We've come to London for a long weekend of playing tourist and going to the theatre. So it was a 4:30 am wake up call and a taxi to the airport yesterday. Breakfast at the airport - which I can now recommend - and an uneventful flight. A short train ride into to town and we were at our hotel, just across the street from the Tower of London. We had a little trouble checking-in (goodbye Expedia - that's one too many problems) but eventually got settled.
We hopped a tube to Westminster to start the sight-seeing with Parliament and Big Ben. We contemplated a trip on the Eye, but the line was too long. It is still something we'd like to do, though. Fiona has promised that if I start to freak out, she'll "take care of it".
Big Ben was impressive and we got to hear him chime soon after we arrived, although at 1pm it wasn't too exciting. With the exception of the building material and the size, Parliament reminded us of Marischal College back in Aberdeen.
Our main goal was Westminster Abbey, which we hoped looked better on the inside than the outside. It was actually really interesting, especially as a history buff. The place is actually more like an elaborately bedecked cemetery than a church - it is jam-packed with all sorts of memorials. Kings, Queens, inventors, explorers, military officers, politicians and aristocrats. In some places you have a mixture of all of these, one on top of the other. I could start naming names, but I'd be here for the rest of the day. Interesting to see the sarcophagus of Edward I, who labeled himself simply as "the Hammer of the Scots". Even with all the dead people, the church had a light and airy feel, lots of light and light colored walls that reminded us of the Grote Kerk in Breda. We're not quite sure where to rank Westminster Abbey in our tour of great churches: the Grote Kerk, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Saint Giles (Edinburgh) and Westminster.
We walked a little further towards Buckingham Palace, past the Institution for Mechanical Engineers - I guess if we had ever succeeded in driving my dad crazy when we were children, that's where he would have gone.
Buckingham was closed, as Lizzy and Phil were at home, but we wandered around and got the requisite pictures, including me guarding the Canada gate. At some point we noted that they were stopping some traffic in certain lanes, so we sidled up the barricades around the traffic circle to see what would happen. A couple of Jaguars drove past, one with an old grey haired lady and a small old man, not more than 15 feet from us. Pretty cool to be seeing your head of state like that. Cooler still to later notice snipers on the roof of Buckingham Palace.
We wandered a little further to the Wellington Arch. It puts on a good front, with an impressive statue on top and fabulous iron gates, put it looks like they spent all their money on that, with no carvings or plaques on the sides of the arch. I think Wellington deserved at least as much as Napoleon.
The stroll from there to Picadilly Circus was interesting. Quaint old hotels, including one with a vertical garden that was very impressive. Some of the crossings between the arch and St. James's Park had lights for horse and rider - not something you see every day.
The last stop was Trafalgar Square and Nelson's column, although we were misled once by another larger column to think we had already reached our destination. This city is so full of statues and monuments that it can get a little confusing. But we eventually found or way through the naval arch and to the square. A good cap to an interesting day.
After a quick dinner we took a taxi to the restored Globe Theatre for a night of Shakespeare. What an experience. The theatre is open air, with the ground floor mostly taken up by standing room. I (wisely) had chosen seats in the covered second deck, and although the seats were small, hard pine benches, at least we could rent cushions. When the heavens opened up sometime in the second act, everyone standing in front of the stage had no choice but to endure a thorough soaking. The play, Troilus and Cressida, was fantastic. I think we especially enjoyed a very Welsh Achillies.
As the rain had let up towards the end of the play, we wandered along the banks of the Thames towards home. Just shy of the Tower Bridge the heavens opened up again and we sheltered under one of the Towers until we could hail a cab.
Our first impressions of London are pretty good. The transport is easy and rather uncomplicated, there is definitely lots to see and we're really enjoying an eclectic mix of architecture - from classic to gothic to contemporary and modern. A little like Holland, but a little less extreme. We're looking forward to the rest of the weekend.
Bonus points to any readers who can guess which shows we will be seeing the next two nights ...
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