The Best of Times; The Worst of Times

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What a week in London! Tony Blair resigned and Gordon Brown took up the new post. There have also been record floods across the country and two enormous car bombs were found before they ignited in the West End. As if London wasn't already interesting enough!

The Best Things About London

1. So Much to Do
We realised very quickly that a week was not enough time in London. Not wanting to miss anything, we raced from site to site, sampling rather than savouring. Obviously, we will have to return one day. This week we managed to squeeze in: A London Bus Tour, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, The London Aquarium, The Natural History Museum, The Science Museum, The Globe Theatre Exhibition, The Tower of London, The Tower Bridge Exhibition, The Royal Observatory at Greenwich, The National Maritime Museum, A Thames River Cruise, St Paul's Cathedral, The Imperial War Museum, The Britain at War Experience, A West End Show called 'Stomp', Madame Tussaud's, The Sherlock Holmes Museum, The British Museum, A Globe Theatre production of The Merchant of Venice (standing in the rain as groundlings), The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham, The Royal Mews (stables), John Keats' House,
Samuel Johnson's House, The Freud Museum, A walk in Hyde Park and a day trip to Dover, Canterbury Cathedral and Leeds Castle. Richard's favourite was the Science Museum because it had so many engines, machines and aircraft. My favourite was The Merchant of Venice. We both enjoyed the percussive / dance / comic musical 'Stomp' which uses 'junk' materials like old bins, brooms, industrial materials and even kitchen sinks as musical instruments. We would have liked to see more theatre (the real beauty of which is that usually you sit down throughout the performance) but couldn't squeeze it in.

2. The Living History
Walking in London is like walking through a live exhibition in a museum. London has been the hub of the English speaking world for almost a thousand years and great nations have been founded by ships setting sail from the Thames. History heaves itself into life as you look at the place where convict ships where moored before departing for the colonies. The tales of 17th century theatre-goers being rowed across to the south bank to the Globe make much more sense when you are standing by the actual river. The past conflicts between England and France bubble to the surface when you hear Shakespeare's gentle jibes at the French and hear the contemporary English audience laugh. Everywhere you turn, names leap out of books, films or games; Westminster, Henry VIII, Charing Cross, Pall Mall, Nelson, Piccadilly Circus, The Savoy, Sir Francis Drake, Kensington Palace, Freud, Whitechapel, Guy Fawkes. Suddenly history seems to shed its vaguely fictional quality.

3. The Pageantry
In a country that holds onto its past so firmly, the pageantry of London fits easily. Australia's parliament house is appropriately modern. Here, it is only right and proper that English bobbies, with their funny hats, stand guard outside a beautifully elaborate stone building. When Australia gave the Queen a gift of a new coach some years ago, I remember thinking that it seemed to be a terrible waste of time and effort. When we saw the coach at the Royal Mews, with the kangaroo and emu proudly displayed on the door, I felt a strange sense of pride. The royal dynasty might be wasteful, shameful and irresponsible in a world beset by problems, but the crowds lining up to see the changing of the guard each day are testimony to the very real popularity of the monarchy. The sheer escapism of the royal machine, with its link to the past glory of the Empire, is so much more uplifting and entertaining than anything the latest reality TV show has to offer.

4. The Parks
Londoners have the Royal Family to thank for their incredible parklands. Apparently the royals loved hunting so much that they set aside vast tracts of land in the city for the express purpose of hunting close to home. Now those same parks are used as recreational green spaces for the public. Hyde Park is enormous - kind of like Centennial Park, but bigger and closer to the centre of the city. There are squirrels and birds everywhere, lovely riding trails (even dressage arenas) lakes and cycling paths. Deck chairs are permanently set up in the park so that visitors can laze around in the sun when the rain eventually goes away. The park outside Buckingham Palace is also beautiful and is just a hundred metres or so from all the action at Downing St.

5. The River Thames
Winding through the city, the Thames gives structure to the centre of the city. It is a wonderful navigational landmark - brilliant when you get lost - just head towards the river. Travelling up the river is a great way to see all the landmarks - Parliament House, Big Ben, The London Eye (giant ferris wheel), The Millenium Bridge, London Bridge, The Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, The Tate Modern, St Paul's Cathedral, The Globe Theatre - you could spend two weeks just exploring the river alone. At night, it looks really pretty all lit up.

6. The Tube
With the city spread around the winding river and jostling for space with all the parks, the tube is a fantastic invention. Why don't we have one in Sydney???? It's like the Metro in Paris; each train line runs to a different part of the city and the commuters change platforms to link up to different colour coded lines. Most stations are only connected to one or two lines so you have to work out where you can connect to the line you are after like a puzzle. It is great fun. You only have to wait a couple of minutes on the platform before you are whizzed through the tube and on to the next station.


7. The Theatre
Everyone wants to see a West End show so there are loads of productions to see. We had a choice between about twenty shows and some of the tickets were only £10 each. We paid £5 each to see a performance of The Merchant of Venice in the recreation of the original Globe Theatre (Shakespeare's favourite haunt on the South bank of the Thames). The performance space is very different to a modern theatrical production because the middle of the theatre is open to the weather. The covered stands around the edge of the round playhouse are more expensive and you can sit down. We paid the pleb fee to stand in the open pit in front of the stage. We wore rain coats because it rained periodically throughout the show. That didn't seem to be a problem. Even standing for three hours wasn't as bad as it sounds - in fact, when I left a few minutes before interval to make sure we got hot tea and a seat, Richard stayed because he didn't want to miss the action. Amazing when you consider how much his knees, calves and feet have been hurting lately! The show
Watching the Eye of the storm approach
was highly entertaining to say the least.

The Worst Things About London

1. The Cost of Living
This place is without doubt the most financially draining place we have visited. Fortunately, most of our expenses were prepaid before we left. We still had to eat though. Two plain sandwiches and two cups of tea cost us nearly thirty Australian dollars (£12). A visit to the London Eye costs a couple (£30) or about $75 Aussie dollars. Some small museums were charging £5 entrance fee ($12.50) to see a few bare rooms and read a foolscap sheet of information. We were constantly amazed by how expensive things are here and wonder how the local people cope - they don't seem to earn that much more than us.

2. The Space in Our Hotel Room
Unbelievable. I am not kidding. There was not enough room to put your hands over your head in the shower cubicle. I had to shower in sections, hanging out of the cubicle so that I could reach my feet and wash my hair. I can't wait to have a decent shower where I can reach all of my body.

3. The Unreliability of Menus
British people seem to be unfettered by the constraints of advertising. They can advertise a gourmet style meal and then bring you something which only vaguely passes for what you ordered. "Ohh, we are out of cheese today." We have ordered identical meals at restaurants (can I flatter them with that label?) and been served completely different meals.

4. The Weather
Did I mention that Britain has received record rainfall in June? Record flood levels have cut off whole towns and hundreds of people placed in emergency accomodation. Dams are threatening to burst their banks. London has not flooded, but it has rained every day. It has been cold, too. No wonder the Brits love their museums so much.

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Photos

City drivers
On the day Blair handed his resignation to the Queen

Something Old Something New
The Millenium bridge (a fancy walkway) connects St Paul's cathedral to the Tate Modern Gallery

Trafalgar Square
London looking pretty during a break in the rain

Detail from Westminster Abbey
Why are all the places of God decorated with devils, dragons and demons?

Getting to the church on time...
A London bus carrying the entire wedding party to Westminster Abbey

Arms display
in the Tower of London

Royal Observatory
At 1pm each day, the red time ball drops to let the world know what time it is at Greenwich

Elementary.
My dear Richard

The Globe Theatre
A recreation of Shakespeare's famous stomping ground on the Thames. We paid for the privilege of being 'penny stinkards' and standing in the open forecourt.

Freddy Mercury
Madame Tussaud's was a lot more interesting than we expected. The crowd was mixed but seemed to get along pretty well.

Catching up with an old friend.
A surprisingly short, old friend.

London Cabs
The retro styling added to the feeling of going back in time.

Westminster View
Standing at the entrance to the abbey and looking at Big Ben and Parliament House with the London Eye peeping up from across the Thames. See the camping protesters on the lawn? Their strident calls to save the children (I'm not sure which ones) stopped only when they starting singing off key.

An ancient Greek lyre
Supposedly discovered in Athens. Even the British Musuem are apparently wary of Greek gifts.

Richard
and some other guy named 'Ben'