London

For Spring Break 2000, I travelled to London, England. My friend Erica Karban, who attends Boston University, is studying in London this semester, and she invited me to visit. Paul and I decided to take advantage of that, and make our first trip to Europe.

On Friday, 17th March 2000, Paul and I departed on Virgin Atlantic Flight 002 from Newark to London Heathrow. We took the red-eye, which left Newark at 21.25 and landed the following morning at about 09.00 in London. As an aside, if you ever get the chance to fly Virgin, do it! This is one airline that still understands the meaning of service... the flight attendants are actually attentive, the food is amazing (and they serve at least two meals on the Newark-London loop), and everybody has his own television on the back of the seat in front of him. You can watch one of twelve movies, seven different television channels (separated by genre, like sci-fi or comedy), or play video games. it’s so cool!

But anyway, enough about the flights. We arrived in London on Saturday, 18th March. Although the flight was great, neither Paul nor I got a lot of sleep. Needless to say, when we arrived we were pretty tired. But we fought the fatigue in order to adjust ourselves to the five-hour time difference. We did take it easy on Saturday, just walking around London a little bit, picking up our tube passes, and heading to Sainsbury's for food shopping. Well, that may sound mundane, but let me tell you it’s not. Paul and I really enjoyed experiencing the people of London, but food shopping was horrendous. There is absolutely no order whatsoever to the placement of items... as Erica says, "logically you would look for pie filling in the dog food aisle, right?"

On Sunday, 19th March, the sightseeing began in earnest. Once again, though, we began by taking in the culture of London, rather than the traditional tourist spots (those came later in the week). Erica and her friend Melinda took us out to Camden Town, to see Camden Market. it’s basically a big open-air market, similar to what you saw when Hugh Grant went shopping on Portobello Road in Notting Hill. According to Erica and Melinda, though, Camden is better than Portobello. Erica and I both bought sunglasses from some odd little Asian men, for only £3.99p. After that, we headed to Covent Garden, which is another market, but has a lot more stores around, like The Gap and other familiar favorites. We also took the time to wander through Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square (home to London's famous West End theatres), and then down Regent Street for a look at some of London's finest shopping. We went into Hamley's, which is a big toy store that rivals F.A.O. in New York. It was unbelievable — seven floors of every toy imaginable. By that time, we were getting hungry for dinner... so, just to work up an appetite, we walked from one end of Hyde Park to the other, and had dinner in an Asian noodle bar called Wagamama. It was a unique experience, and Paul and I both really enjoyed it. It was terrific to have our own tour guide who really knew the city.

Monday morning, Erica took Paul and I to the British Airways London Eye, which is a huge Ferris wheel built on the Thames for the millennium. (I know, it’s a year early. Shame on London for not consulting me before they built it!) it’s very near Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and provided a good view of the city. I daresay that British Airways has a bit of work to do on the ventilation system in the carriages, though... after the thirty-minute ride, all three of us were glad to get back to the fresh air. (Here's a tidbit of trivia for you, too: "Big Ben" is actually the name of the bell inside the clock tower, not the tower itself!) Afterward, we walked along the Houses of Parliament and then across to Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, due to the long queue, we couldn't go inside before Erica went to class... so we held off until later in the week. We did visit St. Margaret's Church, which is next to Westminster and is the official church of the House of Commons. In St. Margaret's, Paul and I learned that in many British churches, there are tombs underneath the floor. It was both spooky and interesting to walk along in the churches and read the names — many instantly recognized as famous poets, statespersons, writers, etc. — and realize that those people's remains were actually underfoot.

Erica had to leave us then, for class, and Paul and I tubed to Tower Hill, to see the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. I learned a lot at the Tower of London.... It was once a royal palace, but was also used as a prison of sorts for very famous prisoners. Executions were held just outside its walls, too, so that the public could watch! Prisoners in the Tower included Sir Walter Raleigh... but rest assured that he didn't suffer too much. He was allowed to bring his entire family with him, plus furniture, servants, etc. He was free to roam the grounds of the Tower, although he could not leave. King Henry VIII also imprisoned more than one of his wives there, prior to their executions. Here, Paul and I also saw the Crown Jewels, which were amazing, but we both agreed that they were a bit ostentatious and unnecessary. Also, it was in the Crown Jewels display that we realized that the French are every bit as rude as you've heard, and it’s really not as much of a stereotype as you might think. They push, shove, and are just generally obnoxious.

Tuesday was another day of sightseeing with our own personal guide, since Erica took the day off from work to celebrate the very important Jewish holiday of Purim. However, instead of going to temple, we went back to Westminster Abbey! Although it was impressive, Paul and I would find later in the week that we enjoyed St. Paul's Cathedral even more than the Abbey. The Abbey is actually a series of buildings, including St. Margaret's, which we had seen the day prior, and convents and monasteries. We also visited Kensington Palace, which was my dream... it was the home of Diana, Princess of Wales, prior to her death, and it is still home to members of the royal family, including Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and HM Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister. There was a beautiful display of royal "apartments of state", which are the public rooms used by the kings and queens for meeting with courtiers and other officials. Kensington hasn't been used as the home of the regent since the eighteenth century, though; the last monarchs in residence there were William and Mary. Also, there were some of Diana's dresses on display for the People's Princess Foundation, which raises money for charities that the Princess supported.

We needed to have lunch after those two, and we enjoyed some tea with lunch. I think that this country is amazing with their tea, I must say! it’s everywhere, and it’s delicious. In any event, we had lunch on Baker Street, and then headed into Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum! Who would believe that these hundreds of figures are actually made of wax? They are so lifelike... heads of state from all around the world, members of royal families, actors, actresses, writers, and sports figures. It was definitely worth the £11.50p to check them out! We took quite a few fun pictures in there.... After that, we did some more walking, and decided we needed to see Trafalgar Square. All I can say is this: watch out for the pigeons! They're friendly, but they are flitting about constantly. Thankfully, the three of us escaped unsoiled.

On Wednesday, 22nd March, Paul and I got a later start. Since we were a little tired, and nobody else was waiting for us (Erica had school...), we got up around 10 and headed to the Science Museum. It was a truly amazing museum, and we actually spent the entire day there. I'm sure it will come as a huge shock to everyone, but our favorite exhibit was the one on Mathematics and Computing. It was a little disappointing to see very little material on IBM, the greatest technology company in the world, and to see that the examples of computing were largely historical. There was very little current technology on display, save a case explaining the Y2K bug and its potential effects. We also visited exhibits on medicine, home appliances and fixtures, steam engines, chemistry, biology, aviation, and food. We honestly covered almost every inch of the museum, and had made it about midway through the top floor when the museum closed, and we had to leave. That evening, Erica joined us at the theatre, where we saw Lady in the Van, which is a British comedy by Alan Bennett. It was funny, but thoroughly British. The theatre experience in the West End is different from Broadway... playbills aren't free, and they serve ice cream during intermission! You're welcome to eat and drink in the theatre, too. it’s also very reasonably priced, too... we had excellent seats, and the tickets were only £13.00. Paul and I resolved to make it to the theatre again before we left, and the next day, we did just that.

Thursday morning, Paul and I witnessed the Trooping of the Colour, or changing of the guard. It was interesting, a must-see, but not terribly impressive. Here, we also learned that the Italians are at least as rude as the French, if not more so. Then we headed back to Tower Hill to learn all about the making of Tower Bridge. it’s a fascinating bridge with a great history. You learn all about London's need to satisfy both road and river traffic, and how Tower Bridge accomplished just that. We also got to walk up through the bastions, and walk along the top of the bridge. Before the bridge became a museum, the top of the bridge was intended to provide continual pedestrian passage from north London to south of the Thames — whether boats were passing under the bridge or cars were passing over, people could still walk across the bridge. The views were incredible, as you can see, if a little bit foggy. (London weather at its most typical, I suppose... people seem to think it’s always foggy, but Thursday was actually our first encounter with bad weather.) After the Tower Bridge, we went back to Leicester Square to the Half-Price Ticket Booth, and bought tickets to see Blood Brothers, a musical with which Paul was familiar, for only £15.00. While in Leicester Square, we visited the National Portrait Gallery. It was interesting to see portraits of the royal family from years gone by, as well as busts, sculptures and photographs of contemporary and ancient times. That evening, Paul and I attended Blood Brothers (Erica had already seen it, since she goes to the theatre almost every week!), and once again experienced the British theatre. Blood Brothers was on Broadway years ago, but it has enjoyed a great deal more popularity and success on the West End. It was a terrific show, sad, but very well done. The voices and staging rival our own Broadway, and it’s easy to see why so many shows go from London to Broadway and vice versa.

Our week was winding down... on Friday, 24th March, we began at St. Paul's Cathedral. Paul and I both enjoyed this church the most of all. We were able to climb to the top of its immense dome, in spite of the lively group of Czech students just in front of us. The view was amazing, but the climb was daunting, and I was dumbstruck by the tiny spaces and low ceilings. Anyone with difficulty walking or with any accessibility issues wouldn't have made it all the way up... and the British don't seem to care. In any case, it was an amazing view, perhaps the best in all the city. I also learned the difference between a church and a cathedral: a cathedral is the head church in a diocese; in this case, St. Paul's is the central church in the London Diocese of the Church of England. After St. Paul's, we had lunch and headed across the Thames to the recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Now, I'll tell you that I'm not a huge fan of Shakespeare (I usually find it frustrating), but I knew that Paul really wanted to visit the Globe, and so we did. Well, it was great! I think it was really one of our most favorite stops of the trip. We toured the exhibition gallery, and then had a guided tour of the theatre itself. It was built in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and recreates the original theatre as closely as possible. No power tools were used in its construction, and it boasts the first and only thatched roof in the city of London since the Great Fire of 1666. (it’s also outfitted with fire-retardant materials and a sprinkler system, just in case.) The inside is so amazing, it’s like stepping back in time. (If you want to get a sense of it, see Shakespeare in Love. Our tour guide was quick to tell us, though, that the film was not shot there.) They actually have productions in the open-air theatre from May to September, London winters being what they are.

After the Globe, Paul and I had just enough time to take the tube to Tottenham Court Road, where we were to meet Erica to see A Clockwork Orange, which was just recently released for the first time in the UK. I had seen it before, and recommended it as a thoroughly British flick for the three of us. Erica and Paul didn't find it to be that disturbing — and I found that disturbing. I think it’s an unsettling, if thought-provoking, movie. A classic Kubrick. After the film, we had dinner and went home for the evening... we sat and played cards with some of Erica's flatmates, and just relaxed.

Saturday morning came, and we decided to go to the British Royal Botanical Gardens, called Kew Gardens. During the thirty-five minute tube ride, we were besieged by a rainstorm, but it thankfully cleared up by the time we reached our destination. We wandered around the gardens for a few hours, visiting conservatories which housed plants from all around the world. The orchids were especially beautiful, and we also enjoyed the Queen's Garden surrounding Kew House, an official royal palace. It was a formal, traditional English garden, with numerous fountains, hedges, gazebos, and trellises. We got hungry then, and had brunch in an adorable little cafe in the town. Saturday night was another quiet night in, so that we wouldn't be too tired for Sunday, when Paul and I had to leave London.

On Sunday morning, we did make a quick run through the V&A, or the Victoria & Albert Museum. Unfortunately, since Britain ends Daylight Savings a week before the United States, we ended up with an hour less than we'd planned. We buzzed through textiles, jewellery, stained glass, and a few other sections — Erica took a great snapshot of me meditating in the Islam section. Then it was off to Heathrow again, and Paul and I had an uneventful trip back to Newark. We were sad to leave our new home on Manson Place, South Kensington... but tired and ready to head home to rest. The flight was once again amazing, thank you Virgin Atlantic, and we landed in Newark at about 17.45. By 20.15, we had arrived back at my parents' house in Wharton, where we crashed for Sunday night.... Sadly enough, Monday morning came, and it was time for Paul to go back to work, and me to go back to school.

Many thanks to my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Tony, for helping Paul and me get to the airport. Many thanks to Erica, for showing us the town and giving us a [cheap] home for nine days. I hope you all enjoyed the story, and the pictures... there are some others as well, that couldn't be posted in the interests of reasonable load times. I also have uncropped and normal-sized versions of the pictures on this page... if you'd like any of these e-mailed to you, just let me know!