Part 4 London

We had fine weather at Skagen and the sea was calm. While sailing to Southampton we encountered quite a few other ships on the water but as we entered the North Sea on our way to Southampton, the sea became quite crowded with both ships and oil platforms. Also, as we came closer to England, the weather became cloudy and rain welcomed us to Southampton.

Clearing Customs was easy as we were able to do that the day before at sea as the British Authorities boarded the ship while in Danish waters. Our driver was there at the Southampton Terminal waiting to drive us to our London hotel. The drive took all of three hours as the roads at the port were clogged with large trucks transporting freight (from this busy port) to various parts of England. Once we made it to main highway called "M3", we just sailed along at speeds up to 100 miles per hour. The Brits use Imperial measure for distance and speed but use Celsius (Metric) for temperature. 

Our hotel, the Apex Temple Court Hotel (a four-star hotel) couldn't be better located for walking distance. It was located near where Strand changes to Fleet Street. The hotel was a four-sided building seven stories high and built around a courtyard. Everything was ultra modern with marble floors and counters in the reception room, bar, dining room  as well as the bathrooms in the suites. It was very comfortable after our small cabin on the ship.

                    

Our first day (afternoon) we just explored a bit, by walking up Fleet

Canada House

Street to Trafalgar Square. The pigeons were not as plentiful as the last time I visited the Square due to the fact that the authorities started to use hawks to control the pigeon population. The usual large crowds were there taking camera shots at the various statues and monuments. Canada House was visited but there was no admittance that day. Afterwards we looked for a good Pub where we could have a light lunch and a beer. It was a crummy Pub at the best. Afterward we searched for a decent place to have dinner and we were not that lucky either. Again the place was crummy. It was the worst meal we ever had. I made a mistake and pointed out the wrong item on the menu. I sometimes do these dumb things. My travel companion was not pleased. To make up for my faux-pas, I treated her and myself to two fine glasses of French wine at our hotel before turning-in.                                                                 

The second day (full day in London), we bought passes for a Hop-on Hop-off bus to tour London. We caught the bus at St Paul's Cathedral and proceeded towards Tower Bridge and London Tower. At London Tower, we boarded a Thames River boat and traveled upstream passing the HMS Belfast, a World War II cruiser anchored in the middle of the Thames which is now a floating museum. Our boat ride ended at Westminster Pier near Westminster Bridge. From there we walked up the Mall to Buckingham Palace.    

HMS Belfast

As Changing-of-the Guard takes place only  on Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 11'oclock in the morning, we wanted to make sure we knew our way to the palace for the Changing-of-the-Guard the following day as that would be our only chance to see this spectacle.

Now it was time for lunch and we lucked in at a very fine restaurant near the palace. In fact, at this restaurant, a photographer was taking pictures of various dishes that were offered at the place just a few seats from us for their menu. We watched as she took various shots and when she finished taking shots of two lovely desserts the head waiter offered these to us gratis. We did not refuse. The desserts were very sumptuous. 

After our late lunch we walked up Buckingham Palace Road for a bit and then boarded another Hop-on Hop-off bus that took us all around the city. It happened to be the wrong bus as we should have waited for the "Red Route" bus instead I chose the "Blue Route". We were on that bus for two hours before we got to the our right destination. (Again my travel companion was not too pleased with me for making such a boner.)

That evening we took in the show "Lion King" at the Lyceum Theatre. It was quite a production. I would not rate the show equal to Andrew Lloyd Weber 's "Cats" as Cats had beautiful music. The costumes in the Lion King were very original and took a lot of imagination.  

The following day was good and bad. First of all, we caught a bus at the front of St Paul's Cathedral and for the next twenty-five minutes we traveled the distance of 200 metres to the back of St Paul's because of the heavy traffic that caused a traffic jam. We could see that we would miss the Changing-of-the-Guard if we stayed on the bus, so we got off and proceeded to walk to the palace at distance of 2.5 kilometres. We did arrive at the Palace in time enough to see the Guard's Band with their mascot dog and a Troop of the Guard march to the Palace grounds. Had we walked there in the first place instead of wasting time on the bus, we would have arrived at the Palace earlier and had a better place at the Palace fence to view the Changing-of-the-Guard. 

Westminster Abbey

Afterward we walked down Birdcage Walk adjacent to St James's Park to Whitehall and Westminster. We passed by Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament but didn't go into any of the buildings. We did  take some pictures though. As we walked further, passing Trafalgar Square, we found a great restaurant Caffe Concerto an Italian restaurant. The décor, food and service were great. It was the best place we had encountered in the three days spent in London.

Big Ben

Regarding the heavy traffic problem in London, the authorities tried to eliminate the congestion by charging a fee for vehicles to enter the city. It probably helped somewhat, but the congestion still exists. I for one, would change some of the main thoroughfares to one-way streets. It seems to me that having two lanes of heavy traffic traveling in opposite directions on the same roadway slows traffic down especially when both lanes on either side can make a turn out or receive a turn in.  For instance, Whitehall, Strand, Fleet Street, Ludgate Hill, and Cannon (all one street but with five names) from Westminster to the Tower Bridge could be in the west east direction and Victoria Embankment, Upper Thames and Lower Thames Street (all one street) could be made a one-way in the other direction. This would give four lanes of traffic all traveling in the same direction and when there is a "turn in or turn out"  it only affects the outside lanes leaving the other two lanes free to keep going like an expressway. London has to do something as it is very costly having traffic jams as in the present case.    

Because of the heavy traffic which as mentioned comes to a halt often, many people in London jaywalk sometimes with dire results. While walking to our hotel after viewing the changing of the guard, we witnessed one individual lying in the street with medics attending to him as he was hit by a fast moving motorcycle. From the looks of things, I don't think he survived.  

 After all that walking, we were pretty well played out when we got to our hotel. That evening we dined at our hotel and turned in early as we had to get up a 4:45 am to travel to Heathrow Airport to make our flight to Vancouver and then to Victoria. We were tired on arriving home and hungry. The food on Air Canada for an international flight, I would be ashamed to serve it to a anyone. My next trip will be on a different airline.

                                                               Finis

David L McKay