Friday 7/29/17 – London Town (part 1):

Friday we arrived at Wyatts Covert Caravan Club in Denham, a suburb of London that, at 18 miles out, was outside London’s Low Emissions Zone, a requirement we needed to heed since our camper is older than the 2001 minimum age limit allowed within the Zone. Since we were going to be staying at least a week at this location, we set up our “Guest Room” and spread out a bit.
Saturday we tested ourselves on the rapid transit by busing into Uxbridge, buying our Oyster card and learning how to use it.
The Oyster Card is probably the cheapest way to get around the London rapid transit system of trains, underground and buses. We used one 17 years ago and knew it was the best way to go but that was all we remembered. FYI you can buy one at the ticket booths just outside the Tube’s turnstiles. Ask an employee to help you; we found them all to be very friendly and helpful.
A local bus stops at the campground and delivers us to the Uxbridge Tube station. A 20-25 minute ride takes us into the heart of London where we can decide which stop or transfer will take us to our desired destination. It’s pretty easy, once you get the hang of it. (I do wish Americans took more advantage of rapid transit, it has a lot of advantages.) The only problem to this means of getting to and from the camping is the local bus’s last return to the camping is 2:30pm – far too early to get in a day’s sightseeing and use it for a return. The solution is to take bus #331 to Denham and walk the 1.1. miles up a hill to the camping, about a 25 minute walk.

When we got to the Uxbridge Tube Station on Saturday, no subway trains were running. Since this was our trial run day, this caused us mild consternation. We learned our station would be closed through the weekend (!) and we would need alternative plans to reach the city. We could take the train from Denham into the city but we needed to learn how to do that. Bus #331 took us to Denham Station where we bought a day pass that could be used on trains, buses and tube.
Then we walked up the hill and back to the camping.

We had a date on Sunday to spend time with an old friend of the younger generation, Shannon, an expat living in London with her British husband and two young children whom we have had the pleasure of watching grow via FB.
We actually had no trouble getting into London, and with the instructions Shannon gave us to navigate the buses, we met up with her without mishap. Well, actually not completely without mishap. While awaiting our bus a pigeon decided to poop on Bruce, and poop it did! Bruce’s hat, hair, jacket and pants got in on the action.  Shannon’s daughter said it is good luck; in that case Bruce is a very lucky man!

The last time we saw Shannon was in 2008 during a stopover in London awaiting our flight home after a five month trip touring Eastern Europe. A lot had changed in both our lives. She is the proud mother of two darling children, ages 8 and 5. She and James – her husband – recently purchased a home in Islington – a multi storied attached house that is similar to the brownstones in Boston. It was built in the 1880s and has all the charm one would expect of that era.
In the times we spent with Shannon we knew her to be an accomplished cook and our day with her proved the point. She fed us a divine dinner of shrimp and steak tacos with grilled peppers and portabello mushrooms. As much as we prepare our own meals on this trip, we are not equipped to cook such an outstanding meal and it was greatly enjoyed.

We used the afternoon to catch up on each other and we were so pleased to finally meet the kids. James was on a business trip, not to return until Wednesday, so we were unable to meet him.

Monday 7/31/17

Monday was walkabout London day. While still at home we purchased the London Pass, a multi day entry pass to many of the tourist sights in London, such as Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, St. Paul’s, Kensington Palace, the Hop on, Hop off tour bus and River Cruise and about 60 other places. We bought the six continuous-day pass on the theory that we are old and tired, and could spread out the sights we wanted to see over 6 days rather than the popular three-day pass. (This turned out to be a mistake because instead of getting exhausted after three days of go-go-go, we stretched it to six.) Using the list of attractions the pass allows us entry, we developed a 6-day itinerary to make our best use of it.

Day One was to be Trafalgar Square, the Royal Mewes, Piccadilly, Buckingham Palace, Parliament House and Westminster Abbey.

We got off the Tube at Charing Cross and walked out of the station into the immense Trafalgar Square with its mighty column topped by a statue of Admiral Nelson, hero of the Battle of Trafalgar which defeated Napoleon’s navy.

Four gigantic bronze lions guard the base of Nelson’s Column. Two large water fountains flank the square and 4 plinths (statue bases) stand guard at the four corners of the square. Two plinths hold bronze statues of famous military figures, a third has an equestrian statue of King George IV while the fourth plinth remained empty for 150 years due to inadequate funding, before the city hit on the idea of filling it with contemporary sculptures that change periodically.

Currently a giant thumb holds place of honor. Buskers complete for tourists’ coins and the whole square is as busy as a hive of bees.

Looking down Whitehall, one of the major boulevards that flows into the square, one can see the Parliament tower that contains Big Ben. We decided to visit Parliament and began a walk down Whitehall.

We didn’t get very far, on our right we saw tourists gathering around iron gates and we decided to investigate. We were at the Horse Guard, the official entry to Buckingham Palace and St. James. Guards have stood guard at the gate since King Charles II in 1660.

At the time, we didn’t realize where we were but there was a walkway through the gate and off we went. Crossing a huge parade ground – which happens to be the site of the Trooping the Colour on the Queen’s official birthday in June – we continued towards a colorful flower bed that was the entrance into St. James Park.

St. James is the oldest of London’s eight Royal Parks. Along with the flower beds and a small lake, the 57 acre park has groves of lovely mature London plane trees whose branches created a leafy roof of welcome shade on hot and sunny days. Walking paths took us to children’s play areas, small food stalls, around the lake with its varied waterfowl, and finally to the gates of Buckingham Palace.

We were completely off course by then so we searched for and found Birdcage Walk which took us past Queen Anne’s Gate and the Horse Guards Barracks and eventually we reached Parliament Square.

Our approach took us right in front of Westminster Abbey’s western façade: the famous double towered entrance.
Along with a lot of other tourists we admired the abbey and debated starting our London Pass by using it to enter the abbey. It was mid afternoon and we decided against it since a day would be wasted on only one entry. We determined to return on another day when the clock was running. As we were passing the entry gate, a woman stopped us and asked if we would like entry tickets to the abbey. She had purchased tickets for her parents but they had returned to their hotel room and she had spares. So off we went into the abbey and we had just extended our pass by another day.
How one can adequately describe a 1000 year old abbey? First off, it survived Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Abbeys by being granted cathedral status by that very king.
Every king and queen has been crowned in the abbey since William the Conqueror in 1066. Several kings and queens are buried there, including the Tudor sisters, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I. Mary, Queen of Scots is buried there as are several kings. Geoffrey Chaucer, author of Canterbury Tales, is buried in the abbey as is Issac Newton and Charles Darwin. National figures including generals, admirals, politicians, doctors and scientists as well as members of the aristocracy are buried there.

It is chock full of memorials and effigies of distinguished personages. The famous Poets Corner, near Chaucer’s resting place has memorials and burials of poets, authors and musicians, most of whom are known in literary circles.
The tomb of The Unknown Warrior, and unidentified British soldier from WWI, lies in the floor just inside the great west door. It is the only grave in the abbey on which it is forbidden to walk.
Seventeen royal weddings have taken place in the abbey, the latest being in 2011 when Prince William married Kate Middleton. A lot of us watched that wedding on TV.

We must have spent about two hours touring the abbey and when we finished, we walked to Parliament but learned we were too late to tour the government building with any level of thoroughness.
Ready to go home, we got back on the Tube to Uxbridge, took bus #331 to Dunham and walked the 25 minutes uphill to the camping where we made a chicken salad dinner and collapsed into bed.

Getting to and from London from our camping is a lengthy affair: the earliest bus to leave from the camping is 9:40 am. It takes about 20-25 minutes to reach Uxbridge, the nearest tube station. From Uxbridge its another 25-30 minutes to reach London. We don’t get out of the tube stations until a little before 11am.

Reversing that procedure coming home and adding the 25 minute walk at the end makes for a long day.

Tuesday 8/1/17: (itinerary was Tower of London, St. Paul’s, Temple Church, Monument to London Fire, and Museum of London.)
Instead of taking the Tube to Tower Hill we got off at Bank, in the middle of the City of London business district where we were blown away by the juxtaposition of old classic architecture and modern glass-covered skyscrapers. It reminded us somewhat of La Defense in Paris, the modern business district with groundbreaking architecture.

It was not what we were expecting and we slowly wandered down streets towards the Thames gawking at the high rises and comparing them to the staid stone classic Victorian architecture that survived the London Blitz of WWII. Londoners seem to like to name their skyscrapers: there is the Gherkin, the Cheese-grater, the Wilkie-talkie and the Shard.
We reached the Thames west of the Tower of London, way behind schedule and walked along the river spotting the HMS Belfast, a retired WWII battleship, and the reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake’s galleon, the Golden Hind. Lots of touring cruise ships motored along the river carrying tourists up and down the Thames. The Tower Bridge proudly spanned the river, its two towers holding the suspension cables and the drawbridge.

It is summer and school is out. This means there are tourists everywhere. The Tower of London was no exception. At least with our London Pass we didn’t need to wait in lines but were escorted to the front of the gateway and made our way inside.

We took in the half hour historic Beefeater Tour, telling us of Traitors Gate, the legend of the ravens, the location of the scaffolding were Ann Boleyn was beheaded and the chapel were she and several others are buried.

The Beefeaters have their own story to tell: actually they are Yeomen Warders who are retired from the Armed Forces. They must be former warrant officers with at least 22 years of service. They must also hold the Long Service and Good Conduct medal. Our Beefeater looked no older than our son Berkeley, so he must have started early to accomplish all that. We saw the first -and only- woman Yeoman Warder as she led a changing of guard at the tower jewels.

We walked through the White Tower – the castle fortress built by William the Conqueror and the home of kings for 500 years. Today it holds a museum of royal armory.
I have forgotten to mention other sites we’ve visited in Britain that are UNESCO World Heritage but I’ll add here that London Tower is on the list.

Our next stop was St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Great London Fire in 1666 burned down 80 percent of the City of London including the Old St Paul’s Cathedral that had stood on the grounds since 1275. Sir Christopher Wren, one of England’s greatest architects, was tasked with rebuilding 52 churches after the fire including his masterpiece, St. Paul’s. Until 1967 St. Paul’s dome made the church the highest building in London. We thought our London Pass covered the entry fee into the cathedral but we couldn’t find it in our documentation. We were extremely disappointed but we plan to use the Pass before we paid entry costs into places so we passed on paying the £18/per person to visit the interior.
By now it was nearly 4:30 pm, the witching hour for peak times on the transit systems. Between 4-7:00pm the rates increase as commuters head for home. On Monday we learned about the increased charges so today (Tuesday) we decided we would wait until 7 before heading home. We were hungry so we stopped at a little bistro next to the cathedral and shared an artisan pizza as we passed the time.

Heading towards a subway station, we walked through Temple Bar, a repositioned gateway into the City of London, into Paternoster Square, an open square surrounded by buildings containing important the London Stock Exchange and several international investment banks. A HUGE television is set up in the middle of the square with deck chairs facing it. We sat for a few minutes catching up on live news of the day presented by BBC. It was our first tv viewing since we left over 3 months ago.

We were pretty tired by the time we reached Uxbridge station and decided to call a cab to take us to the camping. It was a very smart move and one we would use repeatedly for the remainder of our visit.
Wednesday  8/2/17– rainy day. (Itinerary: The London Bridge Experience, Tower Bridge Experience, Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe)

By Wednesday we were so off track from our itinerary that we sort of gave up on it.
Because it was raining we decided indoor things were our best option. The Pass had an attraction called London Bridge Experience that boasted a run-through of London Bridge’s history from pre-Roman times to the present. I love history and it was indoors and Bruce was up for that. We also received entry to the London Tombs – “voted London’s scariest attraction.” That didn’t particularly interest us but it came with the Experience. We should have known from the way they advertised it that this was a gimmick attraction rather than serious or even semi-serious jaunt into history, but we didn’t.
Our first clue this wasn’t going to go well was when we had to wait 25 minutes in an outdoor queue under the current London Bridge – at least we were protected from the rain -while they (it’s always “they” isn’t it?) chose not to share with us the reason for delay. Finally we got inside and were given a spiel about what to expect. We moved from room to room highlighting different important times in the Bridge’s history with young (very good) actors portraying different people from the history of London. Finally we got to the Tombs part of the attraction which was meant to scare the bejeezus out of us. If you have gone to Coeur d Alene’s Halloween extravaganza Scarywood, you know what the bejeezus is, so after experiencing Scarywood, the Tombs fell flat.
So much for that. If I were rating the Experience on Yelp, I’d give it no more than 2 stars.

We finally figured out how to properly use the London Pass app and did learn that St. Paul’s was free entry to those holding the Pass. After the disappointing London Bridge Experience, and because of the rain, we bypassed the Tower Bridge Experience and Shakespeare’s Globe and chose to go to St. Paul’s due to it’s proximity to us.
Between Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s, we hit a goldmine in religious architecture.
Neither church allowed photography within the edifice which is a shame because both of the interiors have so much to offer. Whereas Westminster is crowded with monuments and memorials, St. Paul’s feels relatively open and airy. The dome in St. Paul’s is probably its most famous feature and the interior view is just as impressive as the exterior. With the exception of one photo I sneaked in St. Paul’s, I borrowed photos of both churches off the internet to share.