Hello from London - Our Sightseeing Sampler
- Part I: Two Historic Train
Stations, the Portobello Market, Notting Hill and London’s
Little Beirut
Finally I had succeeded in getting to London after my one day delay
in Salzburg. I had spent about a week in Austria and was scheduled
to fly to London during the late evening of May 8, but when I arrived
at the airport I was told that my flight had been cancelled and
that I was booked on next-day’s flight.
Of course panic set in immediately since I had planned four days
in London, and with a departure a day later I would lose an entire
day of my already short stay in London. Huge disappointment set
in since I had been looking forward to my London visit for a long
time. Well, since I had no choice I made the best of the situation,
and the customer service agents at the Salzburg Airport were very
helpful and assisted me in finding reasonable accommodation. Once
my room was booked I wheeled my suitcases out of the airport building,
went on a 10-minute bus ride, checked in at my small local inn and
quickly passed out cold after a long day.
Yesterday, the sun woke me up and a brilliant warm day was in store.
I spent the entire day exploring Salzburg, hiking up on the Kapuzinerberg
Mountain that faces the famous Hohensalzburg Fortress. I enjoyed
a great outdoor lunch on the tree-shaded patio of the Franziskischlössl,
a small fortified castle at the top of the hill that offers a great
view of Salzburg’s mountain panorama.
A great view towards the Fortress of Hohensalzburg
In the afternoon I descended back into the city and watched the
local street life unfold on the banks of the Salzach River and also
admired the beautiful gardens of Mirabell Castle. Finally at 6 pm
it was time to head back to the airport to make a second attempt
to reach my coveted destination. After observing the airport activities
from the rooftop terrace at the Salzburg Airport I watched my British
Airways plane land and got ready to board. Finally I was on my way
to London.
Nice view from the aircraft
It had been a long time since I had been to England: in fact 27
years have passed since my first and only visit to the British Isles.
As a teenager I went on a language exchange program to England to
practice my English and stayed with a family for three weeks in
the coastal town of Southend. I had only ever spent one day in London,
after taking the train into the city to visit the British War Museum.
That was now more than a quarter century ago.
My first view of the rooftops of London in the morning
So I was really excited to get to know London, one of the world’s
great cities. My good friend Andrea, from my home town in Austria,
was going to meet me in London to assist me with her local expert
knowledge. Prior to my departure I had already contacted Visit Britain
in order to get lots of valuable input for my trip, and with their
help I had worked out a detailed itinerary that would expose me
to many different facets of London.
London architecture
After arriving around 10:00 pm at London’s Gatwick Airport
I booked a local train ticket to Farringdon Station and used public
transit to get to my hotel. Any North American will notice that
London has an extensive public transport system which today comprises
the London Underground (the subway), London Rail and various forms
of surface transport including buses and passenger boat service
on the River Thames. Regardless of which city I travel to, I always
enjoy using the public transit systems since this gets you a step
closer to the daily life of the local residents.
The Zetter Hotel: my chic abode in London
Finally after 11 pm I had arrived in Clerkenwell, an area in Central
London that got its name from the Clerk’s Well in Farringdon
Lane. Although it was close to midnight when I exited the train
station I entered into a local entertainment area that was full
of young stylish people laughing and socializing on various restaurant
patios. Street life was absolutely hopping. Even at this late time
of the day I felt completely safe walking through the streets of
this neighbourhood, and just about ten minutes after my arrival
by train I arrived at my abode for the next three nights: the
Zetter Hotel.
Breakast downstairs at the Zetter Hotel
The Zetter Hotel is a boutique hotel in the heart of Clerkenwell
that offers 59 unique decorated bedrooms. My stylish rooftop studio
was located on the top floor and came with a terrace that provided
me with an enchanting view of the lights of London. I could even
see London’s giant ferris wheel, the London Eye, in the distance.
The many interesting buildings of London’s financial district
were all lit up, testimony to London’s role as a global financial
centre.
My room at the Zetter Hotel
My travel partner Andrea had arrived a few hours earlier and had
already attended the famous Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of
London, a historic ritual dating back to the 14th century that I
unfortunately missed due to my late arrival. While Andrea was still
excited about her interesting evening, I started to settle down
in my stylish hotel room and began to relax after a very long day.
A scrumptious breakfast at the Zetter Hotel
After a few hours of good rest we were ready for a full day of
explorations. We started with a hearty breakfast in the main floor
restaurant of the
Zetter Hotel which included an extensive breakfast buffet. I
enjoyed a scrumptious Banana Strawberry Crepe while my travel partner
partook of the generous buffet. After breakfast we had a chance
to interact with the crew of the restaurant and snapped a few pictures
of them in the cool lounge area.
The cool crew at the Zetter Hotel's restaurant
Now we were ready to head out and I was excited about the chance
to explore London. We started to discover the historic streets of
Clerkenwell. Just around the corner from our hotel, we passed by
St. John’s Gate, built in 1504 as an entrance to the inner
precinct of the Priory of the Knights of Saint John, also called
the Knights Hospitaller. This Christian organization provided care
for sick or injured pilgrims in the Holy Land during the Crusades
from the 11th century onwards. St. John Ambulance, founded in 1877,
is a charity organization that is also connected with the Order
of St. John.
St. John's Gate
Through the narrow streets of Clerkenwell we strolled towards Farringdon
subway (or rather tube) station and came across Smithfield Market
where meat has been traded for about 800 years. Today’s market
consists of an expansive Victorian-era building with two wings,
the East and West Market, which are separated by Grand Avenue. Street
names like Poultry Lane bear witness to the meat-trading history
of this market. The market buildings are a stunning example of Victorian-era
architecture and feature very colourful metal ornamentations and
interesting details.
This Saturday morning the market was closed, and I wish we had
had more time to explore it in further detail, but our busy schedule
demanded that we move on. We got on the tube at Farringdon Station
and went a few stops to St. Pancras Railway Station, a great example
of a Victorian railway station, built in 1868. The station was renovated
during the last few years and recently reopened as the terminal
for the Eurostar trains that connect London with the European continent
via the Channel Tunnel.
St. Pancras Railway Station
Just steps away from St. Pancras is another major railway station:
King’s Cross, which was built even earlier than its neighbour
and opened in 1852. Great Britain is truly the cradle of railroad
travel, and many of London’s historic railway stations provide
an ambience that gives you a feeling for what early rail travel
must have been like.
Interior of St. Pancras
King’s Cross is the southern terminus of the East Coast Main
Line, one of Britain’s major railway routes. King’s
Cross has even found its way into popular culture: the Pet Shop
Boys used it as a backdrop in several of their music videos. More
recently the railway station was featured in the popular Harry Potter
series, and a Platform 9 ¾ is indeed located in a side building
of the station. King’s Cross St. Pancras Tube station is the
largest station in the entire London Underground, illustrating the
importance of this nerve centre of public transportation.
Platform 9 3/4 of Harry Potter fame
Then we hopped on the Tube again and were quickly whisked away
to our next destination: Portobello Road Market. Located in the
Notting Hill District, this outdoor street market runs through almost
the entire length of Notting Hill from north to south. Saturday
is the day for the famous street market which features an eclectic
collection of fruits, vegetables, prepared foods, second hand clothing
and antiques. People flock to it from far and wide, and this street
market attracts its share of unique characters. We got enticed several
times by different street vendors that sold anything from fresh
steaming paella to colourful Italian mini-pizzas, freshly baked
bread and sweet chocolate crepes.
Selling onions, Portobello Market style
The outdoor stands were displaying funky clothing, cashmere shawls,
fur coats as well as all sorts of unusual antiques. From vintage
miniature cars, to old binoculars, record players, metal contraptions
that I had no idea what they were and instruments that looked like
early machine guns, this is definitely a place that will delight
any avid antiques collector. If you are looking for eclectic items
to decorate your house with, Portobello Market is your answer…
Gas masks, anyone?
The streets in Portobello Market were so packed that we had to
plough through the masses of people to make headway through the
crowds. Police officers, locally referred to as bobbies, were handing
out flyers, making the public aware of the danger of pickpockets.
They graciously agreed to have their picture taken with many of
the tourists.
A friendly bobby with a tourist
In the early afternoon we had arranged to do an interview with
Michael Williams, one of the organizers of Notting Hill Carnival,
London’s annual Carribean festival. We arranged to meet in
a small café near Notting Hill Gate to find out more about
the city’s biggest street party. Michael initiated us to the
history of this annual event which first happened in 1967. The carnival
is the world’s second largest street festival after the carnival
in Rio de Janeiro and has attracted up to 1.5 million spectators.
Michael Williams explains the history of Notting Hill Carnival
Michael provided us with a historic overview of Caribbean immigration
in London. During World War II in particular, a lot of black immigrants
from West Africa and the Caribbean arrived in London, working as
sailors and in the armed services. During the 1950s and 1960s Britain
experienced heavy immigration from English-speaking Caribbean countries,
in particular Jamaica. Many of these immigrants worked in transportation,
hospital services and railway development, significantly contributing
to Britain’s post-war rebuilding efforts.
St. John's Notting Hill Church
The initial Notting Hill Carnival was actually held in 1959 as
a response to the poor state of race relations. Racial riots had
taken place in Notting Hill in 1958 when white working class youths
attacked houses of West Indian residents. Claudia Jones, a Trinidadian
political activist and community leader, founded Notting Hill Carnival
in 1959 in order to showcase the talents of the Afro-Caribbean community
in Britain. Her Mardi-Gras celebrations turned into an annual event.
From 1965 the event was held annually in August and became a popular
street festival. During the 1970s there were often tensions and
riots, reflecting the uneasy state of race relations, but in recent
years British authorities have come to view Notting Hill Carnival
as a very positive addition to the London’s annual event calendar.
Recent estimates indicate that Notting Hill Carnival contributes
around $200 million to London and the British economy.
Streetscape in Notting Hill
After this fascinating introduction to London’s Notting Hill
Carnival and the historic circumstances leading up to it, Michael
had to leave. Andrea and I set off to explore the local neighbourhood.
Notting Hill came to international fame as a result of the 1999
hit film of the same name that starred Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.
From the houses we walked by we could see that this is a very affluent
and fashionable neighbourhood.
Street life in London
Historically the Notting Hill area was used for clay brick-making,
and it also featured a large number of pig farmers. The main development
of the area got started in the 1840s by the Ladbroke family who
were major landowners in the area. A main street in the area is
still named after this family. In the early 20th centuries many
of the large mansions were converted into rooming houses, and during
the post-war years Notting Hill became a low-income area dominated
by a number of slum landlords. The neighbourhood came full circle
in the 1980s when affluent families started to move in again and
began to gentrify the area. Today, Notting Hill is one of London’s
most popular areas.
Funky retail stores abound
By now it was mid-afternoon and we wanted to expand our explorations
so we hopped on the Tube again – what a convenient way to
get around – and went to another unique London neighbourhood:
Edgeware Road. Also often referred to as “Little Beirut”
or “Little Cairo”, this area is one of London’s
ethnic neighbourhoods in the western part of central London. The
entire street has a distinct Middle Eastern flavour; stores and
pharmacies feature signs written in Arabic; Middle Eastern men sit
in patio cafes, smoking water pipes, and many kebab and shawarma
restaurants line the street. Being such a vibrant, diverse metropolis,
London has many different ethnic neighbourhoods that invite locals
and tourists alike to explore other cultures without ever leaving
the city.
Locals smoking waterpipes on Edgeware Road
We had already had a great start to exploring the city, and our
next destination was a true London landmark: Hyde Park!
