking, I really needed to sit down awhile, so this was my opportunity to have a cream tea—not the whole sandwiches and cakes type but just tea and scones with clotted cream, my favorite part anyway. The café was the same one where Glenna and I had had tea and scones after visiting the Victoria and Albert museum on a five-hour stopover on our way back from Morocco.
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| Royal Albert Hall from my seat behind the orchestra |
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| Road sign for Althorp House |
Tuesday was my day to take the train up to Northampton and bus to Althorp House, the home of Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother. The outside of the house was pretty ugly, but the inside was full of paintings, photographs of the family, beautiful furniture and an incredible number of books—though one earl had had to sell many of the rare volumes to pay off the debts of his dad. The audio tour was narrated by the earl, and he made it very personal.
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| Urn marking Diana's gravesite |
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| Temple to commemorate Diana |
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| Globe Theatre |
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| Authentic Elizabeth I costume |
That only left packing up for my trip back to Washington Thursday. The buzz at home was about the earthquake that had caused damage to the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral. It was a wonderful trip that I needed to take. But now I must go back because I miss the small towns too.