Walking Through the City of Fog

London is full of iconography, world heritage sites, bountiful green parks, stately boroughs, and so, so much fantastic food. If you're any bit a gastronome (or even a street foodie), London is your haven.

After a very long day and a half of flying and queues, London was a welcome sight.  I arrived on Guy Fawkes Day (remember, remember the 5th of November!!). We had to circle 3 times before landing which was great because the man seated next to me, and I, got to see firework shows happening from a birds eye view. They're really tiny from a plane window and looked like little fountains stuck in the Thames!

I stayed at a hostel in London called Clink78 (website here) that is near the Kings Cross train station. Pretty neat place and did have some families, but certainly caters to the young, loud, and drinking. It was a bit of an adjustment and I considered upgrading to a private room (arriving in the middle of the night to a dark room did not help!) but I stuck it out - not my first hostel but certainly the most interesting thus far!

But before any fellow readers say anything about my train station - yes I went to Platform 9 3/4 while at Kings Cross! Sadly you can't actually get to the platforms themselves without a ticket but they do have this neat little trick set-up...

There is half a luggage cart coming out of the wall and when you go up you are given a Hogwarts scarf of your choice (most used Gryffindor but I chose Slytherin). One worker snaps your photo and the other worker creates motion by flapping the long end of your scarf so it looks as if you're running into the platform!

Official Day 1 in London - November 6th.

I took my own walking tour through the British rain today. Thankfully I replaced my rain coat the morning I left and was well prepared! I started at Piccadilly Circus, what can be easily compared to NY's Times Square with the lights (though not so many), M&M's store, and too many theaters to contemplate. 

Right out of the tube stop, complete with a double-decker bus!

I didn't go in to buy anything, but the emanating waft of chocolate combined with the rain outside clearly left me no choice but to look around! These M&M characters are on their own Abbey Road, and I'm crashing! 

Next was on to Covent Garden - full of stalls, food, live musicians, and large Christmas decorations. Think Quincy Market. I treated myself to two perfect little French macaroons, pistachio and rose. I could eat a pistachio macaroon each minute of my life and be oh-so happy. It really is a beautiful place and had the rain not been so insistent I would have greatly enjoyed sitting outside with some tea or lunch.  I'll have to save it for next time, but it's a pretty place just the same!

I'd love to have my Christmas gifts under this tree! There was a very large reindeer on the other side of the Garden who should have no problem carting Santa's loot about. 

The market is covered and decorated itself with large baubles and even a disco ball. There are two main halls with the permanent store fronts you see, as well as an interior, lower section. Musicians and food was more popular down there.

My day was far from over - even with the rain I stayed out of the tube system until I made my way back to the hostel. I had The National Gallery to see....which was followed up with Buckingham Palace and all the "important government" buildings. 

The National Gallery was a much needed respite from rain - I'd been clueless to the fact that water had soaked through my scarf and onto my shirt. It was quite obvious once I checked my wet outer layer in the cloakroom. Though art history was never my favorite topic, the gallery was great because they had so many fantastic mythology pieces (taken from sources like Ovid's Metamorphoses) as well as striking portraits (like the one of King Charles on his horse, painted by van Dyck). Also there were lots of small school groups and watching them sketch was pretty cute.

This is not of the National Gallery, but taken from the portico. The dedicated guitarist in the foreground was not so sick of the rain and he played and sang on in Trafalgar Square for all the pigeons and umbrella-covered patrons.

---read this bit only of you want a little art history on my favorite artists---

Three of my absolute favorite artists were also there - Titian, Claude, and Claude Monet. Titian is a very important part of art history and he is a favorite of mine because of his colors and his subjects.  He was a portrait artist as well as an allegory and landscape artist painting in the 1500's along with and helping the Renaissance. His focus on Greek and Roman mythology is what keep him in my books, of course.

Claude was a French landscape artist who moved to Germany and then Italy and painted in the 1600's. His landscapes were often very large, detailed, and done in oil. I used a couple of his works as reference in my undergrad thesis on Dido. Though he often painted what he saw outside, he also used mythology as a way to help idealize some of his landscapes and was a combined landscape and allegory artist himself.


And, of course Claude Monet! They had his painting of the water lily bridge and his Japanese bridge. I'm not the biggest fan of Impressionist pieces but I do have a fondness for Monet. It could be because he was always taught in my French classes, as well.  The gallery had plenty of Van Gogh as well, but Monet continues to hold my top spot in the genre.

---art history lesson over---

Right near Trafalgar square is the mall entrance to Buckingham Palace and St. James' Park (think National Mall between the Lincoln and Washington memorials). I admit I was mostly curious because there were just as many Korean flags flying and Union Jacks, so I strolled on down.  Turns out Park Geun-hye was in town visiting the Royal family and the new, proposed, Korean war memorial! What made it truly awesome was when I turned to look at a police bike go by and he (and a bunch of other bikes, and cars) was leading the President down the mall to the Palace! AHH so neat! I recited most of the Korean I know in my mind just 'cause it seemed appropriate.

Welcoming Korea's first female President, Park Geun-hye!

After watching the Palace guards for a bit (sadly I missed the changing of the guard which was at 11:00am) my tour continued on to the Queens Gallery and gift shop, then back around to Westminster Abbey and the Parliament building. I did not go inside either but did enjoy the view - especially when Big Ben chimed 4 o'clock!

 West facade of Westminster (there's that art history stuff, again)

 Ben chimed twice for me today, at 4 and 5 o'clock

Heading a bit south from there into Lambeth I crossed the Thames over the Lambeth bridge. From the river you can see the London Eye and most of London's top sites (minus the tower and London bridge). My self-guided tour continued along the water to the London Eye and then across the Millennium bridge! I did stop to see Shakespeare's Globe but it was already closed for the day when I arrived. The Tate Modern gallery (there are two Tate galleries in the city) is right at the end of the Millennium bridge but I opted out. 

 The Eye is a very large, slow moving ferris wheel with pods that can fit maybe 20 people. The pods are glass all around so you can see all the sights, small alleys, and neighborhoods in London!

The dome seen at the end of the Millennium bridge belongs to St. Paul's Cathedral. I ended my 8 hour walking day at the St. Paul tube stop and headed back up to Kings Cross for a much deserved and tasty Indian dinner!

The best things to take from this is if you're going to England and want to see a lot, don't be afraid to get stuck in the rain!!

 Entrance to the mall to Buckingham Palace

 Guard making his rounds with large, loud click-y heels!

 Gates at the Globe Theater. It's hard to see but the gates are covered with wrought iron figure - flowers, animals, etc. I think they all represent something from Shakespeare's play and sonnets, though I did not go in to find out. 

The Poppy Appeal. The British Legion has a fundraiser to memorialize those lost in service. These plots lined the courtyards of Westminster Abbey and red paper poppy's can be seen on lapels and jackets of Londoners (and me!) all through the city.