August 2 - The Journey Home

Today wasn't very interesting so I will keep it brief: we woke up, had breakfast, finished packing, took the bus to the airport, waited in line, went through security, ate lunch, spent eight hours on a plane, cleared Canadian Customs, picked up the van, drove home, and went to bed.

It was an exhausting but truly wonderful trip, and we saw lots of really amazing things. I hope at least some of this has been translated in the blog - thanks for reading!

GWV

August 1 - St. Paul's and the Embankment

We started our last day in England going our separate ways: Dad and Jules went to find the entrance to the Ministry of Magic, Mom went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, and I went to tour St. Paul's Cathedral.

The interior of St. Paul's is beautiful, but its decorations are so opulent that it felt more Catholic than Anglican - I think I prefer the more simplistic styles of York Minster and Canterbury Cathedral. The main purpose of my visit was to the climb the 500+ steps to the galleries, the first of which (the Whispering Gallery) is inside the dome, and allows you to look down over the nave. The third, the Golden Gallery, is at the very top of the Cathedral and from it you can see for miles around. Here is Westminster, with the London Eye to the left.

Here we have yet another picture of the modern towers of the City. In the background you can see the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, the tallest of which is One Canada Square (it's the tallest building in the UK).

And here we see the Millennium Bridge from above and Tate Modern, housed in the former Bankside Power Station.

The other focal point of my tour was the crypt, where many famous Britons, including Si rChristopher Wren, the Duke of Wellington, and Admiral Nelson are buried.

I met up with Dad and Jules in Trafalgar Square and we continued on to University College London. Aside from being a beautiful collection of buildings, the college houses the "Auto-icon": the preserved remains of Jeremy Bentham, the great liberal philosopher. His skeleton has been wired together so he is sitting in a chair (with clothes on, thankfully), which is very odd but certainly something to see!

We then returned to the hotel to meet up with Mom, had some lunch, and then caught the tube and traveled to the Embankment. This is the Gloucester Road Underground Station from which all of this week's adventures have started.

We spent an hour or so walking along the north bank of the Thames, where we passed, among other things, Paul Day's Battle of Britain Memorial (I think it's much cooler than the first one we saw).

After a final walk around Westminster, including the Abbey and Downing Street, Dad and Jules returned to the hotel to pack while Mom and I caught a bus and walked through Belgravia towards Harrods. Although we couldn't afford to buy anything in the store, it was worth seeing just for the sake of it (the Food Hall is heavenly). We ate our last dinner of the trip at Coco Momo (strange, I know) and spent the evening packing.

GWV

July 31 - Museum of London and the Temple

Today started with a visit to the Museum of London, home to a fabulous collection of artifacts that details the city's history from prehistoric times to the present. It is a must-see for anyone interested in the history, growth, and development of London.

After lunch Dad and I left Jules and Mom to do some shopping while we wandered around the area. We had intended on touring St. Paul's Cathedral, but it wasn't open for sightseeing so we continued on to the Temple area, where the city's courts and law offices are found. Here is a picture of the famous Central Criminal Court, better known as Old Bailey.

The Temple Bar stands at the point where Fleet Street becomes the Strand, and is the dividing line between the City of Westminster and the City of London. The statue on the top looks like a dragon, but it's actually a griffin.

And here we have the magnificent Royal Courts of Justice, which look more like a fairytale castle than a courthouse.

We then meandered our way through the Inner Temple to Temple Church, which was built by the Knights Templar in the twelfth century. Buried in the large circular nave are eight former Masters of the Temple, including some Templars.

After a drink in a local pub we went on a walking tour of the Blackfriars area, where a priory of the Dominican Friars (Black Friars) once stood. The highlight of the tour was this old cemetery, which has now been incorporated into the courtyard of an apartment complex.

By chance we happened upon this observation platform, from which we got a fabulous view of St. Paul's. Our afternoon ended with a lovely organ recital at the Cathedral, and I will say this: wow does Bach ever sound good in an acoustic space like that one.

After the recital we walked across the Millennium Bridge, a pedestrian bridge built in 2000. Here you can see the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. We ended the day with dinner at the Black Friar, which is supposedly the most ornately decorated pub in the city.

GWV

July 30 - London Eye and Museums

Mom and I started our Saturday off early with another breakfast at Pret before heading to the London Eye (neither Dad or Jules were interested). Built in 1999, it stands 135 metres high and is the largest Ferris wheel in Europe. Each of the pods holds about twenty people and you can walk around them, which allows for great views in every direction. Here are a few photos from the Eye:

First, we have the skyscrapers of the City and boats along the Thames.

Here we see the royal parks (St. James and Green) with government buildings in the foreground and Buckingham Palace in the middle.

And here we have a glorious view of Westminster, in particular the Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.

Here’s a close up of Buckingham Palace with St. James's Park Lake visible in front of it.

And of course, the obligatory shot of Downing Street from above!

Here we see Trafalgar Square (it’s small, but it’s there), with Nelson’s Column and the National Gallery visible.

All in all, the Eye was a fabulous experience, and I'm very glad we decided to do it. After we'd come back down to the ground we walked along the south bank, from which you have a fantastic view of the Palace of Westminster.

We continued on to the Imperial War Museum, where we met up with Dad and Jules (they went back to King's Cross this morning) and had a light lunch in the museum café. The museum itself was interesting (in particular the Trench Reconstruction and London Blitz Experience), but I do think the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa is far superior.

We ended the busy day of sightseeing at the British Museum, which, like the National Gallery, is way too big to see in an hour (but we tried).

With such limited time I just wandered through the Greek and Roman galleries and the Great Court (pictured here), which is as impressive as the museum's collections!

After another wonderful pub dinner near the museum we walked down Drury Lane past the Theatre Royal and the Royal Opera House towards Covent Garden Market. While in the market we were treated to a concert by a busking string quintet - a perfect end to a thoroughly enjoyable day!

 GWV

July 29 - The City and the National Gallery

We started the day off with a very good (finally) breakfast at Pret a Manger before taking the tube through King's Cross (we tried to find Platform 9 3/4 but it was too busy) and on to the City of London (which is administratively separate from Westminster). Our first stop was at the Monument, built by Christopher Wren as a memorial to the Great Fire of 1666. At the top of the 311 steps is a viewing platform with some fabulous views of the city. Here is a lovely shot of Tower Bridge.

And these here are the many towers of the financial district; the most recognizable is 30 St. Mary Axe, or the Gherkin (the one that looks like a pickle). In front of it is the Lloyd’s of London building, which looks unfinished but was in fact fully completed in 1986.

And here we have the dome of St. Paul’s with the British Telecom Tower visible off to the left (and yes, some very ugly construction sites).

We then walked over to Leadenhall Market for lunch. It was the site of Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies (I can only sort of see it) and is a really cool place full of cafés and little shops.

We continued on to the financial heart of the city, located around the Bank tube station. This is the Bank of England, which as we all know was so important in the development of Canada as a British colony.

And here we have the Royal Exchange with its magnificent neoclassical façade; out front is the war memorial for the City of London.

We then took the underground to Green Park and walked to Buckingham Palace, which Julia, Mom and Aunt Val toured (they saw Kate's wedding dress, I should add) while Dad and I did a quick walk-through of the National Gallery. It has an outstanding collection, and you could easily spend a weekend there without being bored. We also got a better view of Trafalgar Square now that the media crews had cleared out.

We met the girls for ice cream, said goodbye to Aunt Val, and went to a neat little burger bar for dinner. This evening we decided to try a London By Night bus tour, which was fabulous and gives you a completely different perspective of the city. So many of the famous buildings - Harrods, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, and the Tower of London, to name a few - are lit up at night and you can see them really well from the open-top bus. I would highly recommend one of those tours to anyone who is traveling to London, especially if they haven't been in the city before.

GWV

July 28 - Westminster Abbey and Chelsea

We started today with a very average breakfast at an unnamed Brasserie before heading into the heart of London and joining the queues to tour Westminster Abbey.

From a purely architectural standpoint the Abbey was no more impressive than any of the other cathedrals we've seen on the trip; because of its ties to royalty and its fascinating history, however, it is a must-see. The highlight for me were the many famous people buried there, including Edward the Confessor and Elizabeth I, both of whom have very elaborate tombs. And of course there's the Poets Corner, where Chaucer, Dickens, Shakespeare, Lord Byron, Handel, and D.H. Lawrence (and many more) are either buried or memorialized.

After leaving the Abbey we had a snack in the café of the Methodist Central Hall before walking over to Downing Street. You can't see much for security reasons, but it was neat to at least see the gate and the Number Ten in the distance.

We met my aunt for a delicious lunch in her office, which is right next to Westminster Abbey. She also showed us around the building, so I can now saw I've been inside the offices of the British civil service (one of my goals for the trip).

This afternoon we split up: the girls went and shopped while my dad and I walked around Fulham, Chelsea, and Pimlico. We started at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea Football Club (know thine enemy), which was impressive but nowhere near as atmospheric as Anfield.

We continued on through the old Brompton Road Cemetery; its huge and overgrown, which is part of what made it so interesting (and spooky).

Then it was down to Pimlico, where we walked past Tate Britain and along the Thames for a great view of the Battersea Power Station (way, way bigger than I anticipated it being).

Lastly, we took a bus up to the Marble Arch (seen here) to meet Mom and Jules for dinner at a pub called the Tyburn. It was curry feast night, so as far as I'm concerned the day ended on a high note!

GWV

July 27 - Hyde Park Corner and the Royal Parks

I was up early this morning to go for a walk around Kensington and Hyde Park before the city got too busy. Although there were lots of people out jogging, there weren't too many cars so it was blissfully quiet. Once the rest of the family had woken up we went for breakfast at Garfunkel's, a rather strange restaurant across the road from the hotel, before heading out to explore the city.

Our first stop was Wellington Arch, which is located right in the middle of Hyde Park Corner. It was built around 1830 to commemorate the military successes of the Duke of Wellington and stands at what was then the western edge of London. Inside are several exhibits about the arch and surrounding area and an observation platform from which you get a nice view of Hyde Park.

Next, we crossed the road to Apsley House, purchased by Wellington in 1817. Although part of it is still lived in by the current Duke, the main rooms have been converted into a museum dedicated to his life and his superb art collection.

We then continued on into Hyde Park for hot dogs and a walk along Rotten Row and The Serpentine, seen here.
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The path ended at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, which looks like (and is clearly treated as) a giant splash pad.

Once we'd exited the park we took the bus back along Kensington Gore towards Buckingham Palace, where we joined the throngs of people taking pictures through the fence and climbing the Victoria Memorial. While it was far too busy, it's something everyone who visits the capital should see.

We left the crowds behind and walked down The Mall and through St. James's Park, another lovely green space with a beautiful lake. The London Eye is visible in the background in this picture.

At the end of The Mall is the Admiralty Arch, and my only question is how you get one of these offices.

We ended our first day of sightseeing in Trafalgar Square, which was mostly blocked off for a pre-Olympics celebration, but that didn't make Nelson's Column or St. Martin's-in-the-Fields any less impressive. On our way back to the hotel we stopped in Leicester Square, site of the Harry Potter premieres; as many of the guidebooks put it, the square is "aesthetically challenged".

After a delicious Italian meal, Mom and I went to the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, the world's largest classical music festival and a longstanding British tradition. We were treated to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales performing, among other things, Stravinsky's Firebird. It was absolutely wonderful, and probably the highlight of my trip.

We had a fabulous first day in London, and although we're exhausted, we can't wait for tomorrow to see more!

GWV

July 26 - Battle and London

We were up early this morning for our final home-cooked breakfast of the trip and to pack the car one last time for the trip to London. On the way to the capital we stopped in Battle to tour Battle Abbey and Battlefield, site of the famous Battle of Hastings.

It was on this field that, on the 14th of November 1066, William the Conqueror defeated King Harold, ending the Anglo-Saxon period and ushering in the Norman one. To many historians, this battle was the beginning of English history.

Our visit started by following an audio guide tour around the perimeter of the battlefield, which is surprisingly small. This picture is taken from where William's Normans stood before the battle, looking up the hill towards Harold and the Saxons.

To commemorate the battle and his victory, King William I established a Benedictine abbey on the site; Battle Abbey would go on to become one of the wealthiest monastic houses in the country. After the dissolution, the abbey fell into the hands of Sir Anthony Browne who demolished most of it to make way for a manor house, so very little remains.

This stone marks the place where the High Altar of the abbey church once stood. Legend has it that it was on this exact spot that King Harold died during the battle.

 

The only remaining building is the old dormitory, pictured here, where the most senior monks slept.

The highlight of the ruins was the collection of rooms below the dormitory, all of which are astonishingly well-preserved in comparison to the rest of the abbey.

We ended our visit with a lunch onsite before continuing the drive to Heathrow to return the Ford S-Max, two-and-a-half weeks and over one thousand miles later. We caught a bus from the airport which took us directly to our hotel, the Crowne Plaza Kensington, and were there by early evening. The hotel's in an amazing location, right across the street from the Gloucester Road tube stop and within walking distance of Hyde Park, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kensington Palace, and Royal Albert Hall.

We had dinner at the hotel, and I ended the day with a short walk around Kensington. After being here for just a few hours I already love the city, and can't wait to begin exploring tomorrow.

GWV