Hello from London: Catching all the Main
Sights – from the Number 11 Bus!
Our second day in London greeted us with brilliant sunshine, and
even though it was still early May, temperatures in the mid twenties
(Celsius, of course) were in store for us. Andrea and I started
our day with a nice breakfast at the Zetter Hotel, a boutique hotel
in London’s fashionable Clerkenwell area. The main floor restaurant
offers an extensive breakfast buffet, but occasionally, when I really
enjoy a menu item I have no hesitation to order it again. Yesterday
I had already savoured the Zetter’s Banana Strawberry Crepe,
and today it called me again. The sun was flooding in through the
tall windows in the restaurant, and we started to devise our plan
of attack for our explorations of the city.
A great view from my rooftop room at the Zetter on a gorgeous day
I wanted to get a good overview of London, so I turned to my travel
partner and London aficionado Andrea to get an idea of how we should
best get an introduction to this huge, exciting city. Of course
one of the traditional ways of doing this is by booking a sight-seeing
trip with a tour company. But Andrea, being an insider of the city
who has been to London probably about 30 times, knew a more efficient
and affordable way of doing this: the Number 11 bus, part of London’s
extensive public transit system.
Breakfast is calling
So we hopped on the Tube and made our way to Liverpool Street Station
to get on the famous Number 11 bus whose route takes you past so
many important sights of the city. We lined up for the modern double-decker
bus and just got unlucky as four other travelers took the front-row
seats on the upstairs level of the bus. We started taking video
clips of the experience and occasionally pushed our way to the window
of the bus to get a better view of the sights in front of us.
View from the No. 11 bus
The bus passes by Threadneedle Street and Bank Station in the heart
of London’s banking district. The Bank of England and Mansion
House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London, are some
of the major sights in this area. Further on, Queen Victoria Street
is the extension of Threadneedle Street. We caught a glimpse of
St. Paul’s Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London. Designed
by famous architect Sir Christopher Wren, the first stone of this
massive church was laid in 1677, and it was finally completed in
1708. The impressive dome of this cathedral was inspired by St.
Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
St. Paul's Cathedral from the doubledecker bus
St. Paul’s narrowly survived a World War II air raid when
in 1940, after two smaller bombings, a time-delayed bomb was found
in time and detonated in a safe area. This bomb would have definitely
destroyed this jewel of a church. Traditionally, most of the royal
weddings and christenings are held at Westminster Abbey, but Prince
Charles and Lady Diana got married right here, at St. Paul’s
Cathedral.
The 530 steps to the top of St. Paul’s golden gallery provide
a stunning view of London. Non-worshipping visitors are charged
a fee to enter the church, but attendance is free during one of
the popular Evensongs that are held in the late afternoon. (Evensongs
are evening prayers in the Anglican Church).
An ancient pub
Past Ludgate Circus our bus turned onto Fleet Street which was
the centre of the British press until the 1980s. The last British
news agency, Reuters, relocated from the area in 2005 while the
French-owned international news agency Agence France Presse is still
located on this street. Today Fleet Street features many law offices
while the newspapers have mostly moved to the Canary Wharf area.
Fleet Street turns into The Strand at Temple Bar which represents
the boundary of the City of London and the City of Westminster.
The word “strand” is originally derived form the Old
English word for “river bank”, and the River Thames
is indeed just a few blocks to the south. Until the construction
of the Victoria Embankment between 1865 and 1870, The Strand was
indeed the shoreline of the River Thames. From the Victorian era
onwards, The Strand became a fashionable residential district and
famous people such as Charles Dickens and John Stuart Mill lived
here. Many renowned theatres were located in this area until the
first half of the 20th century.
Beautiful architecture along the No. 11 bus route
Charing Cross railway station is the next stop on the Number 11
bus. Opened in 1864, it originally featured six platforms with a
curved wrought iron roof. The elaborate roof structure collapsed
in 1905 and killed six people. It was later replaced by a utilitarian
post and girder design. A post-modern office and shopping complex
called Embankment Place has been covering the platform area since
1990.
We then came up on Trafalgar Square which is anchored by Nelson’s
Column, which commemorates the death of Admiral Horatio Nelson in
the Battle of Trafalgar. Built in the early 1840s, the statue is
protected by four lions that were added in 1867. The Battle of Trafalgar
was a historic naval battle between the British Royal Navy and the
combined fleets of Spain and France which was part of the Napoleonic
Wars in the early 19th century. While the French and Spanish fleets
lost 22 ships, the British navy did not lose a single vessel due
to Nelson’s sometimes unorthodox battle strategies. The French
navy never seriously challenged the Royal Navy since then. Since
his death in 1805 Admiral Nelson has been celebrated as Britain’s
greatest naval war hero.
One of London's many theatres: Victoria Palace
Our Number 11 Bus took us past Whitehall, the main artery connecting
Parliament Square with Charing Cross. This street is home to many
of Britain’s ministries and government departments. We swung
around at Parliament Square where we caught a brief glimpse of the
Gothic spires of the Houses of Parliament before we continued on
Victoria Street to Victoria Station, another one of London’s
grand old railway stations. This was our final station where we
hopped off the bus.
Arrival at Victoria Station
London Victoria is a major subway (or rather tube) and railway
station whose railway service connects with the regions of Kent
on the east and Sussex and Surrey on the west side of London. This
railway terminal is an impressive example of Victorian railway architecture.
The railway station was opened in 1862, while the London Underground
station started operations only six years later.
Today Victoria Station services the Victoria, District and Circle
Lines and is the busiest in the entire London Underground system.
More than 80 million passengers pass through here every year. For
a subway buff like me it’s always interesting to visit subway
stations where multiple lines cross at once. A network of stairs
and escalators whisks you deeper and deeper into the interconnected
weave of subway tunnels. Public transit in London, with its extensive
rail and underground transportation networks, is definitely an exciting
experience.
The inside of Victoria Station
After enjoying the sights of Victoria Station, the first stop on
our walking tour was Westminster Cathedral, one of London’s
few Byzantine buildings. Fundraising efforts in the second half
of the 19th century allowed for a construction start in 1895 and
the church was completed eight years later on the site of a former
prison. The really unique characteristic of this church is its striped
red-brick tower which stands 87 m (285 feet) high. Standing on the
piazza in front of the church we got a great look at the front façade
of this extraordinary structure.
The impressive Byzantine façade of Westminster Cathedral
We continued our stroll through London’s Streets and on Buckingham
Gate we came by the Royal Mews, one of the finest working stables
in London which holds the royal carriages, including the Gold State
Coach which has been used at every coronation of the British Monarchy
since George IV. Continuing our walk up Buckingham Gate we noticed
that throngs of people were gathering, and as we came around the
corner, I realized we had reached the front of Buckingham Palace.
A big crowd is waiting at Buckingham Palace for the Changing of
the Guards
As luck would have it we had arrived just in time for the Changing
of the Guards, one of London’s most important tourist attractions.
Thousands of people had lined up outside the wrought iron gates
of Buckingham Palace and were peering inside to find any signs of
royalty. Being of short stature myself I was pretty much out of
luck and was unable to catch any glimpses of any monarchs. Instead
Andrea and I enjoyed the view over St. James’s Park, which
features a small lake with two islands: Duck Island and West Island.
London’s parks and gardens offer a serene escape from the
frenetic rush of city life.
St. James's Park
As we strolled further north we arrived at the Mall, a ceremonial
route that connects Buckingham Palace in the west with the Admiralty
Arch and Trafalgar Square in the east. More than one million people
lined the Mall in 2002 at the occasion of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations
of Queen Elizabeth II.
Right in front of Buckingham Palace is the Queen Victoria Memorial,
a white marble statue constructed in 1911 to honour Queen Victoria,
one of Great Britain’s most popular monarchs. A large line-up
of people was forming along the Mall now, and everybody was awaiting
the arrival of a parade which featured soldiers from a variety of
different member countries of the British Commonwealth.
The Queen Victoria Memorial
We continued our walk up the Mall past the Admiralty Arch, a large
arched office building with three tall gates for road access and
two lower gates for pedestrian access between the Mall and Trafalgar
Square. From here we turned right onto Whitehall, the centre of
British government and administration. We stopped at the Horse Guards,
a beautiful Palladian-style building dating back to the 1750s that
used to be the headquarters of the British Army and was used as
communications headquarters by the Navy during WWII.
Standing on guard
Continuing our stroll on Whitehall we walked past Downing Street,
which is the location of the residence of the British Prime Minister.
Past the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill Museum we then reached
Parliament Square which is flanked by Westminster Abbey, London’s
oldest and most important church, on the south side and the Houses
of Parliament on the east side.
The Houses of Parliament
Somehow, through absolutely miraculous timing, we just got to this
spot a couple of minutes before twelve noon, just as the Clock Tower,
colloquially (and incorrectly) referred to as “Big Ben”,
was getting ready to ring its bells for twelve o’clock. We
set up shop on Westminster Bridge from where we had a perfect view
of the British Airways London Eye as well as the Houses of Parliament.
With a height of 135 metres (443 feet) the London Eye or Millennium
Wheel is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe and an extremely popular
tourist destination. More than 3 million people visit it every year.
The London Eye
And sure enough, right at 12 o’clock the Westminster Quarters,
the world famous chimes, started ringing, followed by 12 rings of
the Great Bell, the actual “Big Ben”. The bell was never
officially named, but according to legend, its nickname was inspired
by Sir Benjamin Hall, who was the commissioner of works and had
placed the order for this massive bell in 1858. Since the first
version of the bell suffered a crack, the 14 ton bell was recast,
but even the second version cracked as well. Today, Big Ben has
a distinctive, slightly off-key tone. We could not believe how lucky
we were to have caught this acoustic landmark of London right a
noon time.
"Big Ben" rings twelve
It was barely mid-day now and we had already seen so much. But
our whirlwind London sightseeing adventure was to continue. To get
an even better feel for the city we were planning to go on a sightseeing
tour with Thames River Cruises that departed from Westminster Pier.
Cruises are a great way of getting to know a city from a totally
unique perspective, and I was looking forward to exploring
London from the river.
