London Trip Part One

We arrived in London on Thursday the 27th about 12:30 p.m. after a 80-minute trainride. One of the great things about being here is that you can get about anywhere in a reasonable amount of time either here or on the continent quickly and conveniently--there are a few exceptions. Distance is a completely different concept here than in the US. Everything is relatively close. In the time it would take you to drive to DC or New York, you can go from London to Edinburgh by rail. In the time it takes you to drive to Cleveland, you can be in Spain, Italy, Germany, Poland, you name it, by cheap air fare. It's a great opportunity.

Anyway, we did touristy things the first day, returning to the traditional haunts of Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. Here we are at the base of Nelson's Column.

Here is a relief of Nelson struck down by a dastardly French musketball at the moment of victory aboard his flagship HMS Victory.

And, of course, the statue of Eros in the center of Piccadilly with the giant electronic billboard behind.

 

 

Then it was on to the London Eye, one of the great abominations of all time, thank you very much Tony Blair--a ferris wheel in the south bank of the Thames, not far from Westminster Bridge. But, someone wanted to check it out, so we did. It is the most visited tourist attraction in Great Britain. 

 



I'll admit that the views were nice, but really, a ferris wheel in the middle of London? You can see the iconic Dome of St. Paul's through the buildings to one side, and the houses of Parliament to the the other, but really, a ferris wheel in the middle of London?

 

After that, a stroll along the Thames to Westminster Bridge and over to the Abbey for Evensong. I try to attend this whenever I'm in London in tribute to my mentor and friend Dr. David Judy whom so many of you knew. David was the man who insisted that I go to England during J-Term of my senior year which triggered my wanderlust that continues to this day. The last time I was here was with some students on our way to The Gambia, including Jack Wheeler, Paul Starcher, and Dex Myers, among others.

Then it was off to the theatre for a performance of Wicked, celebrating its sixth birthday on the stage in London that night. The Half-Price booth in Leicester Square has now morphed into a whole string of half-price (or so they say) outlets in and around that area, so you can still get excellent seats for a decent price, but it is nothing like the good old days--for example back in 1974 I was able to see Maggie Smith, Vanessa Redgrave, Alec Guinness and a host of other well known actors for about a pound a show, often less than that--but still a bargain compared to New York.

Enough for now. I'll post again soon about our Friday and Saturday, including trips to the Tate, the British Museum, and to another show.