Marble Arch & Speaker's Corner: With their work duties completed, Paap and Peep were now able to continue seeing London's sites without interruption. After breakfast at the Berjaya, we headed off on foot to Central London, stopping first at Marble Arch, once the main entrance to Buckingham Palace. When the palace was expanded with the construction of what is now its main facade, that which faces Victoria Gardens, the arch was moved to a traffic circle near Hyde Park. It was a short walk from Marble Arch to Speaker's Corner within Hyde Park. This site is known for the political and religious public speeches given here, usually on Sundays. Since we visited on a Tuesday, Speaker's Corner was empty. We then continued east until we reached Piccadilly Circus.
Piccadilly Circus: "Circus" is used here to denote a round open space at a street junction. The term comes from Latin, a legacy of when the Romans ruled the area, and means circle, given to what we think of as a circus today due to the rings where the acts are performed and circle of stands for the spectators.
Piccadilly Circus is at the heart of a shopping and entertainment district of London, and has become a popular meeting place with an Underground station located there. People meet at the Shaftsbury Memorial Fountain located within the space. The memorial is topped with a statue of what was originally intended to be the Greek god Anteros, but is now commonly known by his brother's name, Eros.
Trafalgar Square: We entered Trafalgar Square from the north and first saw St. Martin-in-the-Fields, a popular church due to its location. This location has held a church long before the creation of the square in the 1820's, although the current structure dates only from 1724. Near the church, also overlooking the square, are the National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery. Within Trafalgar Square sits Nelson Column, topped with a statue of the British naval commander credited with the victory of the British fleet over France at the Battle of Trafalgar during the Napoleonic Wars. Admiral Horatio Nelson died at this 1802 battle. Also within Trafalgar Square are two fountains, Lord Jellicoe and Lord Beatty fountains, and four plinths, three of which contain statues. The fourth plinth, which remained empty until 1998, is now used to showcase specially commissioned artworks. There was a large blue rooster on the fourth plinth during our visit.
Lambeth: From Trafalgar Square, it was a short walk to the newly constructed Golden Jubilee Bridges, two footbridges built in 2002 flanking the Hungerford railroad bridge. We used the southern footbridge to cross the River Thames, reaching the London borough of Lambeth on the other side. At the foot of these bridges is the Royal Festival Hall, a performing arts hall and the only remaining structure from the 1951 Festival of Britain. Making our way south along the banks of the Thames brought us to the London Eye. We purchased tickets and walked right into one of the pods of the largest cantilevered observation wheel in the world. On our thirty minute journey we saw great views of London all around.
Palace of Westminster: From the London Eye, it was back across the River Thames to see the Palace of Westminster, commonly referred to as the Houses of Parliament. The Palace of Westminster has three main towers, one in the middle and one at each end. On the southern end, by the House of Commons, is the largest tower, the Victoria Tower. Adorned at the top with a giant Union flag, the Victoria Tower houses the archives of Parliament. The more recognizable Elizabeth Tower sits on the northern end of the palace, near the House of Lords, and is a giant clock tower. The heaviest of the five bells within the tower goes by the name of Big Ben, which is also used to refer to the tower itself. The Central Tower is smaller than its two counterparts, and is in the shape of a spire rather than a square.
Oliver Cromwell: A statue of Oliver Cromwell sits on the grounds of the Palace of Westminster. Oliver Cromwell helped lead the Parliamentarians to victory over the Royalists in the English Civil War, fought in the years spanning 1642 to 1651. Following his defeat, King Charles I was tried and executed for treason, the only British monarch to have been executed. In 1653, Cromwell was made Lord Protector of the Commonwealth for life and imposed strict Puritan laws, acting much as the king had before his ousting. Upon his death in 1658, he was buried in Westminster Abbey and was succeeded by his son, who held little power within parliament. He was forced to resign the next year, leaving a power vacuum which eventually led to the restoration of the monarchy with Charles II returning from exile. Cromwell was tried and his body then disinterred, hung, beheaded and burned. A plaque still remains in Westminster Abbey noting where he had been buried.
St. Margaret's Church & Westminster Abbey: Across the street from the Palace of Westminster is St. Margaret's Church, the church serving the House of Commons and, next to it, Westminster Abbey. Peep and I took a tour of Westminster Abbey, while Paap waited outside on the steps leading up to St. Margaret's Church. Westminster Abbey is the burial place of many of the kingdom's monarchs, and we saw many tombs and memorials on our tour. Also included is a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, containing the remains of an unidentified soldier from WWI. William the Conqueror was coronated here in 1066, after the Norman conquest of England. Following his lead, every reigning monarch of the kingdom since has been coronated here. Many royal weddings also have been held at the abbey.
Dean's Yard & Central Hall: Next to Westminster Abbey we saw Dean's Yard, which holds Westminster Abbey School, run by Westminster Abbey, and Church House, the headquarters of the Church of England. Across the street from Dean's Yard is Methodist Central Hall, notable as the first meeting place of the United Nations in 1946. Continuing on our walking tour, we came upon the Churchill War Rooms, but didn't enter due to the time.
Horse Guards: From the War Rooms it was on to Horse Guards Parade, a vast open area where ceremonies of the Horse Guards are held and, on the other side of the parade grounds, Horse Guards itself. This guard house once served as the headquarters of the British Army and is now the headquarters of the London District and Household Cavalry Army commands. Two mounted soldiers guard the now symbolic gate to St. James's Palace, located through St. James's Park. Only the monarch is allowed to ride through this gate, but pedestrians are allowed to pass on foot. As we continued on, we ended up circling back to Trafalgar Square, this time approaching it from the south.
Admiralty Arch: We didn't spend any more time in Trafalgar Square, instead making our way through Admiralty Arch, an impressive gateway allowing access to The Mall from Trafalgar Square. Once used for housing government officials, it is now being redeveloped into a luxury hotel. Just past Admiralty Arch is Admiralty Citadel, a bunker built during WWII capable of withstanding a 1,000 pound bomb, and still used by the Ministry of Defense today. Russian vine has been encouraged to grow along its walls to soften the harshness of this militaristic building. Across The Mall from the Citadel is the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), an art gallery with sometimes controversial displays, and the Duke of York Column. From there, we contained up The Mall until we reached the end at Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace: Although Peep and I had visited Buckingham Palace a couple of days earlier, it was Paap's first up-close look at the royal residence. When we were there three days earlier we had purchased tickets to tour the palace, open to the public only while Queen Elizabeth II is at her summer residence in Scotland, which happened to coincide with our visit to London. Inside the palace, we were given a history of the building and taken through its state rooms, used during visits by foreign dignitaries and other guests of the royal family.
In addition to seeing the state rooms, a special exhibition is also set up for the tour, varying from year to year. This year, in honor of her 60th year on the throne, the special exhibition showcased the Queen's Coronation, which occurred in 1953. Films of the ceremony were shown and the attire of the queen and her royal court were all on display. At the end of the tour, we walked through the Palace Gardens before exiting the property and circling back to the front of the palace.
Churchill War Rooms: After touring inside Buckingham Palace, Paap headed off to do some shopping while Peep and I headed back down The Mall and through St. James's Park before returning to the entrance to the Churchill War Rooms. These bunkers were built beneath the Treasury building during WWII to give Winston Churchill and his staff a safe location to work. While the Nazi's bombs were raining down outside, Churchill spent long hours pushing his staff hard to oversee war operations here. On the tour, we not only saw the Cabinet War Rooms, which included the Map Room; the dining room; the bedrooms of Winston Churchill, Clementine Churchill, and staff officers; the meeting rooms; and the communication rooms, but also learned much about Churchill's life and rocky military and political career in the Winston Churchill Museum, which was also part of the Churchill War Rooms tour.
Finishing the Day: Our next stop was at the Cenotaph, a monument to all of the country's war dead, erected in 1920. On Remembrance Day, held in early November, the monarch lays a wreath at this monument located in the middle of Whitehall Road. A short distance along Whitehall is the entrance to Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives and works at number 10. Due to security concerns, this dead-end road is gated off and it is difficult to even see the front of the Prime Minister's house from behind the barricade. From Downing Street, Peep and I headed to an English pub for dinner before walking along Oxford Street, another popular shopping area, and back to the hotel, calling it a night.