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| Ready to Stand for 3 hours! |
We arrived into St. Pancras station
and were immediately jolted into the 21st century. Mammoth herds of
people representing every nationality clacking away in every tongue on the
planet surged and seethed around us. A minute to shake off the suburban
sluggishness and we were ready to dive into the current. As we were at St.
Pancras, it seemed absurd to skip a quick look at the Harry Potter Platform 9 ¾
exhibit across the road at King’s Cross. That pilgrimage performed, we took the
underground to Bayswater, unloaded the luggage, and ran out to get started on
our London Agenda.
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| Hyde Park |
Our Hotel was very near the western
end of Kensington Gardens and we walked through these twice a day. Kensington
runs into Hyde Park which is catty corner to St. James Park. Each of these
beautiful spaces is a masterpiece of urban planning. They feature paths for
cyclists as well as pedestrians. The water courses are swarming with swans and
ducks. Some of the flowerbeds are manicured, but many areas hold wildflowers;
daisies, bright red poppies, and long stems of foxgloves. The Hyde Park Rose
Garden was particularly marvelous. There is a rainbow of roses whose scent
permeates the area. The beds are arranged around a central fountain, but then
paths wind off in different directions. Some pass under long shady pergolas
dripping with pink and purple climbing roses. Others snake along beside creamy
pink and yellow roses interspersed with cornflower and delphinium.
If you traverse the parks along the
Serpentine it leads you out to Buckingham Palace and the entrance to The Mall
or St. James’ Park. We took the Mall route dodging the Great Migration of
tourists en route from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace/ Trafalgar Square
and marching squads of the Queen’s Guard on our way to the National Gallery.
This was our first port of call as
we wanted to compile a photo archive of decorative elements that would have
originally been in place in the various chapels, churches, and cathedrals we
have visited. Also they have some period chests, murals, and decorative objects
that would have furnished castles, palaces, and stately homes of the medieval
and Renaissance periods. We systematically worked our way through several
centuries before time constraints forced us to cherry pick personal favorites
in the 19th and 20th century galleries.
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| The Houses of Parliament |
We crossed the Thames via the
Jubilee Bridge and headed off to Shakespeare’s Globe – it is really hard to
even begin to describe this experience without immediately lapsing into
incoherent gibbering. In many ways this is what our fellowship is all about –
using oral tradition, archeological evidence, and the historical record to make
the past come alive again. It is an incredible structure and a fantastic
performance space. We arrived early so we could get right up front. We made
sure to get the “groundling” tickets which allow you to actually stand next to
the stage. “Allow” might be a stretch for some, and I won’t deny that standing
up for 3 hours after walking at least 10 miles and very likely more earlier in
the day was challenging. However, no one noticed until later, because the
performance commanded all our attention! The play was King John, which none of
us have ever seen performed before. Absolutely marvelous! The action took place
all around us, we were at constant risk of being whacked by courtiers’ capes
and showered with spittle. A magical experience! We cannot wait for our next
performance!
Closed tube stations led us past St.
Paul’s. It was truly a gorgeous sight outlined against the twilight sky. We
eventually located a station not being worked on, boarded the car, and headed
back to Prince’s Square to collapse.
We began our day with a trip down
the River Thames. The water taxis and various cruise services offer a great way
to escape the madness of London’s streets and excellent views of many of the
best sights! We passed beneath London Bridge (drab beyond belief, but built on
the same site as the original bridge installed by Romans), the infamous Wibbly
Wobbly bridge, more accurately known as the Millennium Bridge, Waterloo Bridge
– notable for being made of the same Portland stone as London’s most famous
edifices and being constructed entirely by women during WWII, and London’s most
iconic bridge –Tower Bridge. Also on the river, we saw the bronze lions that
act as flood markers and were taught an amusing piece of doggerel:
When
the lions are drinking,
Then London is
sinking
When the lions are ducked,
Then London is…flooded.
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| Tower of London, note the Traitor's Entrance |
We had chosen the water approach to
see the outside of Traitor’s Gate as well as to avoid crowds. It is a wonderful
introduction to the Tower of London (Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress
the Tower of London). In American imagination, the Tower is grim fortress of
torture and execution. While that was true for a handful of people, it has very
little to do with the actual purpose and functions of this 1000+ year old
complex. The central construction, the White Tower, was built by William the
Conqueror, since its inception, it has housed royalty in palatial comfort and
splendor, royal treasure in abundance, menageries of exotic wild animals, and,
of course, political prisoners. Its most famous residents today are (in no
particular order) the Crown Jewels, the Ravens, and the Yeomen Warders.
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| Pooh and a one of the Yeoman Warders |
We visited all the towers and rooms
added during the 12th and 13th centuries. They have redone
a couple of the rooms with period hangings, tilework, and furnishings. The
Crown Jewels – we really didn’t expect to be that impressed after everything we
saw in Russia. I don’t want to downplay the insane amount of gloriously wrought
treasure we saw all over the place there, but apparently we had not used our
allotment of awestruckness. You cannot imagine how big the Cullinan I diamond
in the scepter is – 530 carats. The various and sundry crowns are bedecked with
literally thousands of priceless gems, enormous rubies, sapphires, pearls, and,
of course, diamonds – thousands upon thousands of diamonds. The communion
vessels are all marvelously elaborate gold/ silver gilt, as is all the
tableware. There is a punchbowl larger than a hipbath with a ladle with a 3-4’
golden handle and enormous polished shell bowl. The exhibit was lovely, but I
really want them to redo it as a ride – seriously, like at Epcot. There is so
much to see, and it is so atmospherically lit, it is quite difficult to take
everything in while being jostled by everyone else trying to see everything as
well. Everyone was running into everyone else, & we should just be in
little slow moving cars.
The most amazing job in the whole
place must be the Ravenmaster. The ravens have definitely been there since the
reign of King Charles II as he had Royal Observatory moved to Greenwich when
they complained that the ravens interfered with their observation work. This
was due to a legend that if the ravens ever leave the tower, the monarchy will
fall. King Charles, obviously had no desire to take chances – he had just barely
restored the monarchy!
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| Hyde Park |
From the Tower, we boarded the water
taxi back to Westminster for a visit to the Abbey. Here the London Pass proved
its worth as we were able to go straight in rather than wait in a rather long
line. Westminster Abbey is formally called the Collegiate Church of St. Peter
at Westminster. It started out a community of monks perhaps as early as 960
under the direction of St. Dunstan. The present structure was begun in 1245 by
Henry III as a burial place. Edward the Confessor is buried there, as are
Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Richard II, and Henry V. However, not just
British Kings and Queens are memorialized there. Indeed, the place is so
crowded with monuments to various nobles, soldiers, scientists, and artists
that it begins to feels like a disorganized museum rather than a church. The
audio guide is narrated by Jeremy Irons and is fantastically informative. The
best story is the one explaining the unexpected presence of a marker on the
floor bearing the name of Oliver Cromwell. He was of course the man who
destroyed the Monarchy and had Charles I executed. After his death, he was
interred in Westminster Abbey. A few years later, after the Monarchy had been
restored, Cromwell’s body was exhumed, beheaded, and drawn and quartered. He is
no longer buried there, but the spot where he was is still marked.
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| Hyde Park rose garden |
Westminster Abbey sits beside the
Houses of Parliament whose most notable feature is its iconic clock tower. That
clock tower is known as the Elizabeth II Tower, renamed for the current monarch
at her Diamond Jubilee. The name most people think is ascribed to this tower,
Big Ben, is actually the nickname of the Great Bell which tolls the hours and
weighs 16 tons. The Houses of Parliament has another tower, without a clock but
flying a large Union Flag (it’s only the Union Jack when it is flying from a
ship), called the Victoria Tower. If you plan to enter the Houses of
Parliament, be warned, it is against the law, under penalty of hanging, to die
inside.
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