I had lived in London for a semester in 1989 so when my wife Carla and I made arrangement to rent a small apartment for a month several years ago we knew pretty much what we wanted do with our time in London. For two of the weeks a daughter, her husband and two grandchildren joined us.
It was hot, hot, hot, and heat records were being broken in London with temperatures hitting nearly 101 degrees. My wife refused to let me keep the windows of our efficiency apartment open at night because of the increase in burglaries prompted by open windows.
So we sweltered. Traveling in the tube was a sweaty business, and many passengers carried their water bottles in one hand and the ubiquitous cell phone in the other.
The tube an excellent way to get around London
Despite the fact that most public museums are free, the money continued to vanish. London was indeed the most expensive city in Europe. A son-in-law who visited us after a trip to Paris said Paris was cheap in comparison to London.
We were in a basement efficiency flat with a small sofa, a computer, a 13-inch television with four fuzzy channels and a small bathroom. It was almost impossible to get into the tiny shower because the toilet is in the way.
There was an adequate kitchen, but you had to close the door to get room to open the refrigerator. We had two dishes, a dysfunctional can opener and a stove that had to be turned on in two places before it would heat. The beds were bunk beds, and it took me two days to learn to get to my top bunk without major gymnastics.
A large window looked up into the street, where we could hear a multitude of languages as people passed. We were only one block from the tube, which we used frequently because it is so convenient for getting around London.
We were no more than 20 minutes from most major attractions, and a number of the major museums and Kensington Palace were within walking distance. We were one block from a supermarket, laundromat and Internet cafe.
London is a fairly well-run city with up-to-date attractions, many free museums and other attractions moderately priced. However, some of the most popular attractions seemed exorbitant for value received, such as Madame Tussaud’s at $19.
Considerable thought has gone into making tourist attractions visitor-friendly, and multiple media are used to make sure everybody can find something interesting.
Buckingham Palace
Kensington and Buckingham palaces are good examples of this. Royalty has gotten a bit hard up for hard cash, so they have had to open their palaces to the public for tours. The tours are well handled, and you get to see more than you would expect.
In both places, you get a 16-inch wand with buttons to press for information. If you want details on some object or some social ritual, further information can be obtained by punching in additional numbers. Many rooms have been furnished in their original style; for example, Queen Victoria’s sitting room has its original furniture.
Kensington Palace, where the Duke of Windsor usually lives, and Buckingham Palace, where the queen lives, are flooded with visitors. On the day we toured Buckingham, 250 tourists were let in every 15 minutes. Buckingham is only open in August and September when the queen is off doing business elsewhere.
Kensington gives a history of social customs among the royalty. Most of the rooms have well-made manikins in period costumes doing royal things such as being presented to Queen Victoria. You get the impression that not having movies or television, the upper classes spent most of their time getting dressed and undressed for special occasions.
Modern dress displays consist of a large display of Queen Elizabeth II’s hats and Princess Diana’s dresses. At the hats exhibition, a large screen shows continuous films of the queen at state occasions wearing the hats.
As is usual on our trips to London theater was alive and well in London, and we took in as many plays as possible. Given that there are 40 regular theaters and another 40 fringe, we didn’t run out of things to see a fact that I will comment on later..
Down in the City of London
