London: day six

Today was a busy one, even compared to the other days so far. Hannah and I were up bright and early and set off at about 9:30 this morning. We took the Tube to Hyde Park Corner and came out right near the Wellington Arch which was silhouetted by the morning sunlight as we emerged from the Underground. Surrounding the Arch, we explored the various War memorials that are collected in the corner near the park; WWI and II memorials, New Zealand war memorial, Australian war memorial, as well as a statue of the famed Duke of Wellington who is credited with defeating Napoleon in the battle at Waterloo, also, across the street on the same side as the park, still stands the Duke’s house. We crossed the street in that direction and entered Hyde Park by means of the Grand Entrance (three conjoined arches located at the park’s corner). We strolled along the pathway, dodging joggers and children on tricycles, even several horseback riders passed us. Not only can one rent a horse to ride through the park, but the Mounted Calvary frequently (headquartered just across the street) frequently use the horsepaths throughout the park to exercise their mounts – though we did not see any of them today. Hyde Park is the largest park in London city, and though smaller than Central Park, it is quite extensive; it is this park as well as Regent’s and Green Park which are often referred to as the “lungs of London.” Frequently it is utilized as a gathering center for protestors, a venue for concerts, and a place that offers many outdoor activities including horseback riding, swimming, and football. There are many monuments throughout the park as well, probably one which commands the most attention being the Prince Albert Monument; a monument meant to commemorate the passing of Prince Albert (husband of Queen Victoria) and acknowledge his influence and the grief of his passing which not only deeply affected Queen Victoria (in every public appearance thereafter she always appeared in black), but the British Empire as a whole. Straight across from the monument is the Royal Albert Hall which is a concert hall that houses productions and performances of many sorts and stands as a testament to Albert’s influence on the arts as well as the attention he gave to the creation of multiple of the largest museums in London by using the money made from the Great Exhibition to fund their establishment.

Speaking of museums, we then made our way to the Victoria and Albert Museum which we entered. Though pressed for time, we were able to cover one wing of the museum – we did not have nearly enough time to let us cover all 8 miles of its corridors. In the exhibit we covered, one really got a sense of what life was like in Britain from the 1500s to 1901. A return is definitely planned to see more of what the museum has to offer.

After a quick lunch we met up with everyone else at IES for the bus tour of London which IES had organized for us. The bus took us on a winding path through the London streets, showing us Theater and shopping districts, interesting side-streets, and Trafalgar Square before edging around Green Park and stopping at Buckingham Palace. As one comes around the garden wall it is impossible to ignore the amount of security that goes into ensuring no one scales the garden wall; not only are there multiple strands of barbed wire atop a brick wall, but there is also an intimidating line of brutal steal spikes as well as and electric wire and video cameras. This, according to our tour guide was because of the incident that occurred sometime in the early 80s which involved a man by the name of Michael Fagan who, apparently not mentally well, scaled the 14 foot brick wall and strolled into the Palace unimpeded. He then entered the Queen’s bedroom, perched himself on the end of her bed and asked if she had a “light.” Since then, security around the Palace has gone up a bit…

 

Leaving there, we drove around the central square that passes Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and some of the Embassies twice so as to give us a good shot at photos. We crossed the Thames and then re-crossed it back the other way on the bridge closest to Parliament and Big Ben – the bridge which one most commonly sees pictures of these buildings taken from. Each building in this central square was breathtaking and worthy of their reputations – particularly Westminster Abbey. Big Ben was a bit shorter than I had expected, but regardless, it did not disappoint, nor did the Parliament building. At the corner where Big Ben stands, we then took a right and passed many of the other important government buildings, including Downing Street – home of the Prime Minister. We passed Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery once more and entered Old London where we stopped at St. Paul’s Cathedral for another photo-opp. Opposite of Big Ben, the size of St. Paul’s Cathedral is startlingly massive; there is little one can do to prepare oneself for just how huge the place is and the external walls are some of the most beautiful architecture – perhaps save for Westminster Abbey – that we have seen yet. Back in the bus, we drove by the Bank of England before crossing over London Bridge (same place I was in several nights ago). The Shard disappeared into the fog above us as we came to a halt at the edge of the Thames several blocks down from the place Tula and I had explored several nights ago. From this place, one got a perfect view of Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and the HMS Belfast. More pictures were taken, naturally, and we made our way back through the city in the failing light, passing the Gherkin and taking a detour through Camden before reaching NIDO.

Classes begin tomorrow and it begins with my Shakespeare class – I am actually quite excited for school to begin, despite its restriction of my explorations I think I will greatly enjoy this semester, and that is a pretty good feeling, I must say.

Cheerio!