Holy whirlwind-sightseeing, Batman!
Allow me to just jump in and start relaying what I've been up to these past few days! We (Mommy, Daddy, and myself) started off our wild London-touring-spree at Trafalgar Square and the National Portrait Gallery. It was raining and we had an agenda, so we didn't linger overlong. The clouds look much more impressive in the photos!
Some sort of expo was going on when we visited. The natives seem completely
unfazed by rain which makes sense, considering.
The National Portrait Gallery, looking very loom-y.
Next, we passed some very annoyed looking ponies (and very bored looking guards) at the Horse Guards Parade. We remained only long enough to immortalize the ennui and then continued our trek.
Poor, poor pony. He doesn't look very pleased with his job.
What we saw next looked like something from a movie, and it heralded our arrival at our first big touristy destination: the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. We couldn't actually go inside Parliament and Westminster doesn't allow photography inside, so all I have to offer are exterior shots!
Why hello there, Big Ben. What are you doing here?
Where we braved the queue and eventually entered Westminster Abbey.
My gargoyle friend at the Abbey.
The houses of Parliament (in part) looking dapper in the rain.
Oh, Reader. Too much cannot be said about Westminster. In addition to being a beautiful building and masterwork of architecture, Westminster is home to the graves and memorials of all kinds of famous and royal folks of days past.
Detailing everything we saw would be insane, so allow me to give a not-very-but-still-somewhat-abridged, categorized list of the highlights:
Royalty: Margaret Beaufort (mother of Henry VII), Edward I (Longshanks), Edward VI (son of Henry VIII), Elizabeth of York, Henry V ("We few, we happy few, we band of brothers"), Henry VII (winner of the War of the Roses), William (III) and Mary of Orange, the murdered princes (found 200 years after their murder in a stairwell) , etc.
Poet's Corner: Robert Browning, Lord George Byron, Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christopher Marlowe, John Milton, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Dylan Thomas
Famous names: Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, George Frideric Handel, Ralph Vaughn Williams, Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Laurence Olivier
Sadly, Henry VIII is buried at Windsor Castle with his favorite wife, Jane Seymour.
Of course, the main attraction for me was the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I. She has a beautiful monument in the Lady Chapel. Reader, I cried. Elizabeth was buried with her sister, Queen Mary I, which is sort of hilarious because the two (reportedly) hated one another in life. Mary even had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London. Speaking of the Tower...
What you're mostly seeing is William the Conquerer's White Tower, built in 1080.
The infamous Traitor's Gate at the Tower, getting off point for many a sorry SOB.
The Bloody Tower, from which the murdered princes disappeared.
The view towards the Thames. The bridge is (unsurprisingly) Tower Bridge.
The famous Tower ravens--these were much larger than anticipated.
The Tower of London was fabulous. We happened to arrive just as a tour was starting, so we got to listen to a very feisty gentleman explain all the local lore. He had a lot to say about the French and was prone to shouting (sample: "History is written by the victor, WHICH IS WHY FRENCH HISTORY IS SO SHORT!"). He also made sure to inform the Australians and Canadians that the crown jewels are part of their heritage but had some choice words for us Americans ("Are there any Americans here? NOT YOURS. YOU DIDN'T PAY YOUR TAXES!").
Highlights of our visit included the Bloody Tower, the Salt Tower, the White Tower, and (you guessed it, Reader) Tower Green itself, where Anne Boleyn lost her head to a French swordsman in 1536. I also got to see a full set of Henry VIII's armor inside the White Tower, which really drove home how, shall we be diplomatic?, overweight he was towards the end.
We also got in to see the crown jewels just before the line to get in went absolutely nuts, so overall the trip was a resounding success. I see myself making many more trips to the Tower before my time here is done...
The armor of King Henry VIII. Notice the crotch guard.
In our daily outings, we've also been to Shakespeare's Globe Theater, SOHO, the Tate Modern, and on a Thames river tour, but there are just two more important visits that I want to update you on, Reader.
Firstly, we went to Saint Paul's, the masterwork of Christopher Wren. Words cannot describe. We went (like idiots, really) on a Sunday, forgetting that Saint Paul's is a working church. Thankfully, we arrived between services and decided to stay on for "Evensong," which featured an all male choir with some little boys singing crazy high in the register.
Reader, I balled like a baby. Saint Paul's is an architectural masterpiece both because it looks astounding, and also because the acoustics render music unearthly beautiful. I'm so, so thankful that we turned up in time to hear the choir and experience the church as it really was meant to be experienced.
Before we left, my mother and I both lit candles for my Grandmother in front of the Hunt painting, The Light of the World, which is sublime, haunting, and touching.
Again, photography was not allowed inside, so I have only exterior shots and anecdotes to regale you with. Also, the exterior shots are sort of...limited is the word I'll use. The building is so big and so tall that I couldn't really manage a full shot. Also, it was raining and we wanted to get inside. Honestly though, I think very little outside a visit to Saint Paul's itself can do the place justice.
You can almost see the dome on top in this one...almost...
The front view doesn't do the place justice...I shall try to do better...
Finally, Mommy, Daddy, and I went to a posh tea at the Lanesborough Hotel near Hyde Park. My mother and I had planned this way in advance and the decadence was delightful. We all ate our bodyweight in finger sandwiches, strawberries, tea cakes, English muffins, and scones. I tried clotted cream for the first time and fell utterly in love.
Best of all, there was live piano music and the pianist managed to guess and play every single tune that we were thinking of requesting, including hi-lights from The Sound of Music, That's Amore, and As Time Goes By. We were impressed.
We told my father that we were going to a football match to get him here.
The skylight and chandeliers at the Lanesborough.
And so, on that happy note, I'd better wrap this behemoth up. I won't wait so long before updating again...mostly because it leaves too much to update and not enough time! I'll just leave you with this observation: a working knowledge of Shakespeare's Richard III has been tremendously helpful in getting the most out of my London trip!
Until next time, faithful reader, let me just say: catch you later, space cowboys.
[[tl;dr: a bunch of things happened, much fun was had, Annika cried a few times...just go ahead and look at the pictures!]]
