London, the Last Chapter

"You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." -Samuel Johnson

Week two, we started the day with a walking tour of Historic London "City" -- that is, the small area that remains of the original Roman city of Londonium. Most of the city was burned down in the great London Fire of 1666 and was re-imagined and rebuilt with the vision of the architect Christopher Wren. A Renaissance man, he was a genius in every field he touched. We visited several of his churches, easy to distinguish by their steep towers climbing directly above the front of the church...a Wren innovation that lives on in Christian churches throughout the world still. We also made stops at Inns of Court and the "Old Bailey" prison and courthouse in honor of one of our favorite British lit characters, "Rumpole of the Bailey." We saw old pubs, the original Twinings Tea Store and the ever-important statue of Samuel Johnson's cat, Hodge. Much of the old city no longer exists because in addition to the cataclysmic fire, the rebuilt city was flattened by Hitler's bombs in "the blitz." That makes the survival of Wren's crowning work, St. Paul's Cathedral all the more miraculous. The city around it was utterly destroyed, but the cathedral got through 57 consecutive nights of bombing relatively whole. Although it's sad that so much history was lost through this mid-century destruction, it gave London the chance to re-build and design with more modern principles. Although the higgledy-piggledy and twisting lanes of other historic European cities are not without their charm, a more planned and organized city is a refreshing approach.

Once we reached St. Paul's, we went inside for a tour. No pictures are allowed, but it's another majestic, Cathedral space. This more austere Anglican Cathedral lacks the elaborate ornamentation of other churches we've visited. We took the time to climb all the way to the top of the tower. Unlike St. Peter's in Rome, there are no elevator short-cuts, but we're all seasoned climbers at this stage of the trip. Standing on the cupola, looking at the tiny world below you in the middle of a windy, London day is an exciting moment you won't soon forget. We descended from the heights all the way back down and below into the crypt. We visited Lord Nelson's tomb -- a childhood hero of Cory's, as well as Christopher Wren's humble marker. His stone reads in Latin, "Reader, if you seek his memorial - look around you." A beautiful sentiment.

We finished historic London by walking to Wren's Great Fire Monument and crossing the London bridge (not the tower bridge!) on our way to the Bankside of William Shakepeare's world. We walked to the new "Globe Theater" based on the dimensions of the Old Globe to catch the 2:00 matinee of Twelfth Night. The comedy was done with a 70s disco theme that worked surprisingly well. Feste was played by a 6'6" drag queen named Le Gateu Chocolat. All the roles were well-cast and well-acted, but the standout was the young lady playing Malvolio! The funniest interpretation of the part I've ever seen, she stole the stage anytime she was in the scene. Anna didn't stop laughing throughout the entire production, and this ended up being one of the brightest points of the whole trip. 

After the play, we hit some bankside sights before going home including Southwark Church where we had a pleasant conversation with the lovely lawyer-turned-cleric there. We also walked past "the Clink" the old jail that lends its name to being locked up still, the Borough Market, old seedy pubs and eventually landed at the Jubilee Walkway and crossed the river on the twisting, modern Jubilee bridge.

We toured the British Museum the following morning. Though enormous, we focused our time with three ancient civilizations: the Egyptians, the Assyrians and the Greeks. In the Egyptian exhibit, the mummies were SO COOL! We especially were fascinated by the mummified animals: cats, falcons, even crocodiles. We also saw many statues, sarcophagi, and even a piece of the beard taken from the Great Sphinx in Egypt. The Assyrian exhibit was less familiar to us. We saw statues, gates, and cuneiform engravings. There was a room-length panel series of engravings showing a lion hunt that was fascinating and didn't end well for the lions. It's the most expressive art we saw from these early civilizations. We finished full circle at the controversial "Elgin Marbles." Remembering what we learned from our visit to the Acropolis Museum, these are the pieces of the Parthenon's marble frieze that Lord Elgin, chipped off the side of the temple and brought home with him to England. The British empire has claimed (probably rightly so) that this act, while destructive, actually saved these priceless marble sculptures from loss and destruction that would have befell them had they stayed in Greece. They also argued that while Greece had no meaningful way to display them, they should stay in this museum. However, I can see how now that Greece has built such a masterful museum, they would think they should get them back. It's tricky. I prefer the display in Athens to the one here, but giving them up would mean losing an entire wing of this historical institute. I don't think it will ever happen.

We walked to a Middle Eastern restaurant for lunch on the recommendation of a friend of mine who hasn't been there, but has read the charming cookbook written as recipes and personal stories by the founders. It was honestly one of the best meals we've eaten throughout Europe! We had prawn salad, shawarma, stuffed peppers, and a selection of some of the most delicious cakes. Honey & Co. is definitely worth looking up.

We next took a self-guided "West End Walk" from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus. We caught a street performer's act, a glimpse of Covent Garden, artsy Soho, West-end Theaters and book shops, and the chaos of Piccadilly to end the day.

Saturday's forecast seemed the most promising of the remaining time to head east to the maritime sights of Greenwich. It was a fabulous and full day of sightseeing, one of my favorites of our time in London. We started at the "Cutty Sark." This is the last remaining "Tea Clipper" -- the full-sailed ships that made the journey from England, around Africa to ship tea from the East until canals were opened and steam-engines took over the trade. We got to climb right on board and visit all three decks. The displays are interactive and fun, and it's a very photogenic adventure.

Next, we ate lunch in the adjacent Saturday street market. We let everyone choose from a vendor. Noah and I had Ethiopian...the London food scene is very international. After eating, we walked to the Royal Naval College. Started as a home for retired sea-men, these buildings were eventually converted into naval officer training grounds, and are now a museum. The star of the buildings is evidently the painted ceiling in one of the two chapels...unfortunately, it's closed for renovation right now. We enjoyed the twin Chapel of St. Paul next to it though. The artwork has a very nautical feel, including sailors' ropes worked into the patterned floor tiles. We wandered down Riverside before turning up-hill to climb to the Royal Observatory. This is the historic place where the problem of longitude was first solved. It's where the Prime Meridian is located. We waited in line to get cheesy tourist pictures standing on both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Of course, the second it was our turn, it started raining. We snapped a couple and ran indoors to the museum to stay out of the 15 minutes of rain of the otherwise entirely sunny day. The museum showed in detail the 2 ways scientists figured out accurate ways of determining longitude. One relies on detailed almanac charts made through careful telescope surveying done here at the Observatory. The other involves inventing a clock that is reliable at keeping accurate time during boat journeys -- an invention as important to its day as movable type or the cotton gin. The complicated measurements and nautical charts showed that when little sailors were going to school, the could never say to their Trigonometry or Calculus teachers, "Why do I have to learn this? I'm never even going to use it in real life!"

Down at the base of the hill from the observatory we entered the Maritime Museum. We spent a couple of hours here...Cory could have gone longer. There are great exhibits on the East India Company, the slave trade, and The Battle of Trafalgar. We even got to see the clothes Lord Nelson was wearing when he was shot at the end of the battle..he died shortly after, but not before it was clear they were going to win the battle. His final words were, "Thank God I have done my duty." 

We took a short train ride to nearby Docklands. Once the home of the sooty squalor of docks and Dickens' slums, this area is now the up and coming center of London Commerce. Skyscrapers house the "new downtown" of banks, tech, and other companies. There are parks and shopping areas where there used to be barges and dockworkers. Taking the train home from the area, we rode through Poplar, of "Call the Midwife" fame. The further the train moved from the new redevelopment, the more evident the poverty that remains on this side of the city. While a long way from the days when your life expectancy was 30 years shorter if you lived on the West side, the destitute and struggling population of a big city remain. Many of these new poor neighborhoods are home to refugees.

We decided to stop for dinner near the iconic Tower Bridge. We'd passed and photographed it many times during our stay, but wanted to actually take the chance to walk over it. We just happened to hit the middle of the bridge as they closed it to lift up and let a ship through. We couldn't have timed it better -- a fun close-up view of the whole process.

After dinner, we walked the Jubilee Walkway down the Thames, taking a quick detour into the Tate Modern Museum. The kids are pretty over modern art by now so we didn't stay long. The museum is organized in a "modern" way with silly gallery groupings that make it hard to see anything in a systematic way anyway. We walked one floor, then exited through the foyer where they have rotating installations. Right now, the lobby "art" is not visual, but a series of speakers emitting loop recordings that are just weird. But I'm no art expert. We finished the Jubilee Walk at the London Eye for up close views and then caught the Tube home.

Sunday was our final church in Europe. Fast and Testimony Meeting was surprisingly international in the Hyde Park 2nd Ward. People from Ecuador, Sweden, Africa, and tourists from the U.S. were among those who got up. Also interesting, was a man who is undergoing Rehab treatment who landed at the church after his doctor prescribed a daily 20 minute walk. He decided to go 10 minutes out and then 10 minutes back. When he hit 10 minutes, he found himself at the Visitors' Center located in the meetinghouse and decided it was a message of hope from God. After a cigarette, he went inside and spoke to some sister missionaries who were kind and gracious and invited to come back for Sunday services. And that's why he was there. He was followed by a man who found the church after his own struggle with addiction about 10 years ago. The message of the meeting to me was the hope that's available through the mercy of a loving God and His gospel. Elder Hamilton of the Seventy was visiting, and shared his testimony at the end that the church is true all over the world -- from the center stakes of Utah to Africa, Europe, and every continent on the earth. It was a memorable testimony meeting. 

After church, we walked through Hyde Park to catch a glimpse of Speakers' Corner. In the early days of the LDS church, missionaries visited here to speak about their message to crowds that congregated here. The practice of "soapbox preaching" continues today, but unfortunately it feels now like a tourist attraction with more heckling and less civility. We had a quiet evening at home and went for an evening walk in Holland Park. I love the beautiful green spaces planned into this city.

On Monday we started the day at the Imperial War Museum. Four floors of exhibits cover a variety of war history and its associated relics; Isaac was in his element. Out front there are enormous World War guns and shells and a piece of the Berlin Wall. We concentrated on the excellent WWI exhibit that really brought to life the trench experience as well as home life for families back in Britain. There was also a fascinating room that took one family from beginning to ending of that war through displays. You were able to see replicas of their home and follow the paths of all 9 children through the course of the war years. At the end of the exhibit, it showed family pictures and told you what happened to every member after the war. The floor devoted to the Holocaust is somber, reverent, powerful, and difficult to get through. I couldn't linger there.

After lunch in a pub, we hit one last art museum, the Tate Britain. Focused on British artists, we all especially enjoyed the Turner collection. His seascapes are masterful. His contemporary, Constable was equally adept at clouds.

Anna was struggling with a cold, so I offered to take her home to rest. Noah joined us and Cory and Isaac continued on to tour the docked HMS Belfast, Britain's last World War II light cruiser. They had a wonderful time. Meanwhile, the three of us that went back to our apartment discovered we'd left our only house-key with Cory. Oops. Our cell phones were both turned off, so no hope of contacting him, we found a cafe where we could relax with hot chocolate and use their free Wifi until the boys got back. Luckily we knew the ship's closing time was in an hour. Cory realized about two metro stops before they got back the keys were in his pocket. Oh well. They had a great time. The ship is so huge, they were only able to cover about half of it before closing.

The next day was our last full one in London. It was rainy again, so we headed indoors to the Victoria & Albert Museum. Devoted to "applied arts" this place is eclectic with a huge variety of displays. From marble masterpieces, Persian weaving, jewelry, theater arts, the history of fashion, there's really something for everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some standouts were one of Leonardo da Vinci's codexes (personal notebook), Tiboo's Tiger, the entire sparkly jewelry collection, and a massive Chihuly sculpture in the entrance. 

We walked from the V&A to Kensington Gardens, passing the William and Kate's palace on our way to afternoon tea in the Orangery. It was such a relaxing, civilized, high-society experience. Everyone enjoyed it, even the teenage boys. The herbal teas they served were delicious and so much better than anything I've ever found in a tea-bag back home. Who knew that even big people can still enjoy tea parties?

We'd planned to do the Natural History museum after tea, but a line that stretched around the building helped us decide to return home for packing and cleaning instead. It's impossible to see everything here in just two weeks, so I guess we'll just have to return sometime. After we'd gotten organized, we went to an all-day Breakfast diner so we could experience the full English "fry-up" breakfast. Basically our monthly quota of saturated fat in one meal.

We woke to pouring rain on our last full day in Britain. We finished packing up for the last time, hauled our suitcases down three flights for hopefully the last time, and got drenched waiting for taxis to take us to the train station. It took over an hour for the taxis to get us to what would have taken half that long on the tube! Didn't think we could handle the metro with all our luggage though, so what do you do? We took a train to our hotel in Stansted, 30 miles north of London and the location of the airport we'd be coming home from. After shuttling our luggage to our Stansted hotel, we got back on a train and continued on to Cambridge for our last day trip. And consistent with most of our day trips on this journey, we were met with terrible weather. It was in the 50s, pouring, and blowing the rain sideways. Because we were all freezing, we shortened our planned walking tour, but did take the chance to peek into the courtyards and chapels of a couple of Cambridge's estimable colleges. Such a beautiful place, and I love that each college supports its own chapel and its own choir. 

After a brief stop to warm up with some Chelsea buns (invented here), we continued to the beautiful King's College Chapel. The stunning building was constructed by a series of Kings named Henry, Henry VI-VIII. Its fan vaulting ceiling is intricate and the finest we've seen anywhere. The stained glass is also beautiful. The windows on one wall tell an Old Testament story on the bottom and a connected New Testament story on the top. For example, in one window you see Jonah in the whale for 3 days in the bottom panel, and Christ being raised from the tomb after 3 days in the top panel. Other pairs include manna in the desert/the last supper; Moses and the stone tablets/Pentecost; Elijah ascending to heaven/Christ's Ascension, etc. And so ended our last day of this incredible journey. I realized that we both started and ended our adventure in magnificent cathedrals, a fitting finish.