london: the big bus tour & a cruise down the river thames

   

The Thursday (April 1st) that we landed in England we went to Kew Gardens, as I've told you already, and then the next day (our only full day in London) was April 2, Good Friday. 

Trusty Rick Steves had recommended doing one of the unabashedly touristy double-decker bus tours if you find yourself in London for only a brief while, because you really can see a lot and have a lot of fun doing it.

We agree with him! It was fantastic.  We went with with The Big Bus Tour of London, which Steve's book recommended (he said The Original London Sightseeing Tour is also good), and I had paid for the tour tickets and printed out vouchers online in the U.S. before we left, so the whole thing was so easy. There are a zillion places to catch the buses, which run every ten or fifteen minutes or so, but we decided to begin at the beginning (where that red number 1 is below), so we took the tube over to The Green Park, which is just east of Hyde Park.  You catch the Big Bus tour across the street from The Ritz.

 
 

I'm sitting on top of our bus here taking a photo of another bus, although this one is completely open on top, and ours had only had half of the top cut off. (The company renovated old covered double-decker city buses to use as tour buses.)

 

Below is the Queen Elizabeth gate in Hyde Park Corner. It was put up in 1993 to celebrate the 93rd birthday of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

For any of you confused by royal title styling, as I was, I'll quickly explain something.  (And by "quick," I mean, in the rambling and incoherent style you've come to know and love in suziebeezieland.)

When a British king ascends the throne, his wife is given the title "Queen", and is the Queen consort.  The king is the monarch.

The current queen, Queen Elizabeth II, is a Queen regnant. She is the queen in her own right, because her father was the king.  She is the monarch.

The husbands of Queen regnants are not given the title "King," because there would then be the sense that he was in charge.  So they're styled as "princes."  So the current Queen Elizabeth's husband is "Prince Philip" instead of "King Philip."

So Queen Elizabeth II's mom, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, married the man who would eventually become King George VI. (That's another long and scandalous story unto itself.  I am definitely not a fan of the selfish Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.)  

So then Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (who was a commoner, by the way) became "Queen Elizabeth," and was the Queen consort.  

This styling was fine until they had a daughter, whom they also named "Elizabeth," and who they knew would be Queen regnant.  So then, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth became known as "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother," or more popularly, "The Queen Mum."

There are statues, gates, fountains, and doohickies all over England dedicated to "Queen Elizabeth," and you always have to figure out if they're talking about Elizabeth I, Elizabeth the Queen Mum, or Elizabeth II. :)

 

Here is Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. It looks like a patch of mud, but I've heard it comes alive on Sunday afternoons. :)

Mind Your Head! This is just good, solid philosophical advice for all of life, don't you think? It started to drizzle, and Claire and Bob decided to move forward to the covered part of the bus.  You can see the back of Bob's head and his gray hoody's hood up ahead. I stayed outside so I could take photos. 

   

Here is All Souls Church in Langham Place, at the end of Regent Street in Marylebone. John Nash designed this church. He is responsible for most of the architecture from the Regency era in London -- perhaps most notably, he turned Buckingham House into Buckingham Palace. (Decimus Burton, whom I mentioned in the Kew Garden post, helped complete some of Nash's projects.) Nash did a lot of work in Wales and Ireland, also.

In other words, for you Jane Austen fans, John Nash's aesthetic is much of you what you see when you're watching film adaptations of her movies. :)

 

(By the way, this is officially the longest post I've ever posted in suziebeezieland, so I'm using TypePad's "split extended entry" feature for the first time. :) Just click on the link below to keep reading.)

And just north of All Souls is BBC Broadcasting House, which is BBC headquarters and which currently houses some BBC radio channels.  (But I still sang the "BBC1! BBC2!" song from Austin Powers when we drove past it. Out there in the rainy part of the bus you can do anything you want because everybody else is under cover up front.)

Did you know that The Beeb is the largest broadcasting organisation (but not organization) in the world?

 

Apparently Claire got her hopes up when she saw this sign, so I think the actual Piccadilly Circus was a wee bit of a let-down. No elephants.

 

I've neglected to mention that at this point in the tour, we are driving south on Regent Street in the City of Westminster.  

Here is some more explaining for anyone, like me, who didn't really know how London was set up.

I am still totally confused, but basically there is a City of Westminster, and there is a City of London (the ancient center, which is now the banking district), and together, they comprise what we call "London". There are some other areas that are part of "Greater London," but for the most part, if somebody says "London," they're talking about the City of Westminster and the City of London.

(Sweet Molly W., my friend who lives in London, please feel free to elaborate if you're reading this!)

Westminster is very posh and no one can afford to live there, really, so almost everything is commercial.

This is Queen Elizabeth's Starbucks.  The owners pay their rent to the Queen's Crown Estate.

 

You know you're on property that is part of the Crown Estate whenever you see these lamp posts with little gold crowns on top.  I think we all should do that. I would have little corgi dogs on top of mine. Or maybe bunnies.  If I had an estate. Which I do not.

   

This is Hamleys (intentional lack of apostrophe), and as our tour guide said the words "one of the biggest and oldest toy stores in the world," there was some frantic arm-waving at me from the covered front part of the bus from Miss Claire and Mr. Bob, so we got off here for our first stop. Hamleys is quite astounding: floors and floors of beautifully displayed toys and books and games. There is an ENTIRE FLOOR for girls and an ENTIRE FLOOR for boys.

Bob and Claire would have stayed there all day if I didn't give them the eyebrows.

One thing that is so great about these bus tours is that, if you were to stay on them from start to finish without getting off, it would take about two hours, but you can hop on and off all day at your leisure, just jumping off whenever something sounds or looks fun.

 

After we'd poked around Hamleys a bit and found some Paddington Bear books for our niece and nephews, and Claire had used her spending money to buy a bunny rabbit, we hopped back on another bus. As we waited for it, I was delighted to glance over and see this old friend close by. :) (I peeked in the door but didn't go in.)

 

I don't know what this building is, but I thought you'd like to see some of the detail.  

And here is Piccadilly Circus! I quite liked it, as far as non-animal circuses go, and Claire eventually became reconciled to the idea.

   

WIth everything so gray so often (buildings and sky), you can imagine how people love spring in London. See the little daffodils on this balcony?

 

Again, I get thrilled with signage. So many things all at once that I've heard of but never seen.

 

And here is Trafalgar Square. It was very full of people because a Passion Play was being put on for Good Friday.

Trafalgar Square commemorates The Battle of Trafalgar, which was a big sea battle in the Napoleonic Wars.  A few years ago, I wouldn't have gotten too excited about the Napoleonic Wars, but do you remember our vacation a few summers ago up the California coast, when I got in trouble for reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell instead of looking at scenery? That had a bunch of stuff about the Napoleonic Wars in it, so ever since, I've been mighty interested.

 

In this photo, you can see a double-decker tour bus in front, and then one of London's modern double-decker city buses behind it.

And apparently, Sharon Osbourne has written a novel.

 

This is the quintessential British photo for me: Aslan and soccer hooligans, all in one shot.

Actually, those are nice tourists, and this is one of the four lions at the base of Nelson's column in Trafalgar Square.  If you watch Jeopardy, you know that any time they say "British navy" or "Naval heroes," you should hit your buzzer really fast and yell "Who is 'Nelson'?"

The lions are guarding the statue. Notice that they are facing away from the statue to guard it. This will come up later in this post. :D

 

And here is Lord Nelson himself.  He was killed during the Battle of Trafalgar, but the battle was won: the Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, and England lost zero ships.

Yay, Nelson! 

   

We're now in the part of Westminster known as Whitehall, which is the name of the street we're on. Here are two little maps . . . we're making our way down Whitehall south from Trafalgar Square towards the Houses of Parliament.

   

   

You probably can't read the street sign on the wall ahead, but it says "Great Scotland Yard." This street is how Scotland Yard got its name, because it was originally located in Great Scotland Yard. 

 

Here is Horse Guards. (It's the name of the building itself.) Horse Guards was the traditional entrance to both Buckingham Palace and St. James Palace.  (St. James Palace is the Sovereign's official residence, although no king or queen has lived there in two centuries.) Nobody can drive through that arch except the Queen. :)

The gentleman guarding it is a member of the Household Cavalry.  The Household Cavalry is made up of two different regiments; this guy here is in the "Life Guards." It's the senior regiment of the British Army.

 

And here is Her Majesty's Treasury.

 

And then, it's so exciting, because suddenly we're in Parliament Square, and there is Westminster Cathedral (more photos of it will come later), with a statue of Winston Churchill right in front.  It's hard to tell from my photo, but the statue is twelve feet tall.

Our tour guide told us that when Churchill was alive, he did not want any statues of himself erected in London, because he thought it was undignified to have birds going potty on your head. After he died, they put this statue up, and it is the only statue in London to have a small electrical current running through it, so that the birds don't land on his head.

At least, that's what our tour guide said. I could see myself become bored in my job as tour guide and making things up to tell to gullible Americans, but I choose to believe him. :)
 

As we drive across Westminster Bridge, we finally get a fantastic view of The Palace of Westminster (aka "The Houses of Parliament") and Big Ben. (I will tell you more about Big Ben in a bit.) I caught my breath looking back, because it's really a beautiful view.

 

You can see the London Eye peeking out there from behind the County Hall building. We're now in the South Bank, which is a cultured and fast-growing part of London, but which was traditionally considered "the wrong side of the river." 

London regional government used to meet in County Hall, but now it houses an aquarium and some restaurants. :) You can see the London Eye peeking out from behind it.

 

When the London Eye was erected in 1999, it was thought to be an attraction that would last for about five years. It's still going strong, and is the most popular paid tourist destination in the UK.  

It goes around very slowly and continues to rotate as people get on and off.  I think it's pretty neat looking, although of course it has been controversial, because all new big structures in all cities are always controversial.

 
 

As we got to Covent Garden, we decided it was lunchtime, so we decided to go here, to The Wellington, because it looked warm and they had food. :)  

I started singing Waterloo. (I still have some dance moves to go with it from when I was a kid and we were on a serious Abba kick in my house, but I did not do the dance moves.)

 

The first Duke of Wellington (which is who people are talking about when they say "The Duke of Wellington," although it's a title other men have had) was also in my Jonathan Strange book.  (He defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.) (Hence, my singing.)

I had delicious fish and chips.

 

Here is St. Paul's cathedral! We got off the bus here so I could get some better photos, and so Bob could go into a sports store and buy a soccer jersey. He has a nice collection going.

Claire was happy to sing "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag" (from Mary Poppins) with me as we approached the steps.  Bob is not into the theme singing as much as we are.  

 

Claire and I walked inside for a minute, and then came right back out. (They were having their Good Friday service.)

Then we got back on another bus. And oh, how my little heart went pitter-patter. The Tower Bridge! And even more beautiful in person than in photos. It is gorgeous.  Really, really a beautiful structure.

 

The building on the left that looks like a starting-to-lean-over stink bug is City Hall.  It was designed by Norman Foster, who also designed the Swiss Re building behind it to the right, which is nicknamed "The Gherkin," because it looks like a pickle.

 

Here we are getting ready to cross the Tower Bridge! I was so happy. :) (When we got onto the bus at St. Paul's, we all sat under the covered section, but up in the front so we could see out the front window.)

   

And now comes the part of the post where I have to tell you about a large, embarrassing gap in my knowledge.

We get over the bridge, and the entire time, the guide has been talking about the Tower Bridge, and also the Tower of London.  So then there is this big castle-y looking building, and I ask Bob, "What is that?" and he stares at me blankly for a few seconds, and says "That is the Tower of London."

"WHAT?!?!?" I say.  

Because for my entire life, I've thought that the Tower of London was one of the towers ON the Tower Bridge . . . I wasn't sure which one, but I thought one of them that is there holding the suspension cables up. 

I had no idea it was an entire, separate castle.

How did I not know this?

This was especially mortifying to Bob because there is not much he loves in London more than The Tower of London.  

 

Look at how beautiful all the turrets are. I am sorry I don't have much information for you regarding the Tower of London, but I was too busy being shocked that it existed apart from the bridge.

 

Bob wanted me to take a picture of this trebuchet for you.

 

So at this point we've gotten off the bus, because the Big Bus Tour ticket includes a ticket for a cruise down the Thames, and it departs at a dock below the Tower of London. 

The two maps below connect horizontally at the Tate Modern. :) I just wanted you to be able to see it all. So we're at the far right of the map on top, heading towards the far left of the map down below.

     

Look! It's the Tower Bridge again! (But not The Tower of London.)  The bridge rarely lifts up anymore for ships, although you can call ahead and request that they do it as needed. Our boat guide guy told us that a few years ago, a man called and had the bridge lifted, and then came sailing under it in a little sailboat with his wife, for their anniversary. So now there are stricter rules for getting the bridge raised. :)

   

And here we see the bricked-up water entrance to the Tower of London, known as "Traitors Gate".  It gives me the shivers. The water level was lower when this entrance was in use.  If you were accused of treason, this is how you entered the Tower of London back in Tudor times: Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Sir Thomas More all entered via the traitor gate before they were executed.

Now here's the thing that really gets me regarding my confusion about The Tower of London.  I knew about the Tower Green (had heard of it but not seen photos), which I understood to be a green grassy area. Where did I think this was, when I was thinking that the Tower was on the bridge itself? I do not know.

   

I couldn't stop taking photos of the bridge. It is just so pretty.

 

See, doesn't this totally look like it should be called "The Tower of London"?

 

Here's a closer shot of The Gherkin.

 

Floating down the river was so lovely. Our boat had an upstairs and downstairs, and it had stopped raining so we were able to sit up top and really enjoy everything. Bob bought us coffee and hot chocolate downstairs and brought it up, so we stayed warm. 

This is the Old Billingsgate Fish Market.  It's now used as a venue for corporate events.  Very Italianate.

 

And now I'm excited because we're approaching London Bridge.   I refrained from singing out loud, but I still hummed it inside my head.

I should mention that at some point today we have left Westminster and entered the City of London (known locally as "The City"), but I really don't know when.  The City of London's southern boundary goes straight down the middle of the Thames, and it owns London Bridge and Blackfriar's bridge (coming up) but only half the river under each of them.  I don't know. It's all London.

I bet they chiseled this into the bridge just so people would quit asking "Is this really London Bridge"? I didn't see names on any of the other bridges.

 

This is the Millenium Bridge.  It opened on June 10, 2000, and the police had it closed on June 12, 2000, because it was so wobbly (technically "Synchronous Lateral Excitation") that people were falling right over as they crossed it. (It's a pedestrian-only bridge.) It's good now, apparently.

 

Here's a view of St. Paul's.

   

This is Blackfriars Bridge, and the posts from the old rail bridge that used to be there. Most of these bridges have some interesting, tragic, or dramatic stories attached to them, which you can find via Google.

 

Here's the OXO Tower.  It was originally a power station, and then the company that makes Oxo beef bouillon cubes bought it.  London has strict (and I think fantastic) laws regarding signage, and they don't allow certain areas to have corporate advertising or names, or to allow historically significant buildings to have corporate signage on them.

So! Oxo wanted a company sign, and the people in charge said "no," so Oxo added some windows to the tower in the shape of a circle, a cross, and a circle. :D

Now the Oxo Tower is full of restaurants and expensive flats.

 

This is the Royal National Theatre. Some of you may know that Prince Charles is very interested in, and vocal about, architecture.  He called this building a "nuclear carbuncle". :) I agree with him. Although it's supposed to be lovely inside.

 

Here's the Waterloo Bridge, which we drove over previously.It's not too exciting to look at, but if you're following along on the map, that's where we are now. :)

 

Here is Cleopatra's Needle. (Paris and New York also have Cleopatra's Needles.)  It was a gift from Egypt to commemorate some battles.

They made a mistake during the installation in 1878. Can you tell what's wrong with the guardian sphinxes? (Aside from the WWI shrapnel damage to the sphinx on the right.)

 

And we're almost back to the Houses of Parliament.
 

Do you think the London Eye is pretty or unattractive?

 

Here's the front of County Hall which we saw earlier from the back.  In keeping with the "no corporate signage" rule, the front simply says "aquarium," although the aquarium is owned by Sea Life, a subsidiary (or something) of Merlin Entertainments, who also own the London Eye.

If this aquarium were in California, it would have a gigantic neon sign plastered on the front of it.

There is also a McDonald's inside County Hall. Do you see any golden arches? No, you do not. No sign. :)

 

As we get closer to docking, I don't want to get off the boat. Ever. It was perfect.

 

One last, wistful look back.

   

So! Here is something only slightly less shocking than The Tower of London being its own thing . . . did you know that this clock is NOT actually called "Big Ben"? Big Ben is the nickname for the bell (the Great Bell) inside it.  But it's widely used for the tower, clock, and bell, all three.

It is actually called the "Westminster Clock Tower."  However, Parliament's official website calls it Big Ben, so they must have just given up. :)

 

This area of the Thames river bank is called the Victoria Embankment.  The river is behind me when I took this photo looking towards Westminster Abbey.

 

Red buses and red phone boxes! I need to move to London.

 

We jumped back on another bus to finish the last leg of our tour. This is Lambeth Palace, which is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

 

This entrance has been around since 1490. Yup. And it was a modern addition. Lambeth Palace has housed Archbishops of Canterbury for 800 years.  They acquired it around 1200.

 

I love the sculptural, leafless trees and the moody spring sky and the beautiful Westminster Abbey, which I'll show you more of later.

 

Our trip is almost over. Now I don't want to get off the bus. :) New Scotland Yard! This New Scotland Yard is actually the second New Scotland Yard. 

The first "New Scotland Yard" was named in 1890 when Scotland Yard moved to new HQ.  Then in 1967, they moved to this building when they needed more space.  So they're the New New Scotland Yard.

(The only surviving bit of the original Scotland Yard that we drove by earlier in the day is the Metropolitan Police stables at 7 Great Scotland Yard.)

 

And look! Suspicious activity outside New Scotland Yard! I wonder what's in that suitcase.

 

I was sitting on top of the bus and decided to take a photo of this cute window box full of cyclamen, when I suddenly realized there were women inside having a little after-work drink.  They laughed and waved and toasted me, and then the woman on the right took my photo, too.  So cute.

 

Belgravia is super fancy! We drove into it, and all of a sudden all the buildings were white. This is an area close to South Kensington where we were staying, but the prices are astronomical. 

If you squint, you can see a guard standing on the sidewalk down the street. That's Margaret Thatcher's house, and he's there if she's home. She was home!

 

Here's the Wellington Arch as we drive past Green Park again.

 

And here's the original Hard Rock Cafe.  

 

And here's a man with a beard and some bunny ears.

 

And now it was time to get off the bus, because we were back in South Kensington, and it had been a very fun day. Here is the Victoria & Albert Museum.

 

On the walk back to the hotel, we stopped at Harrod's to use the bathroom.  I cannot even begin to describe that place to you. It's huge!  And full of perfume and neat-looking food.

Stay tuned for more England adventures! :)