First Impressions

I first visited London on 24th September. Our journey began at Waterloo Tube Station. We emerged out from the tube station and walked towards the River Thames. As we moved towards the Thames the giant Millennium Wheel (London Eye) towered above us. It was much larger than I had imagined it to be and it moves very slowly, completing 1 revolution in about 30 minutes.

We then walked along the river bank towards the Westminster Bridge. At the other end of this bridge stands the famous clock tower known as the Big Ben and alongside it stretches the famous Westminster Abbey and the Westminster Palace. We reached the Big Ben just as it struck 11 and then walked towards St. James’ Park. St. James’ Park has a thick cover of trees, beautiful lawns and also a lake with swans, ducks and a pelican.

Adjoining the park stands St. James’ Palace, one of the Royal residences, which was built by Henry the VIII. We walked out of St. James’ Park and found ourselves on The Mall which led straight to Buckingham Palace. On arriving at Buckingham Palace we found a large crowd of people who had gathered to witness the Changing of the Guard. This is an important ceremony at the Royal residences when charge is handed over from one set of guards to the next. Since there are several regiments that comprise the Queen’s guard, the ceremony is a picturesque sight and is accompanied by the regimental bands. The guards are all dressed in smart red coats for the summer and in grey coats for the winter. Find out more about the guards on http://www.changing-the-guard.com/index.htm and if you are planning a visit to the palaces, don’t miss this extremely fascinating ceremony.

Outside Buckingham palace is a large sculpture of Queen Victoria and I saw a similar one outside Windsor Castle. Is it deliberate or a coincidence? I don’t know.

From Buckingham Palace we began a long walk down Constitution Hill. This road has Green Park on one side and the private gardens of Buckingham Palace on the other so the effect is quite charming and the walk was very beautiful. From Constitution Hill we turned into Piccadilly which is probably one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city. It is also one of the fashionable areas of the city with several luxury hotels and expensive real estate. Piccadilly ends at Piccadilly Circus which is a major traffic intersection in the West End renowned for its video displays and huge neon signs. It is also the location of the Piccadilly Circus tube station which lies directly underneath the busy intersection.

From Piccadilly Circus it was a short tube journey to Charing Cross which is a short distance away from Trafalgar Square. The British naval hero Admiral Nelson’s statue atop Nelson’s Column towers over the Square. The square commemorates Admiral Nelson’s victory in the historic Battle of Trafalgar.

From Trafalgar Square another short tube ride deposited us at Baker Street, home to one of the most famous detectives in British fiction – Sherlock Holmes. There is a lifesize statue of Holmes right outside the tube station on a busy sidewalk and it was a tough task to take a picture without blocking other people. Incidentally, among the non-admirers of detective fiction, Baker Street is better known for Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. From Madame Tussauds, we visited 221B Baker Street which now houses the Sherlock Holmes Museum and a memorabilia store.

From Baker Street we traveled to Bond Street which is famous for its shopping and then we returned to Kings’ Cross.

During this trip, we did not enter any of the famous attractions; this was merely a familiarization exercise and will form a basis for our next trip into this vibrant city which is steeped in history and yet is the modern commercial capital of the nation, which juxtaposes historical monuments and modern monstrosities, which accommodates traffic and crowds through the week and turns into an idyllic tourist destination on Sundays (when traffic is not allowed in certain sections). London is truly a beautiful city and we look forward to seeing and sharing more of its charms.