Touring London with Tom and Hilary.
Long day, but a good one. For a start, the heat was far less, although still hot at times, but increasingly cooled by a somewhat overcast sky, and overall pretty good weather for us all day. It actually started to frain, but not until around 11 pm, after Hilary and I had arrived back at her flat after saying goodnight to Tom at the Barrington.
I walked to the Barrington Hotel around 9:30 or so to meet Tom, and we ate breakfast at the nearby, and very nice, Vibe restaurant, where Tom had his first “traditional” English breakfast. And a good one, I might add. I didn’t have breakfast, but was quite envious!
A ten minute walk to the flat where we planned out day before heading out into London with Hilary joining us for the day. And a long one, as I said.
We started at the Embankment, which runs along the north bank of the Thames, beginning with a walk through the Embankment Gardens, which are quite lovely.
Then onto one of the many Thames River tour boats and away we went, heading east along the river to Greenwich, passing many of the London’s sights along the way. It was hot out, but not too bad, and I’d say about the right temperature.
Our tour guide, one of the boat crew, gave us a fun, but not always exactly correct, description of what we were seeing along the way and some of the history as we headed east. We arrived at Greenwich around 1:30 maybe, and headed into the lovely town, which is, of course, part of London. Here, at Greenwich, the “Prime Meridian” sets the time for the world, in which, from the Greenwich Observatory, on a grassy hill above the village, Greenwich Mean Time marks the point from which all time zones are established, heading east (+ one hour and up) or west (-one hour and up). Just as the equator separates the northern and southern hemispheres, the Prime Meridian separates the eastern and western hemispheres, and when you stand across the meridian line that’s in the observatory courtyard, as many did for photographs, you have one foot in the east and one in the west.
Greenwich is really a lovely village – which is why we visited. You can easily spend a full day here, visiting the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich Observatory, and other historic buildings, as well as the village itself, as Hilary, Bev, and I did in 2017, and Hil and I were here again in 2024, soon after Bev passed.
But, this is our “taste of London” whirlwind tour, so we spent some time, ate a little lunch, did a little walking, and then headed west, back west into London, taking the relatively new and fully automated mostly outdoors Docklands Light Rail to Tower Gate station, for a walk by of the Tower of London, and then continuing to walk west, back into central London.
We walked from Tower Bridge, along the Tower of London, whose construction began in 1078 , but although it’s pretty old. London was already a thousand years old by that time, established as Londinium around 43 ACE by the conquering and occupying Romans. Walking around the Tower, and the surrounding streets, from there we continued walking west toward the Monument, in the heart of the City of London, which is the monument to the Great Fire of London of 1666, which started in a baker’s shop on nearby Pudding Lane and which destroyed two thirds of London over three days, as most buildings were wooden construction and jammed together in narrow streets. As a kid, I LOVED the Monument, and never understood why adults had so much trouble climbing the 311 spiral stairs to the top. Back then, admission was 3d (three pence in the old, pre-decimal days of ponds, shillings, and pence).
The City of London, just one square mile in the East Central area of London, was the original core of the city, which grew and expanded around it, and is the financial district of London, although now, London have a second ultra-modern financial district at Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs. The City of London is marked by small statues of dragons (I always thought they were griffins)that define its boundaries. The area is steeped in history dating back a thousand plus years.
From the Monument, we kept walking west toward St. Paul’s Cathedral and further into London. Construction on this St. Paul’s was started in 1675 after the original was destroyed by the fire in 1666, and and completed in 1710. The original, built of wood, was founded one thousand years earlier in 604 ACE. Like I said, lot of continuous history in this town, and perhaps especially the City of London and surrounding area.
From St. Paul’s we walked across the pedestrian Millenium Bridge to the South Bank of the Thames, leading directly to and from the cathedral, with some great river views. When the bridge was opened in 2000, it was immediately closed as it was swaying dangerously when pedestrians actually crossed it, and re-opened in 2002 once structurally fixed.
We continued west toward Westminster, walking along the vibrant and artsy South Bank. The South Bank is the home of reconstructed Globe Theatre, built in 1997 (a copy of Shakespeare’s original Globe of , founded in 1599, not far from the current site), the Royal Festival Hall, The British Film Institute, the National Theatre, the Tate Modern, and many eateries and pubs, as well as the London Aquarium and the London Eye, closer to Westminster Bridge. It is vibrant, it is an art scene, it is filled with people, it is moving and dynamic. It’s a scene. And like it seems every pub in central London, it reflects the pub and drinking culture of London, with customers spilling out into the surrounding streets, something we saw repeatedly as we passed pub after pub in this area of London, at end of the work day. Of course, this is a Thursday. Imagine what it’s like on a weekend.
It was an excellent walk, and filled with memories for me, with some lovely views along the river as the sun started to descend, although it stays light until well after 9 pm at this time of year.
The ambiance along the South Bank ios palpable. So many things to stop and see and visit, and engage with – if only you have enough time to do so. It’s only gotten more diverse, and more culturally diverse, than ever over the years. It’s a great place to spend some time and walk, with great views of the river and the the city. The it was really time to go, around 7:30 pm or later.
We decided against taking a bus back, as it would simply take too long and this had already been a loooong day, and was getting late. so on the tube we jumped from the Embankment tube station after crossing the river on the Hungerford Bridge, and headed back to North London and High Barnet station, a ten-minute walk from the Barrington.
Hilary and I spent a little time with Tom at the Barrington, in the pub, said goodnight, and headed back to the flat, where Hilary, Claudio, and I finished the day. Then to bed!
