London, Part 2

Last updated on: June 30, 2016 at 1:56 pm by Jane the Actuary

London, Part 2 2016-06-30T13:56:13-06:00 Jane the Actuary

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So as it turns out, the internet connection in London was already very slow for uploading pictures, and now we’re in the Netherlands anyway, where the connection is even slower. So I’m going to write a few things down now, and then upload the relevant pictures (and add relevant links) later on, and will try to make this reasonably interesting for readers as well as just myself.

As you recall, I’ve been touring London with the boys while my husband works, and I’ve been working a couple hours in the late afternoon/evening. That also means we’d been saving some of the highlights for the weekend, to tour all together.

So, on Saturday, we headed straight for the Tower of London. Well, not actually – first we stopped at the office building where the company has its offices. Then we went to the Tower of London, where the lines the guidebook warned us about where not an issue after all. It was entertaining, there was much to see, and it was worth the price – even though it was expensive for a family of five. Highlights were the crown jewels and the White Tower, which interestingly, had been a tourist attraction for centuries, as the kings used it to demonstrate their legitimacy to the people in the Hall of Kings.

After that, we visited the Tower Bridge – specifically, the Tower Bridge Exhibition, in which you can take an elevator to the top and cross, with glass floors, partially, then view the Victorian engine rooms.

Sunday started with church. Conveniently, a Catholic church was located down the block from our apartment; in fact, it was the oldest Catholic church in England, by the historical accident that it was a decaying bishop’s chapel which was bought at auction and restored in the years after Catholic worship was again permitted openly in the mid-1800s.

The church itself had a larger, and younger attendance than I expected – but then again, the congregation seemed to be international, with one family speaking French to each other as they left.

Then we went to Hyde Park, and, in particular, to Speaker’s Corner, where there was indeed a speaker holding forth on why the UK should Leave, as well as another preaching Christianity and a third preaching Islam. Further into the park itself was a group of Remain supporters preparing to take a group photo in the image of the word “IN”; with a choir singing “IN”-type songs to warm up the crowd. In retrospect, I suppose that was fitting, that the Remain group was professional, and the Leavers were, basically, scrappy ameteurs.

Afterwards we walked over to Buckingham Palace, even though it was far too late for the Changing of the Guard, and then to the Churchill War Rooms, again, expensive but very worthwhile. It’s the sort of place where you walk through with an audioguide describing all the rooms, and, to be honest, at some point it got a bit tiring, but it was still a “must-see.”

On Monday, the forecast was rain in the morning, and dry in the afternoon, so we started off in the Imperial War Museum. We even took the bus there, because it was a direct trip from the bus stop in front of our apartment (well, that plus a 7 minute walk, but there was no more convenient tube stop). We listened to a very animated docent describe the V1 and V2 attacks on London, then viewed the World War I exhibit (which was interesting enough for my older boys that my 9 year old and I waited for them as they viewed it in much greater depth than we did). Towards the end, the museum lost power, switching to backup lights only, but it was still possible to view exhibits, though without any video displays, for a while, but eventually they must have determined that the power wasn’t going to go back on anytime soon, and kicked us out.

At this point, it was already 1:30 or so, and we were hungry, having only had a small snack that we’d brought with us. We didn’t really have any idea where we were, or what sort of restaurant options there were, so we headed vaguely north toward the Thames, and ended up in a shopping district just south of the Waterloo train station, which was itself just south of the Thames, and, near the London Eye. It was a funky sort of district, with second-hand shops, three (!) used and new bookshops, and a tunnel to the station covered in very elaborate graffiti. There we found a Chinese place for lunch, with cheap entrees and (I didn’t notice this; only my son as we left) a three-star hygiene rating (where I’m told that it’s extremely rate to be rated less than the top 5-star or maybe 4.5).

We then took our time walking along the Thames, and ended up at another bus stop on the same bus line back home.

Tuesday we got out of town – well, sort of; we stayed within the greater London area but went to Hampton Court Palace, where we had yet another audio tour – but also enjoyed a “play” that took place with the “audience” following the characters through the palace as the story of Catherine Howard unfolded. And the kids enjoyed the maze – the oldest such hedge maze in England – a great deal, and then ended the day at the “magic garden” – which was actually a playground, mostly for younger children, but my youngest enjoyed it.

We also lost the guidebook, and our detailed map, on that train on Tuesday, since we had to change trains without a clear sense of what the stops were (this was a commuter line, not the tube), and jumped off when we unexpectedly reached our destination, with the guidebook sitting on the seat. Fortunately, by then we’d gotten more-or-less oriented, and we still had another map, a bus route map which showed the major streets if not the full detail.

On Wednesday, having done the major sights, we went to Camden Market, a large market catering to hipsters, among others, but with a large number of food stalls as well. We could have walked around for quite a while more than we did, but we then took a canal boat along the canal to “Little Venice” – which, I’ll tell you, was actually a disappointment. Had I known, we’d have just done a round-trip and spent more time at Camden Market.

We also met with my husband’s colleague, also visiting London on business, and with her son, which had just graduated from high school, and whom my boys enjoyed talking to as we walked around London at night.

Thursday, I spent the morning in the office, so nothing interesting for you all, but a good morning for me, as I met with some local colleagues and managed to get connected to the right people to get involved in an interesting project when vacation is over. In the afternoon, we did a “Harry Potter walk,” seeing various sites associated with the films – then we got caught in the rain. We jumped in the first bus we saw at St. Paul’s, which was headed to King’s Cross, from which I knew we could transfer to the tube, and to the station at our apartment. Turned out, examining the route a bit closer on the bus, it actually swung to within half a block of our apartment (though we got more wet than would have been the case had I not gotten turned around and walked half a block in the other direction first).

A side comment: the night before it had been even rainier than it was on Thursday itself; various tube lines were delayed or even closed throughout the day. My husband’s theory is that this could have made the difference in the comparatively lower turnout in remain-supporting London compared to the rest of England, as it would have been harder to get to the polls, or at any rate, might have left Londoners tired out after a long day made longer by delays in commutes home, and more likely to figure that Remain would win and they could relax at home. (Though, unlike the U.S., polls stay open until 10 pm in the UK.)

Friday was our last day in the UK. Conveniently, because of a pre-referendum Parliament recess, the Houses of Parliament were available for touring, when they otherwise wouldn’t have been. Of course, I told you about Friday already.

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London

Vacation 2016

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