9 May 2015 - London, Day 3: Busy, Busy, Busy Seeing the Sights

Day 3 was a big and busy day for me, and I was glad to have been able to rest the night before, because, like the first two days, day 3 involved plenty of walking, especially because I ended up on another trek through a park! This day was the day that I checked some of the most recognizable sights in London off my list, and I had gorgeous weather in which to enjoy them.

The first thing I did was go to see Parliament. Of course, we Canadians have our own Parliament, and it's impressive in its own right, but the Parliament building in London was breathtaking. Have you ever been to a place that just exudes an aura of authority and history? Parliament is like that. Even without going inside, you can feel that this is a place where big things have happened and will continue to happen. The pictures can really say it better than I can, so here are a select few out of the hundreds I took of this stately, gorgeous building. (Click for bigger images--I didn't want to break anybody's device trying to force it to load extra-large versions of these.)

Parliament looking imposing from the river side.

The requisite selfie.

Since it's right there (you can see it peeking in from the corner in the above selfie), the next thing to admire was, of course, the iconic clock tower that most of us refer to as Big Ben. In fact, Big Ben is actually just a bell, but I'm going to keep referring to the whole thing as Big Ben for convenience. It was an incredible experience to see it in real life. I've seen pictures, of course, and shots of it in movies, but nothing compares to actually standing right there looking at it. Here are some of my favourite shots.

Probably one of the best shots I got in London. featuring Big Ben, a black cab, and the London Eye all in one!

My next stop was supposed to be Westminster Abbey, right across the street from Parliament, but it was closed to visitors on this particular day due to the VE Day ceremonies. This was a bit disappointing, but I decided not to dwell on it for two reasons. Firstly, the exterior of the Abbey is gorgeous enough. Like Parliament, it radiates a sense of authority, of a religious sort rather than a political one. It's the kind of place that I always joke would eventually get me to start going to church. Secondly, it was at that moment, while I stood admiring the Abbey, that an amazing experience kicked off. The bells inside the Abbey began to ring out beautiful music, and, to quote my journal entry regarding this day, I was just swallowed up by a feeling of experiencing something big, iconic, important. Soon, Big Ben started striking the hour. All of these bells ringing together created a soundscape that's hard to describe. Again quoting from my journal, in that moment I was in London, experiencing something that tons of other people experience every day and have been experiencing for centuries, something that even more people will never get to experience in person. Anyone can Google what Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey look like. I had done it dozens of times myself. Anyone can listen to a recording of the bells, and I certainly had, in movies and television shows, but nothing can compare to actually being there, standing in front of the Abbey with Parliament just a short walk away, listening to the bells ringing.

The Abbey from the Parliament side, across the street.

How could you look at something like this and not feel at least a little intimidated?

My plans to visit the Abbey disrupted, I didn't really know what to do with myself. I had expected a visit there to take some time, and so I hadn't planned to do anything else that day. I walked around for a bit, just appreciating the buildings around me, and I came to a small park that offered a view of the river. Across the water, I saw the London Eye, and, while I had never planned to ride it, I once again exercised the lovely flexibility of travelling solo, and thought, "Why not? I'm here, and it's right there." So, I marched myself across the bridge, found the ticket booth, and took a ride on the iconic Eye. It didn't make me feel as connected to history as the bells at the Abbey had (to be fair, I doubt anything really could have topped that experience just then), but it was a fun little ride, and I got some great pictures.

With my ride on the Eye finished, I still had lots of daylight left that I didn't want to waste, and so I decided, inadvertently, to have another trekking adventure! My intentions were simple enough. On my first day, I had seen lots of Barclay's Cycle Hire kiosks around Green Park and the other parks I'd been through on my way to Buckingham Palace. So, I thought it might be nice to hire a cycle and have a little ride around Green Park. Since we have Bixi in Montreal, I knew how the service worked, so I found a kiosk and printed out a code to unlock a bike. Of course, someone grabbed the last bike in the rack before I had a chance to get it, so I was left standing there with a code but no bikes. To make a long story short, determined to get my 2 GBP worth of bike time, I hauled myself all the way from Green Park to the northeastern tip of Hyde Park, where the next cycle hire kiosk was, which took me much longer than it probably should have because I kept getting turned around by the park maps. In the end, I did get a bike to ride, and I cycled around Hyde Park for a bit, though I was too tired to go very far by then. The bike was comfortable and the paths in the park were wonderfully maintained, so it was a nice enough ride in the end. I really can't say enough good things about the Royal Parks. They actually feel like being on a movie set. When you walk through, people are actually having outdoor exercise classes, doing yoga on their own, going for quiet walks with their babies in strollers (excuse me--prams/pushchairs), reading on the grass, and just generally enjoying the outdoor space. The grass is beautifully maintained and, often, there's a canopy of trees overhead filtering the sunlight down in a very flattering way, making the whole place look that much better.

By now, it was early evening and I was pretty much exhausted after a long day of walking, so I went back to my hotel with my now-customary Tesco supper, and pretty much fell right into bed and slept like the dead after showering and eating. I didn't even write a journal entry that day, but, luckily, I made up for it the next day.

(I also made a quick stop at London Euston train station to pick up my sleeper train ticket, as well as learn how to validate my BritRail pass so that I would be prepared for my first train trip outside of London, in between all of my activities.)

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