After a good rest, we woke up to begin our 1^st full day in London.  We grabbed a coffee down the road at a busy little cafe and headed down to the river walk by the Thames.  It was 9am in the morning and the walkway was already packed with runners and walkers.  A wall with 245,000 hearts dedicated to those who died from Covid was a moving site. 

Across the river, we could see the Palace of Westminster (the home of the UK Parliament) and Big Ben, “the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster. ” Big Ben is a British cultural icon. It is one of the most prominent symbols of the United Kingdom and parliamentary democracy………………………and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.” (Wikipedia). The bells of Big Ben ringing out every hour added to our London experience.

As we continued walking east, The London Eye appeared in the skyline. 

Guy was excited to take a ride on the London Eye and get some photos of the city.  I hung back due to my fear of heights and he was able to get some fun shots of me looking up to the carriage he was in.   We waved to each other for as long as we could before the big wheel took him over the top, out of view. 

While I waited, a street performer nearby was blowing huge bubbles to the delight of the children watching.  The bubbles floated overhead in all directions, glimmering in the sunshine and up into the sky over the Thames. 

Later, we walked over the Westminster Bridge by Big Ben and then over to Westminster Abbey. We would have liked to have gone inside for a tour but the line-up was horrendous, all the way down one side of the abbey and around the corner.

The streets were absolutely packed with people.  We reminded each other to be on high alert here for pick pockets.  Hey, I was under the assumption that we were coming to London in a less busy time of year!    Seems London is full of tourists most of the year.  It didn’t help that the weather was stellar, and everyone was out to enjoy the city.   

We walked to Buckingham Palace, via St. James Park, for a look and some photos.  There was no sign of the King 😦

Then we made our way up The Mall, a reddish colored roadway in front of Buckingham Palace used for ceremonial purposes that is 1 Km long between the Palace and Trafalgar Square. The color has been red since the 1950’s to mimic a red carpet and the pigment was derived from iron oxide (Wikipedia).  The Mall was of course part of the route in King Charles’s coronation in 2023.

Part way down The Mall, we stepped off to roam some more of the Royal Gardens which included the Canada Memorial in Green Park.  This memorial was erected to commemorate the over 11,000 soldiers who lost their lives in the first and second world wars.    The architect for the monument was awarded to Pierre Granche of Quebec. There is an inscription on the monument that reads:

“In two world wars/one million Canadians/ came to Britain/ and joined the fight for freedom/ From danger shared, our friendship prospers.”

An interesting fact: “The sculpture is also an arrow to Halifax, Nova Scotia, reflecting the port from which soldiers and defense material embarked during the two world wars. The granite and bronze used for the work was transported from Canada, via Halifax.”(Wikipedia)

One felt peace and hope seeing this moving tribute to those who fought for our freedom, amidst the growing beauty of spring with snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils coming up in the gardens.  

At 1:30 pm, we met our friend Susan at Embankment Station.  She was a great tour guide for the rest of the afternoon.   Susan and I walked the Camino Frances together in 2023.  She is a strong walker so she powered us around the city. 

We walked down to the river walk on the north side of the Thames and over the Waterloo Bridge, back to the southside near where Guy and I left off earlier in the day.  The three of us made our way towards Tower Bridge as Susan pointed out the sights of interest along the way.  We passed by the National Theatre (founded by Sir Laurence Olivier in 1963), the Oxo Tower (yes, owned by the company that made the meat bouillion cubes and tins, built in the early 1900’s)) and The Tate Modern Art Gallery which is “one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the world.”    We also walked by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre’s present location built in the 1990’s. The original location, a little ways away was built in 1599.   

Next we went by Boroughs Market which has an incredibly rich history of 1000 years in London. It looked wonderful but was jam packed with people on that Saturday afternoon.  We hoped to go back the weekend before we flew back to Vancouver in June.  Check out this website for more info on its fascinating history:  https://boroughmarket.org.uk/market-blog/borough-market-began-with-a-bridge/ .

We also walked by London Bridge and it wasn’t falling down.   The present manifestation of the bridge was built in 1973 replacing a 19^th century bridge built of stone which replaced another stone built Medieval Bridge from 600 years ago.  Apparently many different timber bridges were built at this spot over time dating as far back as 50AD and built by the Romans. (Wikipedia). The current London Bridge is nothing to write home about looking strictly utilitarian and lacking design in keeping with the other elegant bridges crossing the Thames like the Blackfriars Bridge below.

A half a mile down the Thames was The Tower Bridge, built between 1886 and 1894.  It is an iconic and ornate structure of neo gothic design that is capable of opening for ship traffic. When you think of London, you think of The Tower Bridge. Along with Big Ben, they are the most popular sights to see in London. As we walked over the bridge, the views were fantastic up the river and over to The Tower of London.

Londoners like to name buildings and it shows a sense of humor and brings levity to the very import business district. As we walked along with Susan that day, she pointed out some prominent buildings on the London skyline such as, The Walkie Talkie, The Cheese grater, The Shard and The Gherkin to name a few.

On a more serious note, St. Pauls Cathedral also plays a prominent feature in the Skyline further down the river, it’s dome stands regally in the distance.  The original church on this site was founded in AD604. The present domed structure was completed in 1710. The previous church was destroyed in the great fire of 1666. St. Paul’s is an Anglican church designed by Christopher Wren, the designer of 52 churches in London after fire.

 

Afterwards, Susan took us through the financial district where she used to work, pointing out to us the Bank of England and the Mint.  We ended up in Convent Garden, watched a street performer and then headed for an early dinner at Mother Mash, a meat pie and potato comfort food restaurant.  Guy was in heaven. 

We finished the day off with the musical, Mama Mia, at the Novello Theatre in London’s theatre district. What a fantastic show in this glorious old building from 1913.

We walked back to Charing Cross and bid Susan goodbye as she was getting the train in the opposite direction,  and we got the train back to North Lambeth followed by a 10 minute walk to our hotel. What a wonderful and full day in London.