London: First Look

In May 2018, son David and I went on holiday to London for five days. We spent three days sightseeing in the city and took a couple of day trips, one to Oxford and one to the county of Kent. Click HERE to read a short introduction about this fabulous trip.
​
This story, which is part of a series, is about our first day in London. 

London, England (Monday, May 21, 2018) David and I arrived in London late morning on a red-eye flight “across the pond.” We were tired – neither of us slept on the plane – but very excited to be here, the first time for both of us. 

We retrieved our luggage, cleared customs (the line was so loooong!), and hailed a taxi to deliver us to the London Waterloo Hostel, which we reached in less than an hour. Located in the South Bank district of London near the River Thames, the Waterloo – our home away from home for the next five days – was central to everything we planned to see and do in the city “Where Royalty Lives.” 

---

Thankfully, our room was ready when we arrived. Not that we wanted to sleep, or even relax, mind you. Rather, early check in allowed us to wash up and don fresh clothes before we went sightseeing – a simple activity that rejuvenated us!  

​With tourist map in hand, we set out on foot midafternoon for our initial “look-see” at some of the better-known landmarks and attractions in the borough of Westminster, located across the Thames from South Bank. The weather? The temperature was 70 degrees, there was a slight breeze, and the sky was overcast. But it was NOT raining, which was a big plus, and the gray sky eventually yielded some space to patches of blue. It was picture perfect, as I am wont to say. 

---

At the first crosswalk we encountered, David and I were greeted by an important public service announcement – a reminder that Brits drove on the wrong side of the road (wink, wink!). 

Have you ever wondered why cars here pass on the left rather than on the right? I did, and here was what I learned: The “keep to the left” rule of the road was first implemented In London in the 18th century to reduce congestion on the London Bridge and was later incorporated into the Highway Act of 1835 for all of the British Empire. Well, alrighty then!

​There are 35 bridges which cross over the river in London, so
wherever you find yourself along the Thames, you’re guaranteed
to be close to at least one of these famous bridges.
~ VisitLondon.com

I was familiar with a few of the names, including Tower Bridge (completed in 1894), Millennium Bridge (2000), and Blackfriars Bridge (1863). (And I was certain that not all 35 bridges were famous - at least, not beyond the city limits of London!) We crossed these bridges and others as we toured London the next two days. This day, though, the bridge with greatest import for us was the Westminster Bridge, as it was the gateway to Big Ben, Whitehall Gardens, Trafalgar Square, and other sights we planned to see.    

Westminster Bridge first opened in 1750. It was widened in the 1760s, rebuilt in the mid-19th century, and refurbished in the first decade of the 21st century. Past to present, the Westminster Bridge was the oldest one that spanned the Thames in central London. This normally bustling bridge, heavy with foot and vehicle traffic, was quiet this Monday afternoon. 

The east end of the bridge, which we reached in 20 minutes, was guarded by the South Bank Lion. This stone sculpture was cast in 1837 for Lion Brewery, which was located in the South Bank. It was moved to the nearby Waterloo Station, the largest and busiest underground and railway station in London, when the brewery closed in 1924, and moved again, to its present location, in 1966. This noble lion, made from a ceramic stone called coade, was bigger than life – 12 feet high, 13 feet long, and 14 tons! 

I spy with my little eye, something that begins with the letters L and E…

Yep, it was the London Eye, which David and I caught sight of after we passed the South Bank Lion. With a height of 443 feet (and diameter of 394 feet), it was Europe’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel. This oversized Ferris wheel, which opened in 1999 – just in time for the new millennium, which was why it was also known as the Millennium Wheel – was the most popular paid attraction in Great Britain. David and I looked at one another, shook our heads from side to side (as in, “not interested in riding”), and moved on. 

---

We stopped midway along the bridge for a Kodak moment with the Clock Tower, which stood at the north end of the Palace of Westminster. (It was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.) This 320-foot-tall tower housed the Great Bell, aka Big Ben, perhaps the most famous clock bell in the world. Weighing more than 13 tons, Big Ben was the largest of the tower’s five bells. While all five bells chimed the quarter hours, only Big Ben chimed the hour.
​
No bells chimed this day, though, as they were silenced by a four-year renovation project begun last August. The tower was encased in scaffolding, and the tower tour was suspended until this project was completed. Dash it all, as the British would say!

From Big Ben, we walked north on Victoria Embankment to Whitehall Gardens, a small park-like green space with trees, shrubbery, flowers, and three bronze statues.
As we stood in the garden, I said to David, “The stately building in front of us is the Palace of Whitehall. It was the residence of English monarchs, including Henry VIII, for more than 160 years in the 16th- and 17th-centuries.”

To which David commented, “Uhhh…the placard on the building says, “Whitehall Court.”
​
“What the--?” too quickly escaped from my mouth. 

David, of course, was right, as I learned when I Googled both names. (Did you know that the Oxford English Dictionary recognized “Google” as a verb in 2006? I did not until I Googled it!) The Palace of Whitehall was destroyed by fire in the late 17th century, while Whitehall Court was developed in the late 1800s as a series of contiguous buildings with luxury residential apartments. Whitehall Court, though not the palace, was a grand-looking building!
​
By the way, there were several apartments for sale, including a 4,100 square foot, three-bedroom penthouse. The price? More than four million pounds. Yowser!  

A bit north of Whitehall Gardens, we turned left on Northumberland Avenue to reach Trafalgar Square, a public plaza that commemorated the British victory against the French and Spanish fleets in the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).  We spied Nelson’s Column in the center of the square. Well, truth be known, it was hard to miss, as the marble column, which was topped by a bronze statue of Lord Nelson, soared 169 feet from its base to the tip of Nelson’s hat. Four lions posed sphinxlike at the base of the column. 

---

The National Gallery, which housed more than 2,300 paintings by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Michelangelo and other lesser- and well-known artists, stood on the north side of the plaza. “A must see,” I said to David, “but not this day.” Instead, we crossed the plaza to a striking church (in the center of the photo below).  

This was St Martin-in-the-Fields, an English Anglican church that traced its roots to the 13th century. It was a curious name for a church surrounded by hardscape, so I (yep, you guessed it!) Googled it. Here was what I learned: In 1542, King Henry VIII built a church on an open tract of land between Westminster and London – a site that was literally “in the fields.” Why? So that the victims of the Bubonic Plague had a place to worship THAT WAS A SAFE DISTANCE FROM HIS PALACE OF WHITEHALL. What a thoughtful guy!     
​
The architecture of St Martin-in-the-Fields captured my imagination. The bell tower and spire rose high overhead (to a height of 192 feet, I later learned). The portico was adorned with a triangular pediment supported by eight columns. And since I loved to visit churches when I traveled, our next move was a no-brainer: David and I climbed the steps to the portico and entered the church. We were so glad we did!

Tall white columns pulled our gaze upward to the gilded scrollwork above the chancel and the embellished panels in the ceiling. A large pipe organ stood high on the back wall. This church was impressive! 

But, as we soon discovered, the best was yet to come: It was time for Evensong, a traditional evening church service sung by a small choir. David and I sat in a pew and followed the service – much of it in Latin – as best we could. The service was beautiful, and without a doubt, St Martin-in-the-Fields proved to be the highlight of our day!

It was early evening, and we were famished. As we made our way to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (great name, huh?!), we passed the parish church of St Mary le Strand, which was consecrated in 1774, and the Royal Courts of Justice, which opened in 1882. The architronics of both, I thought, were stunning. 

---

Quite possibly London’s most famous pub, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese has been
around since the days of Pepys and Wren, nourishing such luminaries as
​Samuel Johnson and Charles Dickens.
~ The Londonist.com

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, located at 145 Fleet Street, has occupied this site since 1667, when it was (re)built shortly after the Great Fire of 1666 – from the reign of King Charles II forward. But it was not the first pub on this plot, an honor that went to the Horn, which opened around 1538 – “when Shakespeare was in his twenties and King Henry VIII was three wives down.” Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was a legendary landmark, and the perfect choice as the first London pub for David and me!

Inside, we wandered downward through a multi-level (four, or was it five?!) maze of passageways, staircases, and wood-paneled rooms. In a windowless room on a lower level, David and I grabbed an open high-top table near one of the bars. 

All the entrees on the “Bill of Fayre” sounded delicious. Decisions, decisions…and when the waiter arrived, it was time to choose. David ordered Steak & Ale pie made with Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Bitter (11.00 pounds), while I opted for Ye Famous Steak & Kidney Pudding (13.50 pounds). Both of us “paired” our dinner with a pint of Samuel Smith’s lager. The food was delicious, the beer tasted great, and the pub’s ambience was outstanding!

The sun was setting as we crossed the Thames from Westminster to the South Bank. By the time we reached our hotel, we had been up for more than 30 hours. Quite simply, we were beat, and we slept well, to be sure.

It was a great first day in London for us: We saw some sights, had our first pub experience, and soaked up a bit of the local culture.

David and I will be back in Westminster tomorrow (Tuesday), as there is much more to see, including Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and St. James’s Park. And on Wednesday we will see the sights in the City of London, where our plans include a tour of the Tower of London. I look forward to sharing our experiences with you.