After a spot of tea in the hotel room, we headed out on the
walking tour we devised for ourselves through Google maps and Trip Advisor back
home. We wandered under London Bridge to the tune of the nursery rhyme song,
and then found ourselves at the edge of the Thames, looking across at the grand
St Paul’s Cathedral and with an up-close view of a dry-docked sailboat.
Winding along the road, we came upon our first real
destination: Borough Market, a large year-round market that is a must-see for
any foodie.
Fresh fruits, vegetables, and a bunch of fun guys!
We checked out the Beyond Bread stall for the sweet treats
recommended by another blogger we stumbled upon last night, but then decided
rich doughnuts might not be the best start to the day. What makes for a good
breakfast?
In the adjacent market (maybe also part of Borough Market?)
we found stall upon stall of delicious takeaway options. We settled on Indian -
practically the new English cuisine. (Truly a better breakfast than a doughnut.)
I was about to buy some balsamic vinegar chocolates (tastier
than they sound when I say that out loud) when we were interrupted by drumming
and chanting. Lunar New Year celebrations right in the market!
Brunch in the open-air market immersed us in the experience
but did nothing for the chill gnawing at our bones. Recall that the bulk of our
trip will be in warm climes, and so we relied upon layers of lighter clothes to
handle the London winter weather. Not quite enough. We found a café with
organic coffee and warmed up.
Time was ticking and there was still much to see. Again
facing the chilly morning, we continued with our self-serve tour and stumbled
upon the ruins of the Winchester Palace. Once home to bishops in London on royal
or administrative business, this 12th century palace included a
tennis court, bowling alley, and even a prison! The palace remained in use
until the 17th century when it was turned into tenements and warehouses.
These ruins, including a glorious rose window, were rediscovered in the 19th
century and preserved.
Finally, Tower Bridge across the Thames and a view of the
Tower of London.
Originally, I had thought we would cross over the bridge and
wander back along the other side. Borough Market had eaten through more time
than I had planned (no regrets, though) so we turned our feet back toward the
hotel. The promenade along the Thames opened into Hay's Galleria which was once
where much of London’s water-borne commerce was unloaded.
Back again to (the much-less-exciting-than-Tower-Bridge) London Bridge…
…and back to the hotel. Time enough to grab our stuff and
check out before a(nother) walking tour. The tube would have sufficed to get us
there, but this is London, after all. A double-decker red bus is the way to go
in style!
This second walking tour – professionally provided by
Sandeman’s – kicked off at Covent Garden Market, where the old Apple Market and
the new Apple Market sit side by side.
While waiting for the tour to begin, Mindy ticked off
another London “must do”:
First thing we learned on the tour? Covent Garden’s
interesting past. It started as a garden for the local convent (Covent came from
convent) but then after the disenfranchisement of the church, it became one of
the most renowned red-light districts in all of Europe. At the time, the book
detailing the working ladies – each with the “menu” of options available –
outsold the bible! The Victorian era of puritanism cleaned out the professional
companions, and the market became a trading zone for fruits and vegetables.
Recognizing the higher margins on manufactured goods, Covent Garden Market
changed over to jewellery and trinkets; in the last 30 years, individual
artisans have been replaced by Coco Chanel, Gucci, and – of course – Apple.
The market is now little different from Yorkdale Mall, only in a much nicer
setting.
At Trafalgar Square, with its monument to the Lord Admiral
Nelson (incidentally, a big believer in equality among all people – at least
compared to the norms of his era), we learned about the incredible English
defeat of the combined French and Spanish armadas during the Napoleonic War.
Notice the “gun-metal” finish on the lion (there are two at the base, though one isn't visible) and the plate of
the plinth? That’s thanks to the brilliant military tactics of Lord Nelson. Seriously.
The initial English navy manoeuvre back in that Napoleonic battle cleared out a
third of the combined French and Spanish fleets without the English losing a
single ship. Napoleon’s navy promptly surrounded, and the English took their
cannons and muskets before sending them home. As no righteous English soldier
would ever use a Spanish or French weapon, they returned the scrap metal to
London and melted it down. To add insult to injury, the centre of London was
then formally moved to this Parisien-style public plaza, a more or less
permanent reminder to the rest of Europe that England once reigned supreme.
We passed through the grand Victoria Memorial gates and into
the royal neighbourhood – where the road is painted red to avoid the
inconvenience of having to roll out a red carpet every time the monarch is in
town. The gate originally housed offices for the navy, hence the nautical
themes.
St. James Palace – nestled behind what was the German
embassy in the 1930s – lacks the glamour of Buckingham and other palaces, but
it is keystone institution in England’s political history as the physical
representation of the royal court after private armies ceased to be the measure
of noble power. (Clever man King Henry the VII used his private army to seize
power from King Richard, then promptly outlawed such armies to avoid similar
threats to himself.)
Buckingham Palace was originally built to be the home of the
Duke of Buckingham. Sadly for his heirs, the Duke was greatly in debt to the
King when Buckingham House was built, and the King rather fancied this
beautiful new house. As a courtesy, the royal family arranged a compromise,
wherein the Duke of Buckingham would be permitted to live in the house until he
died, at which point he would “generously” bequeath Buckingham House to the
King. It became Buckingham Palace, and remains the residence of the monarch.
The reigning monarch Elizabeth is not content to merely wave
to her subjects from the balcony, however. (That balcony – permitting a
connection between the Queen and her people – is credited as part of the reason
the English royal family enjoyed an 89% approval rating among the English in
the last national survey on such matters.) Queen Elizabeth has dabbled in the
film industry, starring as herself in a fictional film about Queen Elizabeth
going to watch the Olympics under the protection of 007. Queen and Bond Girl!
The garden stretching out in front of Buckingham has always
been open to the public.
Historically, municipal police could not enforce the
law on royal grounds, and so the park became the host of all manner of vices.
Buckingham Palace looked out at a veritable orgy of the common people.
The tour wrapped up in front of Big Ben, the Houses of
Parliament, and Westminster Abbey.
For the first time in its history, Big Ben is undergoing
renovations. It was starting to take after the Tower of Pisa as Big Ben slowly
sank on one side into the soft bank of the Thames. We didn’t (really) see Big
Ben, but we did see a rare site that won’t be seen again for at least 150 years
– Big Ben surrounded by scaffolding. Hooray?
At least Westminster Abbey – the site of all coronations
since William the Bastard became William the Conqueror, King of England – was
visible. (That is, aside from the extreme glare of the setting sun that accounts for the lack of Westminster Abbey photo here.) Did you know that the English monarch must request permission from the
Mayor of London prior to entering the city? A compromise reached between the conquering
William and the economically powerful city of London, back in the day.
The lawn in front of parliament is informally designated for
protests and public messaging. After a 5-year occupation by protesters in the
wake of the (second) Iraq war, this public space no longer permits such
“occupation” style protests. Today, it was some environmentalists and people
seeking fair treatment for immigrants.
True to our style of aggressive traveling, the tour finished
just in time to rush back to the hotel for our baggage, and then a return to
Heathrow for our flight to Lisbon.
At the aeroport, our customs officer noted that we had a
one-way ticket to Portugal. Citizens from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
are required to show a departure ticket before heading in to Portugal. I guess
this is a Portuguese requirement, as our customs officer was satisfied simply
by looking at the ticket confirmation in my email (on my phone). I didn’t even
have to send him a screenshot.
Settling in for the night, we are in a new hotel, a new
city, and a new country. This place might be the Lisbon airport’s equivalent of
a Doubletree.
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