Much
time has gone by between last post and this! Where have I been, you may ask?
Indeed,
Jimmy. Indeed.
I
have (or, rather, had) gone to England.
This
harebrained scheme grew out of a late-night facebook conversation with my dear
friend Sarah, who came to visit me for twelve whole days over the past couple
of weeks. We were plotting our itinerary for said twelve days when I made
mention of the Sherlock Holmes museum in London (both of us are pitifully
fanatical about Sherlock Holmes) and no more than an hour later I had plane
tickets booked, hostels in the queue, and was preparing for five days of tally
ho, jolly good show Britishness.
Since
a mere five days to absorb all that one of the world’s capitols has to offer is
not what I would call ample time, we tried our best to cram ALL THE THINGS into
our trip with limited success. While we accomplished much and saw enough to
leave me awestruck, there’s so much to tell that I can
only do so effectively by listing my top ten London observations.
They
are as follows:
1.
One
thing that is ubiquitous in London is history- ergo, I was pretty much having a
field day the whole time. We made it to any number of museums and galleries and
saw dozens more from the outside. Just looking at the buildings in almost every
part of London proper gave me the gaping gasps in a big way, as almost every
one is covered with columns, engraving, loggias and porticoes that tickle my
love of grand architecture. There is (again) a fabulous mix of stately old
palaces and offices of state alongside such minimalist wonders as the
glass-plated Gherkin and Shard skyscrapers. Old churches next to modern
apartment complexes- delightful. You can bet your britches that every single
prominent house, street, church, or palace has been written about by some
notable person. Tower Bridge and the Tower of London were our most touristy
outings of a historical nature. The Bridge was breathtaking, and did not fall
down.  |
Wouldn't be the Tower of London without fatty crows. |
The Tower, however, was downright disappointing, for its historical
nature was almost entirely obliterated by the droves of tourists ambling
through and the concessions made to suit them. One easily forgets that this
Tower was home to scores of prisoners, the site of various executions and
political intrigues, when these facts are presented in terms befitting a class
of second graders and not a pair of academic, empirically-inclined
twenty-somethings. The Sherlock Holmes museum was, alas, much the same. We
expected an informative homage to the greatest serialized adventure of all time
and instead were greeted by a Victorian house populated by frightening
mannequins and the presumed possessions of two Victorian bachelors. The museum
crowded tableaux of Sherlock’s greatest hits (usually villains in death throes)
into rooms already full of objects that might have belonged to the Great
Detective, and offered little to no fascination for two passionate
Sherlockians. The best parts were the gift shop (which was quite breathtaking,
actually) and the handsome constable man who took tickets at the door. His
accent was impeccable.
 |
| Truly shameless |
2.
Something
that the city of London pioneered and still does well by today are its parks.
They are positively lovely and afford the perfect place to have a sit and drink
Ribenas after a long walk, or further take a constitutional walk, or hunt out
cool statues hidden in the trees, or people-watch. I got to see Regent’s and
Hyde park and Kensington Gardens, all of which were shown off particularly well
by the splendid weather that smiled down upon our visit. They are all brilliant
places to take a rest from the rush of the rest of London, and much appreciated
by this weary traveler. 
3.
One
awesome highlight of this trip was meeting my wonderful third cousin Ami, who
Sarah and I met for lunch and cupcakes in Covent garden. She not only gave us
some welcome pointers for the London experience but also gave me exceedingly
wise advice on studying abroad- notably, take risks! You, blog readers, must
now hold me to this vow of risk-taking bold-making adventure.
4.
My
favorite attraction in all of London was the National Gallery, which was so
nice we saw it twice. Located in Trafalgar square and fronted by a gorgeous row
of Corinthian columns (my favorites), it’s the gallery that houses pretty much
every famous painting you might care to think of (except those in the Louvre,
which is most of them, but I digress. Simply put, if it’s old and famous and
not in the Louvre, or in Florence, it’s most likely in the National Gallery).
Monet’s Waterlillies? Got it. Van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Wedding? Check. Da Vinci’s
Virgin of the Rocks? Yup. Madonnas by just about everybody who ever got paid to
hold a paintbrush? Uh-huh. It’s got Holbein, Hogarth, and Stubbs and his
ridiculous life-size horse swag portrait. My favorite was the entire room
devoted to spectacular Turners, Gainsboroughs, and Constables, all landscapes
painted on a grand scale. My favorite happens to be the Fighting Temeraire, for
obvious reasons (other than the awe-inspiring quality of the light. Don’t get
me started on that. I loaded up with a preposterous amount of Fighting
Temeraire swag from the gift shop). Consequently, in the latest James Bond
movie (Skyfall!), which we happened to see in Leicester square to rest our
weary feet, Bond receives his gadgets from Q during a stealthy handoff in front
of- you guessed it- the Fighting Temeraire. They even have a barbed discussion
of its merits. At the time of our Skyfall-watching, I had literally been ogling
that same painting no more than two hours before.
I
am James Bond.
5.
This
being London, there was a ridiculous amount of shopping to be had. We got to
experience both highs (see: Harrod’s) and lows (Portobello Road!) of buying and
selling and, while I can count on one hand the number of things I bought, I will
freely admit to loving the experience of it all. Usually I’m about as
tightfisted as a Puritan spinster, but haggling with a snaggletoothed peddler
of antique jewelry in Notting Hill or being waited upon like a duchess by the
assistants in Harrod’s just makes shopping so much better. Furthermore, London
really knows how to put on a show; its window displays and interior store design
alone blow every other place to buy things out of the water.
6.
I
have had limited experience with mass public transit in my young life, and
London marked my first time singlehandedly navigating a subway. Despite some
rough patches locating the far-flung locality of Finsbury Park, I eventually
got the hang of the city’s network of tubes and buses, and enjoyed the
challenge of finding my way from one end of London to the other on a budget. Travel
passes, it should be noted, are indispensible.
 |
| So majestic |
7.
In
Cork, there’s at least one pub on every corner. The London equivalent of
Corkonian pubs are monuments. The things are every bloomin’ where.
At first I was
extremely excited whenever I saw a monument and photographed it at length, but
soon discovered that they’re a dime a dozen. Heck, even George Washington,
great enemy of the British crown, has a statue on St. Martin’s place. This
being said, when one monument stands out among the rest, you know that it’s
special. Take Trafalgar square, which is one massive memorial to the incomparable
Vice Admiral Horatio, Lord Nelson. The man revolutionized naval warfare and
died an epic death for his country, and this country has, in eternal thanks,
placed him on a pillar to nobly survey the land he saved from French invasion (if
you read the sensationalist sources). This pillar is surrounded by iron friezes
of his most dashing moments, and these moments are surrounded by massive metal
lions, which guard an even more massive fountain. THAT, my friends, is a
monument.  |
| "With Nelson, you felt your heart glow" NAME THAT MOVIE |
8.
London
is such a prominent facet of popular and cultured culture that it gave me
pleasant thrills to recognize certain buildings, streets, and squares that crop
up everywhere from the painfully nineties music videos played nonstop in the
hostel’s common room to my favorite books by G.K. Chesterton. Around every
corner was something familiar, even though it was my first time getting
anywhere near London town, and it was immensely gratifying to be able to
recognize places where I had been myself during and after the trip. London is
such a fixture of modern life that it was almost familiar in spite of its
twisty streets and immense network of buses and trains and taxis. Tres cool.
9.
While
it was not one of the most fascinating bits of London we saw, I will put in a
good word for the Arsenal Tavern Hostel and, by association, hostels in
general. It was my first time staying at such a place of repose, and despite
its faults I give this hostel a solid recommendation. The staff was above and
beyond the necessary level of friendliness, most of the other tenants were
lovely people, and sleeping in a shared dorm wasn’t bad at all- in fact, most
everything about the hostel reminded me (somewhat comfortingly) of a fraternity
house. I have now had a solid four nights’ rest in a hostel setting and have
not only lived to tell the tale but am quite ready to do it again. Our part of
town (Finsbury park/Arsenal) was regrettably seedy, but there is a time and a
place for the underbelly and this was apparently it.
10.
I
could quote at you with passages from any number of wise sources proclaiming
that travel is the most effective of panaceas (<you thought that word was ‘Pancreas’
when you first read it, didn’t you?), that experiencing the new and the fresh
and the diverse is a balm for the soul and clear lens for the eyes. I could do
this, but I won’t, and instead breathe a big sigh (having nearly finished this
verbose summary of events) and say this: London was overwhelmingly splendid.
Our five-ish days provided just the right amount of crowds, monuments, tubes,
and spectacular sights to make this girl a London fan. I’m already making plans
for a return trip in April!
Other random highlights are as follows:
- Having lunch in a crypt, as seen above.
- Actually finding a memorial to the souls of a thousand drowned sailors (or twenty-four thousand, in this case, as seen below), hearkening back to last post's experience of "Undertow:"
-Being told by the hostel front desk man that I look English and act British-Canadian (?)
(of all the random nationalities to be mistaken for, I really can't fathom where this one came from)
- Seeing the City (capitalized) with an awesome friend and being photographed by random passersby
- And, lastly, experiencing so many people and cultures and languages and manners of walking all over the sidewalk and on both sides of staircases and food and sight and sounds and sdf;hga;gh'aishf'h I'm done. Can't write no more on London.
Until
next post then, I remain,
You
humble servant,
KB
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