A Fortnight with Whit - London, Day 1

We woke up early on Monday to hop on the train and the tube to get from New Barnett where Robyn and Whitney live to downtown London.  I applaud JP's skills with getting us around the insane number of tubes lines, train routes and stops - I would have been lost in a heartbeat. It got us around London really well but it's definitely not the subway that I'm used to.

 

Classically London

Our first stop in London was for a guided walking tour of the royal hotspots. We started in Parliament Square where you can see the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and the Methodist Central Hall. The Hall was a notable spot where Martin Luther King Jr. and Ghandi both lectured to promote civil rights.  

The ornate doors of Westminster Abbey

Big Ben, which is actually the bell that is housed inside the clock tower, not the clock itself

Westminster Abbey

 The gorgeous rose window of the Abbey

 We continued walking through St James park which was originally used a a hunting ground for Henry VIII.  It's the largest Royal Park in London, complete with many beautiful birds - a relic from when the park was the first royal menagerie (zoo) and held all the gifts from visiting Kings and Queens. 

 Some pelicans and a heron that make the park their home

Then we saw the back of 10 Downing Street - pretty well the closest you can get to it without an invite from the PM himself anymore. 

 

 There's a good chance, by the opening of the four gates in 10 feet, that they had an invite.

 

  

The grey building is #10

We also saw the entrance to Churchill's war rooms which were originally storage spaces but were converted into reinforced bunkers during the war. Our tour guide told us that although the bunkers were reinforced, had they been hit but a bomb, the whole thing would have collapsed and killed anyone inside - not a super useful bunker but it kept Churchill in the city when his advisors were pressuring him to lead from afar.

 War room entrance

 the old crank in bronze - Churchill

We got a parliamentary protocol lecture on the walk towards Buckingham Palace as we passed the old hunting lodge of King Henry VIII (most recently used as the bachelor pad for Prince Harry) and Clarence House (Charles and Camilla's abode). The Union Jack's were flying atop which tells us that the nobility was not at home, if they were, their royal flag would have been up instead. We also saw some of the footed and hooved members of the ceremonial guard as we made our way up to the Queen's 'hut'. 

  
Seeing Buckingham Palace was very cool.  It's a 775 room mansion that used to be owned by a very wealthy Duke.  About 300 years ago one of the Kings was invited to a party at the newly finished Buckingham Palace and told the Duke that he wanted to 'buy' the house, much to the Duke's chagrin.  The King paid £28,000, roughly the equivalent of £4 Million today, for the palace and graciously let the Duke live there with him until his death.  

A palace fit for a queen

My favourite part of Monday was definitely seeing Canada Gate at Buckingham Palace.  Around the square that covers the palace, there are gilded gates that represent many of the Commonwealth countries.  Canada Gate was by far the largest and most ornate, complete with the coat of arms of each of the provinces. This is one of many connections we've seen so far that celebrate the relationship between the UK and Canada that still exists today.

A piece of home from far away

On our walk back to Trafalgar Square we passed by the statue of Frederick William, a Duke of York and Commander in Chief of the British Army, who's claim to fame (and much beloved reputation in Britain) is due to the fact that he added 'beer money' to the rations provided in a soldiers wage. He was a good Military strategist but has mostly been remembered for being a terrible gambler (owing about £1M pounds upon his death) and supplying the army with beer money. 

 

 Not surprisingly, JP thought this guy was alright

Trafalgar Square is the main gathering place of London and is often the site of protests, parades, street parties and whatnot. If something is going on in London, there's a good chance it's going on here.

 The entrance to Trafalgar Square 

 Today it was just a tourist spot but we still enjoyed seeing the very tall statue of Lord Nelson - the Nelson Column - the most decorated person ever in the British Service, who revolutionized Naval warfare and defeated a larger and more formidable Spanish and French fleet at the battle of Trafalgar. Tragically, although he had just won this major battle where no English ships were lost, he died after sustaining a shoulder injury dealt by a Spanish archer who aimed for the guy with all the medals on his uniform. At the time, his funeral was the largest ever non-royal funeral in Britain. 

 JP was feeling a little homesick, so we took a quick hop back onto Canadian soil via Canada House. They have an art gallery open to the public but the current exhibition was decidedly under-whelming. 

Our afternoon started with some proper English fish and chips and a pint before we headed over to Coven Garden. I loved being able to walk through the market - it's got all sort of shops and much of it is pedestrian only so it's a popular space for Londoners and tourists alike.

 Carnary Street in Coven Garden

One of the open air public meeting spots

 We had planned to meet up with Robyn and head back to Westminster Abbey to see the Edensong, a daily prayer service sung by the Westminster Boys Choir. After making the trek back to the Abbey, we were told by a very cranky Englishman that the Edensong had been cancelled because it was Easter week.  We'll have to save that for the next time I make it to London. After catching up with Whitney, we all headed to sushi for dinner and with over 23,000 steps under our feet, we ended day 1 in London.