London Part 1: British Government, Museums, Hyde Park, and the Queen!
November 27th, 2008 Posted in Sightseeing, Travel | No Comments »I spent last week in London on vacation. The city is incredible and I enjoyed every minute. It’s clean, lively, full of things to do, friendly, and well-dressed (I felt like the only person in the city wearing the Seattle uniform: fleece and jeans).
My bed and breakfast (www.bb-belgravia.com) was not that expensive and yet nice – full English breakfast and free Wi-Fi – and in a great neighborhood, which I judge by the numerous Ferraris and Bentleys parked on the street.
The first half of the week was spent sightseeing and I’ll focus on the first two days in this post and the next two will continue the trip. Some pictures are linked below but the full collection is here.
I started with sights of the British government: changing of the guard, Big Ben, and Parliament.
I was excited to see the changing of the guard since I had heard so much about it and Buckingham Palace is beautiful, but the changing itself was a little long and just rows of people looking through a fence. The highlight for me was the cavalry who rode by and looked like something from Lord of the Rings:
Big Ben and Parliament were beautiful buildings. The detail and complexity of the architecture kept me staring up the entire time I walked around them.
My next stop was the surprise of the week: Westminster Abbey.
I paid the entrance fee and started the audio guide without high expectations. I thought I’d see another beautiful old church, but shortly after starting the audio tour and walking to the high altar I realized the history involved in the building. Every king and queen since sometime in 1300 was crowned there and many have their tombs there, from King Edward I or Longshanks (whom I know best from Braveheart) to Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. Besides royalty, many famous English writers and poets are buried in the church such as Geoffrey Chaucer. I spent years in school studying this people and the time they lived and now I stood where much of it happened. It was quite a moment.
The Queen!
I was in London for a week and somehow managed to see the Queen. Leicester Square houses a huge movie theater (I saw Quantum of Solace there later in the week) used for royal premieres. Monday night much of the square was blocked off and a red carpet laid out in front of the entrance. After asking around, I found the Queen was coming to a premiere that night and sure enough she drove up a couple hours later. The picture isn’t great, but they kept the light on inside the car so you can see her.
I was surprised by the relative lack of security. They had the square blocked off and an escort of a couple police motorcycles, but it’s nothing compared to what would happen in America if the President came through. Bill Clinton spoke at Princeton my freshman year and the buildings had snipers on them, his helicopter was preceded by two military helicopters, and all rooms with windows looking out on his route were emptied.
Museums: National Gallery and Imperial War Museum.
The National Gallery is a free museum with an excellent collection. Visitors can use a computer cluster to explore the collection and plan a specific tour to print and follow. The system is excellent. I followed an Impressionist tour and saw a wonderful collection of Monet, Manet, and Cezanne. A nice surprise is that while most food courts in museums should be avoided, the National Gallery Dining Hall is quite good. It serves traditional British Food (I had a beef and ale pie with pumpkin). The seating is cafeteria style but with servers. I wound up having a nice conversation with a woman from London who told me about attending the Myra Hess concerts during World War II.
The Imperial War Museum came highly-recommended and didn’t disappoint. It’s also free (the audio guide is not) and most of it could use a touch-up, but the collection is excellent. The war-time posters encouraging people to support the war effort and the German surrender papers caught my eye (click the image to see larger sizes on Flickr).
They also have a new Holocaust exhibit. Here you’ll find the look and feel of a modern museum. It’s a beautiful exhibit and well done, although I don’t think it competes with the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
I ended Tuesday with a walk in Hyde Park. Wow, it’s a big place. I tried to follow my Lonely Planet’s suggested route, but underestimated the size and didn’t see everything. It was a beautiful day, though, and the park is wonderful.
I’ll write more about the rest of my trip later.
Happy Thanksgiving!
