“I suppose the best way to find out where you come from is to find out where you’re going, and then work backwards.” Tom Baker as Doctor Who
In this (my final post about my absolutely incredible journeys in England and Paris), I had a strong desire to compare my blog from 2014 when I last wrote about my travels in England to my blog from 2019, taking bits and pieces from both “eras,” as it were, to see how I might have described, for example, Stonehenge in 2014 wile comparing it to how I described it in 2019. Let’s see what I discovered…
Buckingham Palace
Still a good idea to visit on a Sunday, but both visits I seem to have left feeling a bit underwhelmed (especially on my second visit). I’ll probably never go out of my way to see Buckingham Palace ever again, especially after finally viewing the equally underwhelming Changing of the Guard.
2014
“[T]he Mall [is] closed to motor traffic, so [you] can enjoy marvelous views of Buckingham Palace uninterrupted by honking cars and squealing tires.”
“Sadly, you can’t get as close as I thought you could to the famous guards in their red uniforms and tall bear fur hats and try to make them laugh by talking about penises really loudly.”
2019
“I still recommend going for a visit, especially on a Sunday when traffic to the Mall is closed, so pedestrians can enjoy views of the palace and the nearby Victoria Monument without all the hustle and bustle of cars and busses circling about.”
“If navigating a packed crowd and standing on tip-toes to (maybe) catch a glimpse of the proceedings sounds interesting to you then by all means go ahead. Have a blast.”
BT Telecom Tower
There’s a drawing allure about this tower for me. I don’t know why. Actually, I do know why. It’s because Doctor Who used it as a location in 1966 for the serial, The War Machines.
2014
“[I]t’s a kind of space age tower, very glassy and shiny and metallic, shaped like a long cylinder that keeps changing its circumference as if the tower was built by placing slabs of metallic and glassy circles of different sizes all on top of each other.”
2019
“[Primrose Hill] allows for lovely views of the glassy and cylindrical BT Telecom Tower, which still looks somewhat futuristic today (or perhaps futuristic for a Stanley Kubrick film) despite having been built in 1964.”
City of Westminster
Still iconic as ever!
2014
“[O]ne of the first things you think of when someone mentions London.”
2019
“Whenever I think of London, I always think of this part of the city first[.]”
Driving in England / Returning to London
I have mixed feelings about driving in England. I had an absolute blast the first time, but I think that was on account of how more leisurely the itinerary was and how many more hours of daytime we had. The second time around we had pre-booked destinations that were much too far apart, and we spent so much time driving in the dark. All things considered, I’m glad I’ve done it twice now, but I think the next time I return to England I want to venture around by train as day trips out of London. Indeed, both times I remarked upon how being back in London was preferable to the countryside.
2014
On driving:
“[E]ven though it goes contrary to how to experience England, I highly recommend you consider exploring it by car. You adapt to driving on the left very quickly, the roundabouts become second nature after a day or so, and the squiggly country roads are an absolute hoot to drive on.”
2019
On driving:
“It does get quite dark pretty early here, so traveling in November has been a little frustrating as we can’t enjoy idyllic views of the countryside at night[.]” After remarking on those squiggly country roads with no shoulder: “But this is all part of the charm of driving here, and it’s fantastic, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
On heading back to London:
“And while I ADORED my time in the countryside, the environment of the hustle and bustle of the city is where my mind fits best.”
On heading back to London:
“The nearer and nearer we got to the city, the happier and happier I was to leave the car behind in favor of traveling by train.”
Kensington Gardens & Hyde Park
Gotta love those birds, and Henry’s Moore sculpture, The Arch, continues to fascinate me and remind me of bones.
2014
On all the birds
“[G]eese and swans and ducks that come right up to you from out of the Long Water or the Serpentine and eat directly from your hand, pigeons that might actually land on you if you’re still enough[.]”
2019
On all the birds
“[We] marveled at the Serpentine, a 40 acre lake created in 1730 for Queen Caroline, now home to countless varieties of ducks, geese, swans, and other birds[.]”
“[We} discovered near the Peter Pan statue a tree of flashy green parakeets that might just land on your hand if you’re patient and have food with you[.]”
On Henry Moore’s Arch
“The Arch by Henry Moore, a tall structure resembling giant, dense bones[.]”
On Henry Moore’s Arch
“[We] gazed upon Henry Moore’s stone sculpture, The Arch, a tall marble artwork dating from 1979-1980, designed in a way that makes me think of large human bones[.]”
Leaving London Behind
Torture on both occasions…
2014
“I find myself becoming melancholy because I don’t want to go back to Minnesota at all. London is absolutely wonderful[.] I feel at home here in a way that I quite haven’t felt in other cities. I always knew London was the greatest city in the world, and this trip has now loudly and confidently confirmed that!”
2019
“We all keenly felt the pain of leaving London behind[.] The sickness I feel when I think about London (the Germans call it fernveh or far sickness, the opposite of home sickness) is sometimes so profound that I become consumed in grief. At the same time, I’ve visited the city three times now, and each of those times are filled with such brilliant and vivid memories of such delightful times that the joy of visiting overcomes the grief of departing. I shall never forget those times, and I’ll cherish them always.”
Regent’s Park
We didn’t have time to see Regent’s Park in 2019 (only enough time to walk by it), but my 2014 post reminded me that Regent’s Park was my favorite of the five big parks in central London. I’ll have to prioritize going back next time, as the descriptive comments I made in 2014 make me feel all nostalgic while the brief comments I made in 2019 make me sad.
2014
“[T]he best of the lot is Regent’s Park, so if you only have time to check out one of the parks, do visit Regent’s Park[.] [It] is a very posh park, as within it is Regent’s University, Queen Mary’s Gardens, and Open Air Theatre. The gardens, too, are very classically British with little strips of grass bordering well trimmed hedges in shapes of perfect squares or long, long rectangles, complete with roses and geraniums and all sorts of other flowers carefully placed and manicured.”
2019
“The route [to Camden Market] took us along Prince Albert Road which runs along the north side of Regent’s Park[.] I had visited Regent’s Park on my previous visit to London[.]”
Roman Baths
I seem to have taken a keen interest in the original foundation of the place on both visits. However, the 19th century redevelopment of the baths was remarkable on my first visit and a little disappointing on my second visit. Lastly, I’m surprised I didn’t mention tasting the water for my 2019 post, as that was a real highlight both times.
2014
“The redevelopment of the baths is quite remarkable, but even remarkable still is viewing the original foundation and existing various pools. Taste the water, too. If you’ve grown up in the country where you might have access to an old pump made of some kind of heavy metal where you could pump water directly from a well, you’ll have some idea of what the water tastes like.”
2019
“What might be a little disappointing to first-time guests of the baths is that much of what gets photographed was built up around the original foundations in the 19th century. But this is all beside the point, as guests still have the opportunity to view much of the original foundation while learning about what life was like for Romans in England all that time ago “
St. Paul’s Cathedral
In 2014, I wrote about the inside of St. Paul’s Cathedral at much more length and in much greater detail, but in 2019 I wrote much more generally. One thing that struck me in 2014 was how I felt that St. Paul’s seemed new compared to what we had seen before. Both times, however, Christopher Wren deservedly receives ovations.
2014
“What’s immediately striking about St. Paul’s Cathedral, especially after viewing so many old and ancient abbeys and churches and castles in the countryside and in London, is how new St. Paul’s felt. What’s also striking about St. Paul’s is how spacious, organized, uncluttered, and uniform the whole thing is. St. Paul’s is clearly the design of one man: Christopher Wren.”
2019
“I don’t know what I can really say about this place beyond how gorgeous this masterpiece of Christoper Wren’s is! The architecture is the most gorgeous; the dome is the most impressive; the black and white tiles of the floor are the most iconic; the elaborate tile work in the apses below the dome depicting the death and resurrection of Jesus is the most stunning; visiting the final resting places in the crypt of so many great men and women is the most humbling.”
The views of the city atop the cathedral didn’t disappoint on either visit, and I do know that I will visit St. Paul’s again and again just for the view atop the dome alone.
2014
“It is at the Golden Gallery where you can experience the finest views of the city[.] [T]he views of the entire city just made me fall in love with the city all over again. The greatest city in the world! Seen from an incredible and irreplaceable vantage! All you could see was London! As far as the eye could see! A seemingly never ending, restless ocean or vast mountain range of buildings! Old and new! Glass and stone! Metal and mortar! Side by side!”
2019
“But I think what really tops everything off is climbing all 528 stairs to the topmost gallery that visitors are allowed to go. [Y]ou simply must visit the galleries for some of the most impressive views of the city. The Stone Gallery is 53 meters from the cathedral floor and provides a midway break to rest up while enjoying lovely, lovely views, while the Golden Gallery is 85 meters above the floor and provides what I really think are the best views of the entire city. Beat that, London Eye! (You can’t.)”
Stonehenge
I seem to have cooled a little bit on Stonehenge, which means my 4.5 rating of the place seems to be essentially accurate.
2014
“Stonehenge was absolutely fantastic. It’s one of those places like the White House or the Eiffel Tower or the Rocky Mountains. You see so many pictures of it, and then you finally see it in person with your own eyes, and it’s absolutely surreal.”
2019:
“[O]ur next stop similarly receives a 4.5 out of 5 from me. I’m tempted to give it the full five, but five for me means that I love something so much that I’d go back again and again and never tire of it, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case.”
Tower of London
Still as expansive as ever!
2014
“I recommend arriving close to when it opens, as we spent five hours at the Tower[.] So do seriously plan on spending the whole day here[.]”
2019
“There’s really just so much to see at the Tower, which is why it’s so easy to spend hours and hours here and write paragraphs and paragraphs about it. [P]lan on spending a whole day here from open until close.”
And both times we seemed to have needed to rush through the White Tower on account of time.
2014
“Sadly, we were quickly running out of time, as the various staff members told us that the upper levels of the White Tower would soon be closing.”
2019
“Inside is the modest St. John’s Chapel (which we had totally bypassed by accident on account of rushing through the White Tower due to lack of time[.]”
Westminster Abbey
The tombs in general seem to have left lasting impressions on both visits, with the resting place of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth a particularly striking moment (although I seem to be misremembering the exact placement of their tombs in relation to each other). The quire also consistently seems to be memorable, and the abbey consistently feels cluttered.
2014
On those tombs of Elizabeth and Mary:
“Bloody Mary buried directly beneath her sister Elizabeth, two sisters so directly opposed to each other, yet there their bodies lie so close to each other.”
2019
On those tombs of Elizabeth and Mary:
“An especially striking moment is when you enter the Lady Chapel and visit the tombs of Elizabeth I and Mary I, two sisters who hated each other in life but who are buried side by side forever in death.”
On that clutter:
“Westminster seemed more a frantic mishmash of little bits added over the years[.] [W]e got to view the culmination of hundreds of years of different people making decisions about the space in one glance or two; all the different tombs and memorials and statues that were slowly added to all the different chapels, making each one of those feel especially cluttered and disorganized, [giving] Westminster that kind of frantic mishmash feel.”
On that clutter:
“What always strikes me about Westminster is how cluttered the whole place is “[T]his place really is jam packed with statues and monuments and tombs and vaults in every nook and cranny. If there’s space for it, there will be a tomb. But what tombs!”
On that quire:
“[The quire] had the characteristic benches running parallel to the abbey walls, smart lanterns with red shades sitting on long desk things in front of the benches[.]”
On that quire:
“[T]he quire is a wide open space where that iconic black-and-white chessboard tile is on full display, three rows of elegant wooden stalls on the north and south walls run the length of the quire from east to west, red lamps spaced evenly amongst the stalls like rows of soldiers.”
And so, there it is. I think finally, at last, I have had my fill of writing about London, but I do believe I could keep writing about it and writing about it and never tire of writing about it. (But I can see where some people might find I’m just bloviating.) Regardless, after 16 posts and nearly 24,000 words, I shall conclude for now. I’m not sure where my travels will next lead. Montreal? Mexico City? Tokyo? Peru? Or maybe a return visit to somewhere local? New Orleans, perhaps? I just don’t know. There is so much to see and so little time. It will be difficult to decide.