Cheerio! Exploring London, England a Second Time Around
Story, photos by Jill Beckel
London, England… a city known for its gray skies, beautiful architecture, culture, art, rich history, the River Thames, the British monarchy, pubs and tea. I was fortunate enough to have been able to study abroad in my college days for a term my sophomore year of college back in 2006. Since then, I’ve been yearning to go back and explore the city even more. I recently got the chance to make the trip back with my husband this time and it couldn’t have been better. All that I would have wished for was to have been able to stay longer!
I knew that I wanted to hit some of the same familiar sights that I had seen on my first London visit, but wanted to explore a bit more too. After a jet-lagged first night in our cozy Airbnb in Covent Garden, the first full day was spent taking a ride on the London Eye and then a boat cruise on the River Thames. The London Eye is a huge Ferris wheel that offers a breathtaking view of London. It was heavily raining all day, but the enclosed capsule ride on the wheel was still enjoyable. Once you’re at the top, your car stops and you have a chance to take a selfie with the London skyline in the background. The boat cruise was also enjoyable and very educational as the tour guide described everything along the River Thames as we passed by with some jokes mixed in.
Next was an afternoon football (i.e. soccer to us Americans) game at Craven Cottage and we were rooting for Fulham Football Club! Fulham Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fulham, London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. I actually enjoyed this way more than I thought that I would. I am not a huge sports fan, but the crowd’s energy was infectious and I loved how “into” the game everyone was! Hardly anyone got up while they were playing and they chanted, “Come on Fulham! Come on Fulham!” with every play. In the U.S., people are often more into tailgating before the game than actually watching (sorry fellow Americans!).
The next day, we got up early and had a delicious British breakfast. I love how they serve tea – even a single serving almost always comes with your own mini teapot and all the ‘fixins.
After we were stuffed ourselves and caffeinated, we headed over to see the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at Buckingham Palace. It was super crowded, but we managed to get a spot only a few people back from behind the gates. Per their website, the Changing of the Guard is a traditional ceremony of the old guard changing with the new. “Changing of the Guard is one of the oldest and most recognizable ceremonies connected with Buckingham Palace. The correct name of the ceremony known as Changing the Guard is actually Guard Mounting. In this process a New Guard exchanges duty with the Old Guard and both Guards are drawn from one of the regiments of Foot Guards.”
It is very interesting to watch and the whole ceremony takes about 45 minutes. There’s lots of marching, music and saluting. It is a tradition that is held very dear by both Brits and tourists alike and it’s easy to see why it is so popular.
Another day was spent exploring the famous Westminster Abbey. Benedictine monks founded Westminster Abbey in 960AD. It’s sacred grounds have seen many coronations, royal weddings, funerals, and other special ceremonies. It is a place of Christian worship with daily services that are open to the public. It is also the burial site for many of England’s kings, queens, statesmen and soldiers, poets, heroes and villains. This definitely gives is a more spooky vibe as you are walking through its halls. No photography is allowed inside of the abbey. I opted for the audio guide tour and even with a few hours of exploring, it felt like you could always visit again and learn something new.
Then, it was time for afternoon tea. My first trip to London really sparked my love of black tea, so I knew that I had to make time in our schedule for a full afternoon tea at Liberty London. Liberty London is a large department store that was build in the 1920’s. It has several floors of everything from clothing, jewelry, perfumes, fabrics and more. Arthur’s Restaurant is located within Liberty and offers a full menu including a delightful afternoon tea. I love scones and clotted cream more than one should, and they definitely did not disappoint me here. The Earl Grey tea was fresh and the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. The tea sandwiches were filing and the desserts were almost too cute to eat (almost).
By the next day, our feet were very tired but we still had much more to explore! We bought passes for a guided tour of Parliament. I went on a tour of Parliament back in 2006, but honestly don’t remember a ton from it. This time, our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and answered all the many questions that our group had. I was most fascinated by this one room that had portraits of all the past monarchs and their stories of how they came to power.
The Tower of London, officially Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. At the Tower of London, you can explore 1,000 years of history at London’s iconic castle and World Heritage Site. See the Crown Jewels, take a legendary Yeoman Warder tour and meet the famous ravens. We used an audio guide and learned all about the prisoners that were trapped at the tower. The walls are etched with drawings and words that prisoners made during their stay there, some living out life sentences. It’s definitely on my must-see list.
Next, we did a quick tour of Kensington Palace for a Princess Diana special exhibit called “Diana: Her Fashion Story”. I have always loved Princess Diana and had a fascination about her. She was truly one of a kind and just seemed like the most caring, genuine person who really cared about others. The exhibit was mainly a display of her most famous attire that she wore for various special occasions and I enjoyed reading the captions and quotes from her.
Kensington Palace can be described as, “the birthplace and intimate childhood home of Queen Victoria and home to young royals for over 300 years.” We got to walk through time in the past footsteps of royalty in the King’s State Apartments, the beautiful Queen’s Apartments and the famous Sunken Garden. At the time of our visit Prince Harry and Meghan were living a cottage on the Kensington Palace grounds and when we were leaving, they blocked off one of the roads for about 10 minutes as a dark window-tinted car with security vehicles both in front and behind drove by. We later heard that Prince Harry and Meghan had went to see Hamilton that evening right around the same time, so we are convinced that it was in fact them driving by us!
We popped in to the British Museum one afternoon. It is massive and hard to cover in one visit! I was most interested in the Egyptian history and seeing pieces from the real Parthenon from Ancient Greece.
I made sure to stop by Regent’s University London (Regent’s College when I attended it back in ’06 for an Elmira College study abroad program) to relive my time there. It looked the same! Regent’s Park is one of the Royal Parks of London and is located right across the street.
Our last day in London was a busy one because we still had several things on our list that we wanted to see: Windsor Castle, Trafalgar Square, and walk on the Tower Bridge (we had only seen it from afar). A busy day like that called for a real English breakfast: scones with clotted cream and Earl Grey tea! Who am I kidding – I use any excuse to have more scones and tea.
A quick 50 minute train ride from London made for the perfect day trip to Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle has been a family home to British kings and queens for over 1,000 years! According to their website, it is the “largest and oldest occupied Castle in the world and it’s where Her Majesty The Queen chooses to spend most of her private weekends.” If a flag is flying over the main tower, then you’ll know that the Queen is there too! Absolutely breathtaking views surround the castle.
St George’s Chapel is also located within Windsor Castle. You’ll recognize it if you watched Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding last spring on TV!
Our last night in London was so sad because we felt depressed about having to leave. We visited some of the famous landmarks one last time to see them around sunset and try to soak it all in.
We left a little piece of our hearts in London and will be back one day for sure! London just feels so much more moody, sophisticated and cool than any American city with so much more history. I’d love to read and write in a park or cafe there all day long.
Random observations:
- Coffee sizes are SO much smaller in England. We found ourselves getting coffee two or three times a day just to get our normal America size we were used to. I guess they are not quite as caffeine addicted as we are!
- Londoners walk SO MUCH more than Americans. I know this is true of most large cities, but I was just amazed by the steps I put in each day without even realizing it.
- Londoners (in general) really do dress better. Even if they are in sneakers and casual wear, they just always seem to look more put together than most Americans. We could learn a thing or two from them.
If you get a chance to take a visit across the pond, I highly recommend it! Cheerio!
