Leaving Ourselves Behind

…an impending strike by Air Canada pilots forced us to make a tough decision. Do we play chicken and stick with our departure date of September 17 (the 11th-hour date for a strike or lockdown), or do we scramble to change our flights and leave a few days early?

We chose the latter, mainly because if the strike did happen, the domino effect of rearranging hotel bookings, car rentals and our Turkish Air flight from London was a formidable, if not impossible task. We would have to cancel our whole trip.

As well, our friends Lorne and Anne were visiting us for a few days and we did not want our dithering to impact on our time with them. It was decided – they were leaving on Thursday and we would fly out on Friday. Changing flights was the easy part; trying to figure out where to stay and what to do in London for three nights was more of a challenge.

Three nights (two days) is not much time – we could have easily spent three weeks in London and only scratched the surface. We decided to keep it simple; we’d visit as many of the obvious tourist sights as possible and leave the more interesting parts for another time. As for accommodation, price dictated that choice. At this late date, $300 + a night would buy us a room in central London (without a window, and without breakfast). For just over $200, we could stay at the Best Western near the airport, with a window and a buffet breakfast. Sold!

After our mad scramble to get ready to go, our last-minute bookings and research and our two flights, we arrived at Heathrow feeling exhausted and befuddled. We woke up the next morning feeling quite out-of-body, but also excited to take advantage of this unexpected mini-tour.

We’d never been to London and of course so many iconic images come to mind – the red double-decker bus being one of them. Imagine our thrill when our first ride was on the front row of the the top deck.
(Image not exactly as shown – this was taken in central London.)

We rode the bus for about 15 minutes, then transferred to the tube to the Piccadilly line. Tiny glitch – on Sundays many of the underground lines are shut down for maintenance, so we were forced to take the tube back to Heathrow airport, then transfer to another line that would take us downtown. All good – we had an hour to people-watch and listen to the plummy tones of the announcer at each stop advising us to “Mind the gap.”

The underground has the longest escalators I’ve ever seen, and many regulars race up the left side as they hurry to work. I clung to the handrail on the right and tried to imagine the peril of travelling these vertiginous stairways with small grandchildren.

Travelling about London is both easy and complicated. Easy because of frequency of service and complicated because of the many choices – trains, many underground lines, buses and walking.

Travelling about London is not cheap – a single fare is roughly CAD$7, and a Daily Pass for two of us was CAD$58. We probably overpaid buying a daily pass, but not by a lot. Transport is cashless, using either a credit card tap or an Oyster card (purchased at point of sale machines). As I often did during our two days in London, I marvelled at how most people could afford to live there. A monthly transit pass ranges from CAD$400-$600, depending upon number of zones. And then there’s food and rent.

Actually there is very little about London that feels affordable. A typical pub meal of fish and chips and a beer costs over $100 for two, and a finer meal would be double that. We ate at the ubiquitous Pret a Manger chains – pre-made soups, sandwiches and salads that rang in at about $40.

Tourist attractions are eye-wateringly expensive. A visit to Westminster Abbey is $52, and Buckingham Palace ranges from $75-$100. Even the Paddington Bear Experience, geared to kiddies, costs $70. And yet…London’s fabulous museums are all absolutely free.

Not to bang on about expensive old London – we were experiencing this city as last-minute, confused, unprepared and jet-lagged travellers. If we had booked months in advance, we could have found more reasonable accommodations and sussed out better food choices. Next time.

Meanwhile, our impressions and highlights of this accidental journey.

Brits are known for their good manners and “after-you” thoughtfulness. But this sign really caught my eye. Who wouldn’t want to know that Considerate Constructors were setting up shop in that vacant lot next door? I’m imagining the following exchange, ” Please sir, do you mind awfully if we begin jackhammering at 8:00?”

Or this? Loutish, drunken behaviours not allowed here.

Consideration for others is a hallmark of acceptable behaviour in London. Outlawing fly-tipping (illegal dumping of waste on land that is not licensed to receive it) makes so much sense. Why sully public space with your bags of rubbish?

British humour – cheeky, irreverent. Not really encouraging alcoholism, but not condemning it either.

If I had a pound for every tourist that posed in front of this phone booth…

I had a chat with the taxi driver of this shiny bespoke vehicle. He was parked outside St.Paul’s Cathedral; charming, soft-spoken and I suspect his shoes were as highly polished as his car.

There is a gentility and a to-the-manor-born presence among some of London’s residents that simply does not exist in North America. Call it what you will – a much-reviled class system that benefits the few at the expense of the majority, but it is part of the essence of London. The centuries of history, the hushed conversations, the polished brass entry doors to exclusive clubs; never have I felt my place in the world quite as keenly as in London. The price of my airline ticket from Canada would not cover the cost of the camel coat on the young woman who just floated by me on a cloud of exquisite perfume.

And history. Every corner is steeped with the stories from hundreds of years. These gentlemen sit outside a pub that has been in business since 1438. If you live here, do you take it for granted that you are walking the floorboards that tens of thousands have walked before you?

On the subject of pubs – we loved the architecture and adornments as much as the food and drink served inside. Just a few examples.

And speaking of history and tradition – you can’t really outdo Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.

Princess Diana Memorial Walk – through a beautiful park leading to Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings

Trafalgar Square

Covent Gardens

The Prisoner’s Walk, where we learned that the term “clink” as in “throw him in the clink” dates back to 1127.

Today, the prison walls hold shops and cafes, and provide a spooky atmosphere to stroll through.

More street atmosphere.

And… the image that adorns mugs, towels, caps and keychains – the Tower Bridge.

It really is a sight to behold – like the Eiffel Tower or the State of Liberty – we have all seen these iconic structures numerous times in movies and print. As silly as it sounds, when you see them in the flesh, they look so familiar already – they look like themselves, only better.

We walked over a number of bridges spanning the Thames, and of course, this one felt a bit special. It is a pleasure to walk along the Thames – such a gift to the city for locals and tourists alike to have unfettered access.

London is a modern city – and while history has pride of place, there is still plenty of glass and steel.

The joy of walking in London is a huge part of its charm. Every corner brings a different sightline – a tiny park, a window box spilling with flowers, a beautifully carved door, outrageous street fashion. We walked over 25 km. over our two days there, and just scraped the surface.

We have an inkling of what makes London tick, but we really look forward to going back and digging in a lot deeper, and then striking out for other parts of England. We were saving the UK and Europe for when we were “older”, but lately it has occurred to us that day has long since arrived.

We arrived in Turkiye late last night, staying at the aptly-named “Great Airport Hotel”, and have spent today getting caught up with sleep, organizing our Turkish lira, and arranging for our car rental.

Tomorrow we head out for our first stop – Safranbolu. We will spend the next few weeks driving in a circular path around the country, stopping at eight different places before our final nine nights in Istanbul.
See you all in a few days.