LONDON. The city of kings and queens, knights, towering abbeys, left-sided drivers, and Jack the Ripper. A city that truly bursts at the seams with history, quirky stories, and taverns upon taverns. A great metropolis, London seemed to have loads of stuff to see and do. In a way, it was kind of like our New York City: so much to do + so little time = how in the world do we see it all on a backpacker's budget?! Anyway, we did see the big sights (Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace) as well as got to know some locals and other travelers. PLUS I was able to have a mini Peruvian reunion with the lovely Verity. That was definitely one of the highlights of the city. So, on to the highlights:
The sights:
We've discovered a free walking tour group called Sandeman's New while we were in Edinburgh. After researching more of their tours, we noticed that they offered free walking tours in many of the cities that we will be visiting in Europe. So we decided to give the walking tour of London a shot since we loved the one in Edinburgh, and we ended up learning quite a lot of information! Yay education! :)
We started at Covent Garden (which used to be a large brothel house) and moved on to Trafalgar Square. Chris, our tour guide, was Australian who fell in love with London because of its rich history. We continued from Trafalgar Square to the "Red Carpet" that led up to Buckingham Palace where Queen Elizabeth II resides for most of the year. She actually travels about on holiday for August and September, so she wasn't home. Along the way, we witnessed a bit of the Changing of the Guards, which was a bit more resounding and procession-like compared to the Changing of the Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider in D.C. Granted, the reason for the change is different, but it was an interesting change of pace. Although we didn't stop and go into the Palace itself, we were able to maneuver our way through the maze of people to take photos and hear more history about the monarchs.
After the Palace we headed towards Westminster Abbey and "Big Ben." We passed by the Churchill War Rooms and stopped to listen about the remarkable man himself. Chris loved Churchill, so it was fun to hear him tell stories of "the great Brit ever to live." Westminster Abbey is absolutely breathtaking from the outside. It has been the setting for every Coronation since 1066 and for numerous other royal occasions, including sixteen royal weddings. It was quite a bit of money to go inside of the church, but I know we're going to be seeing a lot of churches throughout our journey (I'm looking at you, Vatican). We also saw the iconic Big Ben, which is technically the name of the enormous bell inside the clock tower. Eventually, people ended up calling the entire clock tower "Big Ben" rather than just the bell.
One of the stories that Chris told was about the most colorful of the English monarchs: King Henry VIII and his 6 wives. Now I know I'm a history major, but English history has never been my forte nor has it been that much of an interest to me. However, King Henry VIII is fun to talk about. He had six wives. What happened to them, you may ask? Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. I'm sure you've all maybe heard of him, and it's quite a long story, but King Henry VIII was an interesting and fun monarch to learn about. (Yes, Mother, "I'm Henry the 8th, I am..." haha).
The tour ended, but there was still much to see!
We also went to see the British Museum, which was free and full of ancient artifacts. The creme de la creme: THE ROSETTA STONE! The Rosetta Stone was discovered by Napoleon's army back in the 1700's in Egypt. It didn't take long to discover it's usage. The Stone is divided into three sections of writing. Egyptian hieroglyphics line the top of the stone. The second section displays Demotic Greek, which was a pre-Greek writing system that stood as the precursor to the Greek writing we know today. Modern Greek writing lines the bottom of the stone, and we are able to understand that language. So, long story short, the Rosetta Stone allows us to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics into all different types of languages. It was amazing to see such a fantastic piece of archaeology that has transformed the way we understand an ancient civilization. Because of this stone, we can now understand a writing completely foreign to us.
We also visited the National Gallery, home to hundreds of beautiful pieces of artwork from the 1500's to early 1900's. We spent a good amount of time in the Gallery, viewing amazing paintings from Rubens, Rambrandt, Velaquez, Gainsborough and Rousseau. I even got to see a flawless painting by one of my favorite artists: Caspar David Freidrich. It was breathtaking. However, some of my favorites were painted by some artists you may have heard of: Manet, Monet, and Vincent Van Gogh. Of course, these were also the most popular paintings in the museum. I can see why. Impressionism is probably one of my favorite forms of painting. Don't get me wrong, I believe that Realism and landscape artists are beyond beautiful. There's just something about Impressionism that is colorful, emotional and powerful.
The last major sight we saw the Tower of London. The Tower has quite the active history attached to it and a gruesome reputation to go along with it. The Tower has played many roles including a prison, a mint, armory and even a zoo. We followed around a Beefeater, aka a Yeoman, on an hour long tour of the history of the Tower (think of the logo for Beefeater Gin and tada!). He was incredibly informative and hysterical. The job of a Beefeater is to protect the Crown Jewels that are on display at the Tower. Due to the wicked long queue, Corinne and I decided not to see the jewels. I'm sure they're beautiful though! Like I said, the tower used to be a prison. Some of it's famous prisoners include Anne Boleyn (one of the beheaded wives of King Henry VIII), Sir Walter Raleigh, Guy Fawkes (Remember, remember the 5th of November), and Lady Jane Grey. The Tower also is the home to numerous pieces of weaponry and armor that were simply breathtaking. The one downfall to the Tower? You guessed it... tourists. I understand that I'm basically a tourist as well, but it's just shocking to me how rude or oblivious people can be to what they're looking or taking photos of. Mehh. Oh well.
Bath was absolutely gorgeous! Home to the famous Jane Austen and the amazing, well-preserved Roman baths. This quiet little town has hosted many film crews, including that of Les Miserables. Our tour guide, Barry, pointed out the bridge that Russell Crowe's character (Javert) commits suicide off of. I was in a town that Russell Crowe was in! (Alice, I needed you with me to share in my giddiness) We were able to walk around the town a bit before we were scheduled to enter the Roman Baths. Corinne and I indulged ourselves with Cornish pastries (which were light, flaky, and purely scrumptious) as well as cream tea. We enjoyed a little tea lunch at Sally Lun's. Our lunch included a cup of wonderful Ivy tea and half a toasted bun with homemade cream. I added cinnamon butter on top of mine, and I was in absolute heaven. The cream added just the right amount of sweetness without it being overwhelming. NOMS! The Roman Baths were simply beyond amazing. They're some of the most well-preserved Roman sites throughout Europe. In ancient times, the baths were where the rich mixed with the poor, traders sold their goods, business transactions occurred, and religious ceremonies took place. This was the hubbub of ancient civilization. The ancient town of Aquae Sullae ("Bath" in Latin) included a large complex of baths that was dedicated to the goddess Minerva. Inside, you see rooms upon rooms of artifacts found both in the baths as well as around the town. One such piece artifact was a full skeleton of a man that died around the age of 45. Archaeologists have determined that he's actually from the Middle East, which tells us that people from all over came to visit these baths. The main bath originally included a gigantic domed roof that blocked the sun. Now, the roof has disappeared. The sun beating on the water encourages algae to grow in the water, changing the water from a clear blue to a murky green. Walking along the same stones that existed almost a millennium ago is a serene and overwhelming feeling, and you almost make a small connection to the past. It was absolutely wonderful.
Oh! And I found the Tardis. To run away with him or not? That, my friends, is the question.