Jolly Old England, Part 1
Recently, my wife and I ventured to London, England, for a two-week trip to see the old country and take in the sights. She’s been to London before, but I’d never been, and it was a real treat to go stomping around the capital of the UK for an extended stay.
Of course I was excited to visit all of the historical sights, like Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, but I was also very keen on exploring some of the scarier aspects of the city, including the Tower of London and a Jack the Ripper walking tour. AND I wanted to see as many movie locations as possible, and wanted to take the opportunity to visit 221b Baker Street.
Tag along with me over the next few weeks as I share stories and tidbits about our trip—and a bunch of photos! I hope you like London and the English “vibe,” and if you don’t, you might by the end of this multi-part travel extravaganza. Thanks ahead of time for reading!
Day 1 and 2
Our first day started out right in the middle of the day here in old Tipp City, Ohio, as we headed to the airport Monday afternoon for our flights, first heading to Atlanta and then on across the pond. I have to say I was a little nervous about our flight overseas: I get slightly claustrophobic and really don’t like the idea of being trapped on a plane. I heard that if you ask nicely, they’ll slow the plane down and let you go out on the wings and take a stroll, but I don’t believe that. And Day 2 was Tuesday, a full day of travel due to the time change. When we arrived in London on Tuesday afternoon, we headed to our Airbnb, had some dinner and turned in early to get acclimated to the local time.
Day 3
Wednesday was our first full day in England, so I’m counting it as day three. We were up early and headed out to see some of the biggest and most famous tourist sights: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament and Trafalgar Square, all of which are conveniently located in one area of London.
First up, we took the “Tube” to the station nearest Buckingham Palace. The subway system is excellent and easy to navigate. Leaving the station, we found great signage pointing us in the right direction. We stopped off at a little coffee shop called the Royal Artisan Bakery, just across from the Ministry of Justice, then headed around the corner to Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace
Wow, the place was huge! The gates kept all of us onlookers back at a safe distance. The grounds include the massive Buckingham Palace, the Queen Victoria Memorial Statue out front, and the expansive grounds to the east, St. James’s Park. We then headed east through the gardens, crossing the Blue Bridge and making our way in the direction of Parliament and Big Ben, which loomed on the horizon.
Churchill War Rooms
Without much trouble, we found a stop that I’d been looking forward to: the Imperial War Museum and Churchill War Rooms. This underground tour, which took about two hours, showed us through the actual rooms used by Winston Churchill and the English government to carry out the war against Germany during World War II. Buried beneath a nondescript government building that faced the park, Churchill and others stayed underground as much as possible to organize the war during the Blitz, when Germany was sending wave after wave of planes to drop bombs over a darkened London.
Westminster Arms and Westminster Abbey
After leaving the war rooms and emerging back into the sunlight, we headed south and east, walking in the direction of Parliament. We passed a large pub called The Westminster Arms and then made our way to Westminster Abbey. More on that later. There’s an interesting story about the pub: there are apparently several pubs in the area that are frequented by politicians from the nearby Parliament building. When a vote is called, the politicians have eight minutes to get back to be eligible to vote. Apparently, this pub and others in the area feature a special bell system that alerts politicians when a vote has been called so they can drop their fish and chips and race back to Parliament.
Parliament Square and Big Ben
Passing the HUGE Westminster Abbey and the Supreme Court, we made our way to Parliament Square, with an excellent view of the imposing Parliament building and the tall clock known as Big Ben that looms over it. Turning north, we walked up Whitehall, a street bordered by many important government buildings. One tiny side street was heavily guarded by policemen holding machine guns, a sobering sight, and we realized it was Downing Street, and they were guarding the entrance to 10 Downing Street, the home and office of the Prime Minister.
Thai Food in Trafalgar Square
We continued up Whitehall, passing another beautiful pub called the Red Lion, which had a whole bunch of people standing out front drinking and relaxing. Did the British invent the whole DORA concept? People were buying their beer inside the small pub and bringing it out to enjoy on the street. Finally, we made it to Trafalgar Square, which was amazing but smaller than I had expected. It was filled with kids running around the tall spire, Nelson’s column, and tourists were lining up to take pictures of the famous lions. To the north, you couldn’t help but be impressed by the front of the famous and imposing National Gallery. Exhausted, we decided to splurge on dinner, finding an amazing Thai restaurant called Thai Square right there on the square. An hour later—and no longer starving—we headed for the Tube and made our way home, exhausted and excited about our plans for the next day.
Thanks for tagging along on my trip to London. More soon!
