London Icons

Since we wanted to make the most of our time in London, we had spent some time before we left reading about the city’s attractions and setting out a rough itinerary for our stay. One of the best tools I stumbled upon in my online searches was a self-guided walking tour site. We printed two of the walks and used them as guides on Monday and Tuesday. The first walk we did was called London Icons, and guided us through many of London’s most famous landmarks.

Our first stop on Monday morning was at the Houses of Parliament. We set out quite early, as Brendan had booked us a guided tour of the buildings. Being residents of the UK, we were able to take advantage of this privilege for free! The Houses of Parliament were once used as a royal palace (until Henry VIII decided to move out) and still very much look the part (although many parts had been destroyed by fire and rebuilt). My favourite room was Westminster Hall, which is the oldest part of the building, dating from the time of William the Conqueror. The hall had been used for everything from bustling markets to court trials to wakes for public figures.  It’s hard to describe the feeling of being in a place where so many important events have taken place over so many centuries. History seems to seep through the very stones of a building like Westminster Hall and impresses itself on the character of the place with ponderous sobriety. It’s almost as though you can hear whispers of what was once said within those walls and see the shadows of the men who ruled and celebrated there, who were honoured and condemned, who lived there and there lay in state upon their deaths. The rest of the palace is very grand, but Westminster Hall, though plainer, made the greatest impact on me. 

After the tour and a short tea break we set out on our London Icons walk. Our map guided us past Westminster Abbey towards Whitehall road where all the monuments stand in the median. We walked past the Horseguards, where bunches of tourists stood taking pictures of the horses and guards, and joined in on the picture taking. We then meandered into St. James Park and up to Buckingham Palace, which we couldn’t enter but admired from the outside. The street leading up to the palace is called The Mall – a wide street designed specifically as a regal pathway to the royal residence. We walked down The Mall away from Buckingham, passing under Admiralty Arch (built as a memorial to Queen Victoria) and into Trafalgar Square. I’m glad we were able to see the square both at night and during the day. Like so many places in London, it is very grand – I know I’ve used that word a lot but it just seems like the most appropriate one to describe the things I saw.

Westminster Abbey

Horseguards

St. James's Park

Buckingham Palace

Admiralty Arch

Trafalgar Square

We stopped briefly at a café to eat our packed lunch and then visited the National Gallery, which opens onto Trafalgar Square. All the major museums and galleries in London are free and we enjoyed several of them. The National Gallery is impressive, to say the least, holding many of Europe’s greatest artistic treasures. I thought of my Grandma, who loves our gallery in Ottawa, as I admired canvases by so many great masters. She and Grandpa used to bring me to the art gallery whenever there was a special exhibit on, and taught me to appreciate fine art. It was wonderful to see originals of famous paintings I had seen in books – they are so much more beautiful that way.

After the National Gallery we visited the Portrait Gallery, which is right next door. We didn’t walk through the whole gallery (our feet were begging for mercy at this point!), but of the sections we did see, my favourite was the portraits of the Tudors (think paintings of Elizabeth I – that was the portait style of the time).

At around 3pm, we finally heeded the complaints of our feet and found another nice pub to sit down in for a while. We were tired but happy – our first full day in London had been fantastic, and it wasn’t over yet! Since both Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s charge admission, we planned to visit during Evensong services, which are free. That way, besides saving admission, we could also enjoy these beautiful churches in the context of worship - which is what they were really made for! So after our pub stop, we headed back to Westminster Abbey for Evensong at 5pm. The service was solemn and beautiful. The acoustics in the abbey are fantastic and the choir was angelic. Unfortunately Liam was not as impressed with the singing as Brendan and I were – he decided to wail as the service started. Baby screaming in a medieval church while boys choir is singing a religious service is definitely a new mom’s nightmare… luckily it didn’t last long as Liam was eager to nurse. I was a bit stressed for the rest of the service, but I still managed to enjoy it. As I listened to the choir and prayed with them, I thought once again of all the history that had unfolded there. Every monarch since William the Conqueror had been crowned at this place. It had once been the home of monks and now housed the tombs of Elizabeth I and Richard the Lionheart, among others. So much history… it’s staggering to think of it all…

We got back home for dinner exhausted but very satisfied, and looked forward to the next day as we tucked into bed.