British Isles- Day 3- Central London

Friday. July 15, 2011- London, England

Arising at 8 A.M., We had coffee and pastries in the room. That started us off for the day, as we watched the BBC for news. The Rupert Murdoch eaves dropping scandal was still raging across the airwaves.

We walked the one mile over to one of the City’s more venerable commercial sites, Covent Gardens. This early in the day, the shops weren’t yet open. The cobble stoned courtyard would be awash later with visitors and entertainers. The London Opera sits in one corner of the rectangular area. Over the centuries, the area had served as a fruit and vegetable market and other commercial enterprises. Now it is more a collection of stalls that sell everything imaginable. Cafes and boutiques draw in visitors daily by the thousands. Nightly, it is a gathering spot for all of central London.

Continuing on from the Gardens, we walked across the busy Strand Blvd. It had once been the shoreline of the Thames. Up ahead was one of the more storied gathering spots in London, Trafalgar Square. In the center of the square sits Nelson’s Column, with statue of the Naval hero Lord Nelson atop the column. It had been erected to commemorate the English naval Victory at Trafalgar over the French and Spanish fleets in the early 1800’s. The column is flanked by four stone Lions and surrounded by sitting areas and fountains where throngs gather daily to enjoy the Summer weather. Across the Square we could see the Greek Classical facade of the British National Gallery. We would explore it later. Double decked buses and cabs clogged the circle and ground traffic to a standstill that would exist until the wee hours of the early morning.

We found a stop for the “Original Tours” bus. For $44 each, we would get an open air tour of central London on one of those delightful double decked buses. The tour bus allowed you to get off at any of the stops along the way and continue your journey with the next bus. It is a great way to see London. We waited but briefly before the next tour bus came along and picked us up. We got a seat topside and had a great vantage point. In order of our line of march, we saw first Buckingham Palace with the gilded Victoria monument in front or back of the palace, depending upon whom you asked. Daily at 11:30 A.M. there is the wonderful changing of the ceremonial guard. Many thousand flock there to witness the spectacle of pomp and circumstance. Our next area of view was the Hyde Park Speakers Corner, where every Sunday ordinary people orate on their topic of choice. The solid bulk of Wellington’s Arch and the stately Adsley house former homes of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington who had beaten Napoleon at Waterloo lent a stately elegance to the area.

Horse and riders were ambling down the paths of the park when we passed Tyburn Place. From 1193 until 1783 the area had been the site of Public executions in London, from “Tyburn Tree.” It was then a public spectacle that attracted the mobs. Condemned men had been taken here in carts from the Old Bailey to have their sentences carried out. Along the way they were permitted a single pint of ale as a last Inn. Often sympathetic patrons would want to buy the convict another pint. He would be told by the warder that the man was “On the wagon” and not permitted any more. The saying came to be associated with those who couldn’t or wouldn’t have another drop of ale.

We crossed the Thames at the Horseferry St. Crossing and beheld a magnificent view of the Parliament Buildings and England’s “Big Ben” tower. To the Brits, the actual bell in the tower is “Big Ben.” To the rest of the world it is the entire tower and bell. Sitting on the banks of the Thames, the site has become an iconic symbol of Britain. St. Martins in the field, a church of the royals, passed by in stately manner, as we drove along the Thames. We passed by Parliament Square, the seat of the United Kingdom’s government and circled the fabled Tower of London. We had visited this 1,000 year old fortress on a previous trip and enjoyed viewing the British Crown Jewels, Traitor’s gate and the colorfully dressed Beefeater guards. Two of Britain’s monarchs had ben executed here and a few royal nephews were reportedly dispatched in one of the towers.

The Tower and the nearby eye catching expanse of the Tower bridge, with its twin towers and suspension cables are among the more scenic areas for tourists in London. Brits like to joke that the Americans who had bought the old London bridge, and reassembled it in Arizona, had thought they were buying the Tower Bridge. You can pick up a cruise down the Thames here at West Minster pier. We had done that once before, but didn’t have time today.

The bus took us by the fabled architectural masterpiece of Christopher Wren’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, with its large central dome. It is built in the Baroque style and dates to the late 17th century.

The guide informed us that much of London had burned to the ground during the great fire of 1666. Rebuilding afterwards had been brisk. Much of London’s iconic architecture dates from after the great fire.
The tour finished at Leicester Square, a few blocks over from Trafalgar Sq. We had it in mind to visit the National Gallery of Art there and so headed in that direction. The traffic was brisk.

The Classical Greek Facade of the National Gallery is imposing. Its three wings, each three stories tall, stretch the length of Trafalgar Square. Like most London museums, admission is free. We walked up the steps into swarms of visitors. We wandered along the great hallways admiring the magnificent collection. Renoir, Van Gogh, Czesanne, Turner, Tintoretto, Cannoletto and scores of other great masters adorn the walls. You can wander here for hours. We did for a time and then had a cappuccino and croissant in the comfortable cafe in the basement of the museum. Computer monitors there give you a better scan of the huge collection available.

From the National Gallery, we walked into Trafalgar Square and joined thousands of other who sat basking in the 70 degree sunshine of a beautiful Summer day. Any number of languages drifted by our ears. Large school groups gathered here to mingle and enjoy people watching. We sat by the stone lions and did the same for a time. The we walked back towards Covent Gardens.

It was early afternoon and the cafes along the periphery of the gardens were loaded with tourists, eating and sipping beverages. Street performers were entertaining the crowds and the vendors were doing a brisk business selling everything. We were tiring with the day so we walked back toward our Bloomsbury Hotel and stopped for a Cappuccino on Oxford Place, watching the people traffic flow by us. At the hotel, I wrote up my notes and we settled in for a nap, tired with the day.

Later we cleaned up and headed out for dinner. We had determined that we were not leaving London without having fish sand chips in one of the many colorful pubs. The “Bloomsbury Pub” dating from 1895, was nearby. We walked over and entered its comfortable and cozy quarters. Smokers were consigned to the exterior of the pub. We sat on the second level and ordered fish and chips and a pint of Whistable Ale. The pub soon filled up with the after work crowd. The fish and chips were decent enough (L24). The ale was tepid and lacked much carbonation, not to our taste. Still it was what we had wished for.

The evening was still young, so we walked back over to Covent Gardens. The area was awash with a younger crowd, mingling about and looking for entertainment. Several street performers had circles of amused patrons gathered around them. The diners and cafes were filled with patrons. A steady stream of well dressed Londoners were headed into the nearby Opera. We people watched and wandered around the gardens enjoying the experience. It was life and action in a great city. We were however tired with the day. We walked back to the Bloomsbury hotel and started repacking for tomorrow’s exit. I wrote up my notes, settled in with a martini and soon drifted off into the arms of Morpheus.