Vacation / Travel Supplement
Fall in love with London: Famous British city captivates visitors with history and pageantry
Big Ben, which towers over the Houses of Parliament, is a famous landmark in London. Many people think it is the name of the clock, but Big Ben is actually the 13-ton bell which chimes inside the ornate clock tower. (Submitted photo/Kamilla Benko)
By Kamilla Benko (Special to The Criterion)
ENGLAND—As a girl who grew up on Disney movies, England always represented a special place for me, a kind of quasi-magical country where real-life princesses lived, Pride and Prejudice heroine Elizabeth Bennet found love and King Arthur pulled a sword out of a stone.
I always wanted to visit there, and finally through an Indiana University journalism program I got the chance to live in London for eight weeks during the summer of 2010.
On the plane ride over the Atlantic, I worried that my expectations for England were set too high and could not possibly be met. But I could not stop myself from hoping that my Literary London would greet me upon arrival. It didn’t.
My first impression of London wasn’t good. The hour bus ride from Gatwick Airport to my home for the next two months revealed gray skies, Hollywood billboards and McDonald’s fast-food restaurants. America had triumphed there.
But as the bus pulled a sharp corner, Big Ben loomed into view then the majestic spires of Parliament.
Above the famous skyline, the London Eye, a Ferris wheel, revolved slowly with tourists on board for the ride and spectacular view.
Was it my literary London? No. But it was something much better.
It was real.
Navigating the famous British city
London offers everything that New York City does—high-quality musicals, wonderful art museums, historic sites and a lot of people. But it’s less claustrophobic than the skyscrapers of New York. The British buildings, many dating from the 19th century, hug the ground and allow the sky to peep through.
Of course, New York—and even Indianapolis—have London beat in one respect. London does not have a systematic—or really any—street plan.
After the London Fire of 1666, the English rebuilt the city the exact same way. All the old cart paths remained, and as a result today’s roads intersect at odd angles and change names around every corner.
This is fun for historical reasons. In the 1500s, Henry VIII’s first wife rode along Charterhouse Street and Gray’s Inn Road to arrive at St. Etheldreda’s Church—the exact same streets with the exact same names that I took 600 years later for a Mass in the exact same church.
But for practical reasons, this can make navigating the city a pain.
Enter the Tube
You will never get lost in London once you have mastered the Tube, the British subway system.
At first glance, the colorful web-like map may be confusing, but after riding on it for a day you will feel like a native Londoner and be able to navigate the transfers with ease. To improve efficiency, invest in an Oyster Card. This little card allows you to bypass long lines and ride all three of the major transit systems—the Tube, trains and double-decker buses.
Churches, castles and palaces … oh my!
The very modern transportation makes it easy to visit all of the historic destinations. Everyone should see the colorful changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, which is free, as well as the Tower of London, the medieval prison and current location of the crown jewels. The Beefeaters, the part of the army that guards the Tower today, offer tours that are both humorous and educational.
For more royal connections, visit Leeds Castle and Hampton Court Palace. Both palaces are located about an hour’s train ride from London, and have beautiful rooms and gardens to explore at length.
But as much as I enjoyed touring the castles, historic Westminster Abbey, the venue of the recent royal wedding, was my favorite of the typical tourist destinations.
My first time in Westminster Abbey was for an afternoon prayer service, which only offered a tantalizing glimpse into the vast rooms inside the church. About 50 people attended the service, but it felt like less since the space was so large.
And this gigantic space? It was nothing more than a hallway in the huge Abbey. A hallway!
Besides the recent wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine of Cambridge, the Abbey has many connections to the royal family.
Inside are the tombs of kings and queens as well as the Coronation Chair—the chair that every British monarch has been crowned in since 1308 A.D.
But my favorite part of the entire Abbey was a little door in a hall with a sign that read “Britain’s oldest door.”
I love how well the British have preserved their history and traditions. Even a small wooden door amid all the splendor of kings and queens has its own special place.
British cuisine
And, of course, one of the most famous British traditions is tea time. For anyone wanting to partake in this charming custom, visit The Orangery. This 18th-century building designed for Queen Anne is next to Kensington Palace, the former residence of the late Princess Diana of Wales.
They offer a wide variety of tea and other tasty afternoon treats from a range of prices. One of my favorite morning routines was walking to Kensington Gardens to get a scone with clotted cream for breakfast. And for an afternoon snack, I loved their finger sandwiches and chocolate pastries.
But it’s not only the tea and desserts that are good. My British friends introduced me to what they call garlic butter, a mayonnaise-based sauce for French fries served in the pubs, and Pimm’s, a classic summer drink.
But if you visit the pubs on a Tuesday night, prepare to get roped into a Quiz Game.
Every Tuesday, most pubs hold a quiz competition, where the prize is typically free drinks for the rest of the evening. They love to get the tourists to play as the quiz questions usually relate to British news and politics. Fair warning.
London life
At the end of eight weeks in London, I felt as though I had only scratched the surface of the city. There is so much to do in London—all the British museums have free admission—and in the scenic areas nearby that it can be overwhelming to try to do it all. But that’s the beauty of London. There’s always something new to explore, and there’s always a choice between modern and old.
As English author Samuel Johnson once wrote, “When a man is tired of London he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”
(Kamilla Benko is a member of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis, a junior at Indiana University in Bloomington and a freelance writer for The Criterion.) †
