Europe

We continue our second visit to London. We continue where we left off from the previous entry, leaving the Palace of Westminster.

14th February

After a well-deserved lunch break, we set off again. As we leave the pub we come across The Cenotaph, a war memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

It was unveiled in 1920 as the UK’s national memorial to the fallen of Britain and the British Empire in the First World War. It was rededicated in 1946 to include those of the Second World War and has since represented Commonwealth casualties in those and subsequent conflicts.

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Nearby is the entrance to one of the most famous streets in the world, Downing Street. It is a street that houses the residences and official offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

In a cul-de-sac next to Whitehall, it is 200 metres long and a few minutes’ walk from the Houses of Parliament. Downing Street was built in the 1680s by Sir George Downing.

For over three hundred years, it has housed the official residences of the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister. It is also the official residence of the Second Lord of the Treasury, the post held by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The Prime Minister’s official residence is at 10 Downing Street and the Chancellor of the Exchequer at 11. The Chief Whip of the Government has his official residence at 12.

A little further north is The Women of World War II, a sculpture representing the wartime contributions of more than seven million women. Including 650,000 who enlisted in the military services.

Continuing north along Whitehall is Dover House. A London mansion home to the Scotland Office. The building also houses the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland and the Independent Commission for Aid Impact.

Next is the Horse Guards building. It was built in the mid-18th century, replacing an earlier building, as the Household Cavalry barracks and stables. The present and earlier buildings were, between the early 18th century and 1858, the main military barracks of the British Empire.

Although still in military use, part of the building houses the Cavalry Museum, which is open to the public.

Every morning, the Royal Horse Guards leave Hyde Park Barracks in Knightsbridge. It passes through Hyde Park Corner, Constitution Hill and The Mall to assume guard duties in a ceremony held at 11am, or 10am on Sundays.

At 4pm there’s a parade on horseback, which is free to watch… if you can find a seat.

Directly opposite is the Old War Office Building, the former offices of the War Office. This was the former war department of the British Government.

It was built between 1904 and 1906 in neo-baroque style by architects William Young and Clyde Francis Young. The War Office occupied the building until it was abolished in 1964. After that, it remained the Ministry of Defence under the name of the Old War Office.

In 2016 Hinduja Group and OHL Developments bought the building for £350 million to build a luxury hotel.

A little further north we come to Great Scotland Yard, a street which in the 16th century was a series of open courtyards within the palace of Whitehall. At that time it was fronted by buildings used by diplomatic representatives of the Kingdom of Scotland. Over time, the land was divided into Great Scotland Yard, Middle Scotland Yard and Little Scotland Yard.

In the 19th century it was a street and open space, where the public entrance to the original headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police Service was located, making the name ‘Scotland Yard’ synonymous with the police service.

We retrace our steps and walk through the passageway at the Horse Guards building and emerge onto an esplanade leading to the entrance of St. James’s Park.

At the entrance to the park is the Guards Memorial, also known as the Guards Division War Memorial. It is a memorial to the fallen of the Guards Division and related units during the First World War. It also commemorates the Household Division in the Second World War and other conflicts since 1918.

Now we are on our way to St. James’s Park, a royal park of 23 hectares. It owes its name to a medieval hospital dedicated to St James the Less, now home to St James’s Palace.

In the 1530s, King Henry VIII fenced off the area to create a deer park near Whitehall Palace.

The park has a small lake, St James’s Park Lake, with two islands, West Island and Duck Island. The latter is named after the lake’s collection of waterfowl.

Walking through the park we come to the Queen Victoria Memorial, a monument to Queen Victoria. It was designed in 1901 by the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock and unveiled on 16 May 1911.

Behind it is Buckingham Palace, the royal residence in London and the administrative seat of the monarch of the United Kingdom.

It was built for the Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1703 on a site that had been privately owned for at least 150 years. It was originally called Buckingham House.

In 1761 George III acquired the palace and made it the private residence of Queen Charlotte and it became known as The Queen’s House.

In the 19th century it was extended by the architects John Nash and Edward Blore, who built three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch with the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.

A German bomb destroyed the palace chapel during World War II. The King’s Gallery was built in its place. It was opened to the public in 1962 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection.

During June and July there is a daily guard duty at 11am. The rest of the year Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. It takes place as long as it does not rain and it is a spectacle worth seeing.

As we were able to enjoy it on our 2009 trip, we had no plans to return this time.

The photo is not very good, from our trip in 2009. The camera wasn’t exactly the best on the market…

We sit down on a bench to rest for a while and then set off again. We walk along Constitution Hill and almost at the end is the Commonwealth Memorial Gates. It is a war memorial commemorating the soldiers of the British Empire from five countries of the Indian subcontinent. These are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. As well as from Africa and the Caribbean, who served for Britain in the First and Second World Wars.

Just ahead is the place we came to visit, Wellington Arch. It is also known as the Constitution Arch or Green Park Arch in its origins.

It is a triumphal arch built between 1826 and 1830 by order of George IV to commemorate the British victories in the Napoleonic Wars.

Passing through the archway, we come face to face with the Royal Artillery Memorial. The Royal Artillery Memorial is a memorial to the First World War.

Designed by Charles Sargeant Jagger and unveiled in 1925, the memorial commemorates the 49,076 Royal Artillery soldiers killed in the First World War.

To the north of the square is Apsley House, the London home of the Duke and Duchess of Wellington. It was designed by Robert Adam in the neoclassical style and was built for Lord Apsley in the 1770s.

It was acquired by Richard Wellesley in 1807 and passed to his younger brother Arthur, the 1st Duke, in 1817. It is perhaps the only surviving example of an English aristocratic townhouse of this period.

Since 1947 part of the house has been open to the public as a museum and art gallery. It houses the Wellington Collection, an extensive collection of paintings, other works of art and memorabilia from the 1st Duke’s career.

The other half belongs to the 9th Duke of Wellington for the private use of the family.

From here we went for a pleasant stroll through the affluent streets of Belgravia. It is one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods and is full of restaurants and luxury shops.

But we were interested in Harrods department store. In case anyone doesn’t know it, it is a luxury department store.

But first we passed by a building that caught my attention, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It is an Edwardian-style building that opened in 1889 as flats and became a luxury hotel in 1902.

If you have some cash, you can always stay here for about €1,000 a night.

A little further on we come to Harrods. The building was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod and opened in 1905. It replaced the first shop founded by his father Charles Henry Harrod in 1849, which burnt down in 1881.

With an area of 100,000 m2, it is the largest department store in Europe and one of the largest in the world. Harrods is one of the most famous department stores in the world. So much so that it attracts 15 million visitors a year.

I don’t know if it’s because it was Valentine’s Day that night or if it’s just normal, but there were about 2 million people there. There were aisles that you couldn’t even walk down.

Another thing that struck me and that I saw in other places was that they didn’t put prices on many of the items on display. Here in Spain it is compulsory, both in shop windows and inside the shop.

After the exhausting visit we decided to have a hot chocolate, but not in Harrods in case they charged us 200£. We went to a chain called Nero just opposite. The chocolate was normal at £3.95 (4.75€). The guy who served us looked angry…

Once we were rested, we decided to get on the bus to go the distance to Piccadilly Circus. After a long 45 minutes of traffic, we finally arrived at our destination.

Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly. The Circus is particularly well known for the video screen and neon signs mounted on the corner building on the north side. Also for the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain and the statue of Anteros.

Another place that was full of people.

We were pretty exhausted and decided to go in search of somewhere to have dinner. We wandered wearily through the crowds along Shaftesbury Ave. A street full of theatres.

We walked along the avenue, passed by the side of Chinatown but all the restaurants were packed to the rafters. So we decided to head for a nearby underground station to return to the hotel.

While we were there, we went to finish our daily visits to Outernet London. It is a leisure, art and culture district opened in 2022 in London’s West End. It is the largest digital exhibition space in Europe, with the ‘world’s largest LED screen display’.

Some of the videos shown were truly spectacular and immersive.

There is also another space called The Butterfly Trail. It simulates a butterfly farm where you scan a QR code and you can ‘play’ with a virtual butterfly. It’s silly but funny.

After such a pleasant and highly recommended experience, we entered the underground. Just opposite is Tottenham Court Road station. We got on the tube and about 25 minutes later we got off at the hotel.

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For dinner we decided to do as we had done the night before. Some noodles and sandwiches and a good night’s rest. By the way, dinner cost us £11.99 (€14.43). A very romantic Valentine’s Day dinner…

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We continue our tour of London. Our second trip to the city 15 years later.

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13rd February

After lunch, we went for a walk to see nearby points of interest. We had to make time to get into the Sky Garden, which we had entrance at 16.15.

The first thing we visited was The Monument, the monument to the Great Fire of 1666. It is a fluted Doric column located near the north end of London Bridge.

It was built between 1671 and 1677 on the site of St. Margaret’s, the first church destroyed during the fire.

You can go inside and climb the 311 narrow steps to see the view, but the views are not very good. It is not worth the £6.00 fee.

We continued walking to our next destination. A place that I saw on Google Maps and that later I started to see as a ‘secret place’ in some reels.

I have to point out that the reels I saw of ‘secret places’ are not such. In London there are places that are extremely overcrowded, very overcrowded or overcrowded with tourists. Although in this one there were few people when we arrived.

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This is St. Dunstan in the East Church Garden. This was a parish church located halfway between London Bridge and the Tower of London.

The church was originally built around 1100. A new south aisle was added in 1391 and repaired in 1631. It was badly damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666 but was not fully repaired, only patched up a little.

Between 1695 and 1701 the Gothic bell tower designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the same as St Paul’s Cathedral, was added.

The church was largely destroyed during World War II. Its ruins are now a public garden maintained by the City of London Corporation.

It is actually a very peaceful place to sit and rest for a while.

From here we come to nearby St. Olave’s Church, one of the few medieval churches in the city to escape the Great Fire of London in 1666.

The church is first recorded in the 13th century as St Olave-towards-the-Tower. It was a stone building that replaced an earlier wooden one.

It is dedicated to the patron saint of Norway, King Olaf II, who fought alongside the Anglo-Saxon King Æthelred the Unready against the Danes at the Battle of London Bridge in 1014. He was canonised after his death and St Olave’s Church was built on the site of the battle.

The present building dates from around 1450. One of the main benefactors of the church in the late 15th century was the wool merchant Richard Cely. On his death, Cely bequeathed money to build the steeple and an altar in the church.

It survived the Great Fire of London but not the German bombing in 1941. It was rebuilt in 1954.

From the church we went in search of the remains of the Roman Wall. But on the way we passed Trinity Square Gardens. There you will find the Tower Hill Memorial, a set of memorials of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The memorials, one for World War I and one for World War II, commemorate civilians, merchant seamen and fishermen who died as a result of enemy action and have no known grave.

We continue on and finally reach the remains of the Roman Wall. It is a defensive wall built by the Romans around the port city of Londinium around 200 AD.

The end of Roman rule in Britain, around 410 AD, led to the deterioration of the wall. It was restored in the late Anglo-Saxon period. This process is thought to have begun with Alfred the Great after 886.

The wall defined the boundaries of the City of London until the late Middle Ages. Then population growth and the development of neighbourhoods around the city blurred the perimeter.

From the 18th century onwards, the expansion of the City of London led to the demolition of large parts of the wall, including the city gates, to improve traffic flow. Since the Second World War, conservation efforts have helped to preserve the surviving sections of the wall.

We retrace our steps to go to the Sky Garden. It is a spectacular garden that occupies the top three floors of a 35-storey building. The building was opened in 2014 and is 160 metres high.

The observation deck has all glass walls and offers 360º panoramic views of London. It also has a terrace, a café and a restaurant.

Admission is free but tickets must be obtained in advance. We recommend at least one month in advance. When you arrive you will have to queue and go through a security check. There were more people there than in the war and it took us about half an hour from the moment we arrived at the building until we got out of the lift.

On the way down from the observation deck we decided to go into a café to sit down for a while to rest and have a hot chocolate. We went to a place called WatchHouse Fenchurch Street. A very modern and very nice place where they charged us £4.20 (€5.07) per hot chocolate. It was really good, though.

We took the underground to Embankment and from there we started our walk. But before going to Covent Garden, we took a little detour.

At the entrance of Charing Cross station there is an element that caught our attention, Eleanor Cross.

Eleanor’s Crosses were a series of twelve decorated stone monuments topped with crosses. They were erected in a line across part of eastern England.

King Edward I had them built between 1291 and 1295 in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile. After 36 years of marriage she died during a royal journey in the East Midlands in November 1290.

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Crosses, erected in his memory, marked the night’s resting places along the route taken when his body was transported to Westminster Abbey.

Crosses were erected at Lincoln, Grantham and Stamford in Lincolnshire; Geddington and Hardingstone in Northamptonshire; Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire; Woburn and Dunstable in Bedfordshire; St Albans and Waltham (now Waltham Cross) in Hertfordshire; Cheapside in London; and Charing (now Charing Cross) in Westminster.

Of the original twelve only three survive, those at Geddington, Hardingstone and Waltham Cross. The one we see at Charing Cross is an 1865 reproduction 200 metres north-east of the original site.

Nearby is Trafalgar Square, built in the early 19th century in the City of Westminster.

The name of the square commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the British naval victory in the Napoleonic Wars over France and Spain that took place on 21 October 1805 off the coast of Cape Trafalgar.

The area was already an important site in the 12th century. On the present site was once the King’s Mews, an elaborately designed enclosed courtyard. After George IV moved the gardens to Buckingham Palace, the area was remodelled by John Nash, but progress was slow after his death and the square was not opened until 1844.

Presiding over the square is Nelson’s Column. It was built in 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton. The four bronze lions surrounding its base, designed by Sir Edwin Landseer, were added in 1867.

Important: it is strictly forbidden to ride the lions. Don’t be a fool.

At the northern end of the square is The National Gallery. It is a picture gallery opened in 1824 and has a collection of 2,300 paintings. The works date from between 1250 and 1900 and are mainly European.

Admission is free and you can get in on the spot, although it is advisable to do so in advance.

To the northwest of the square is St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, a parish church dedicated to St Martin of Tours. It was built in neoclassical style between 1722 and 1726 by the architect James Gibbs.

It was built to replace a medieval church that stood on the same site when it began to fall into disrepair. At the time, the site was farmland and fields beyond the London Wall.

Now we are on our way to Covent Garden. This is a London neighbourhood dominated by shops, street artists and other leisure elements.

The first thing we come across is the Jubilee Market, located in the Jubilee Hall. The first Jubilee Market was built in 1904, but there had been a market here since 1654.

It is the only market in London that is wholly owned by the merchants. The traders took over the market to save it from bankruptcy. After a major renovation in 1985, the market was opened on 5 August 1987 by Queen Elizabeth II.

The market changes its goods throughout the week. Monday is dedicated to antiques. Tuesday to Thursday is the general market and Saturday and Sunday are devoted to art and craft items.

It is also home to the London Transport Museum which houses mainly exhibitions relating to London’s transport heritage. As well as preserving and explaining its history.

In the vicinity of the market is also the Royal Ballet and Opera, the Royal Opera House. It is the main home of the Royal Opera, the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera Orchestra. The first theatre, called the Theatre Royal, opened in 1732 and operated for 100 years.

The façade, foyer and auditorium date from 1858, but almost all the other elements of the present complex are the result of extensive reconstruction carried out in the 1990s.

Throughout the centre is Covent Garden Market. The first record of a “new market in Covent Garden” dates from 1654, when market traders set up their stalls against the garden wall of Bedford House.

In 1670, the Earl of Bedford obtained a private charter for a fruit and vegetable market from Charles II. It allowed him and his heirs to hold a market every day except Sundays and Christmas Day.

The original market, made up of wooden stalls and sheds, became disorganised and untidy. John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, sought an Act of Parliament in 1813 to regulate it. He then commissioned Charles Fowler in 1830 to design the neoclassical market building that is now the heart of Covent Garden.

After this short walk we sat down to rest and to look for a place to have dinner. We were exhausted so we decided to go to the hotel. There we had booked a giant supermarket nearby where we could buy something to eat quietly in the room.

We also discovered an oriental supermarket that had millions of types of instant noodles. As we had a kettle in our room, we had some noodles and a delicious sandwich.

For a total of 12.30£ (15€) we had dinner and went to bed.

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14th February

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to go sightseeing. So let’s get down to business. We get up early. We buy some breakfast in the supermarket next to the hotel and go to the underground.

Today we have tickets for the Palace of Westminster and then we will visit the abbey. We took the Jubilee line and in about 15 minutes we were at Westminster station.

At the station gate, as soon as we got out, we found this spectacle:

We had tickets for the palace at 10.00 am. As it was early we went for a short walk to make time. We approached the Jewel Tower.

The Jewel Tower is a surviving element of the old Palace of Westminster. It was built between 1365 and 1366, under the direction of William of Sleaford and Henry of Yevele, to house the personal treasury of King Edward III.

The tower continued to be used to store the monarch’s treasury and personal possessions until 1512. Then a fire at the palace caused King Henry VIII to move his court to nearby Whitehall Palace.

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In the late 16th century, the House of Lords began to use the tower to store its parliamentary records. The tower continued to serve as the Lords’ record office throughout the 18th century. Several renovations were carried out to improve its fire protection and comfort. This created the current appearance of the tower.

It was one of only four buildings to survive the fire in Parliament in 1834. After which the archives were moved to the Victoria Tower, built to store archives and part of the new neo-Gothic Palace of Westminster.

Now we are on our way to the entrance. It is recommended to go 15-20 minutes in advance because of the queues, but today there was no one there.

We went through a strict security checkpoint where they even frisked me. Remember that the country is run from this building.

The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is commonly referred to as the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords. These are the two legislative chambers that occupy the building.

The Elizabeth Tower of the palace, nicknamed Big Ben, is a landmark of London and the UK in general. Although Big Ben is actually the bell and not the tower.

The building was originally built in the 11th century as a royal palace. It was the principal residence of the kings of England until 1512, when a fire destroyed the royal apartments. The monarch moved to the adjacent Palace of Whitehall. The rest of the palace remained the seat of the English Parliament, which had met there since the 13th century.

In 1834, a second fire destroyed most of the palace. But the 12th-century Westminster Hall was saved and incorporated into the replacement building.

In 1840, construction began on the new building in the Gothic Revival style. The design was by the architect Charles Barry. Construction was delayed for 30 years due to delays, cost overruns and the death of Barry and his assistant.

After the Second World War, major repairs had to be carried out, including the reconstruction of the House of Commons, which was destroyed.

Free audio guides will be available during our visit. We will visit Westminster Hall and St. Stephen’s Hall, where we will be able to take photos. In the rest of the building, such as the House of Commons and the House of Lords, it is strictly forbidden to take photographs and videos. We saw a few warning calls.

Despite the high ticket price (£26 – €31.50), the visit is well worth it. You will learn how the country is run from within.

At the end of the visit we sat down for a while to rest in the palace cafeteria. The coffee was actually cheaper than in other places, 2.80£ (3,40€) each coffee.

This is the end of this entry. We leave the day halfway through so that it doesn’t take too long. Stay tuned for more to come.

We left the palace and headed towards the entrance to Westminster Abbey. Here, the queue was tremendous. It took us about half an hour to get in. We went through a small checkpoint where they searched my backpack. The tickets are another 30£ (36,30€) per head.

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Westminster Abbey or St. Peter’s Collegiate Church in Westminster has been the coronation place of 40 English and British monarchs since 1066. It is also the resting place of the remains of 18 monarchs. What’s more, 16 royal weddings have taken place within its walls since 1100.

On this very spot in the middle of the 10th century there was already a Benedictine monastery. At that time, the site was an island in the Thames called Thorney Island.

Between 1042 and 1060 the first large building was built by order of King Edward the Confessor. This was the first cruciform church in England. It was consecrated on 28 December 1065. Just a week before Edward’s death on 5 January 1066. Edward and his wife Edith are buried here.

The present church was begun in Gothic style in 1245 by order of Henry III. Part of the new building included a rich shrine and chapel to Edward the Confessor, of which only the base remains standing.

From 1376, Abbot Nicholas Litlyngton and Richard II donated large sums to finish the church. What remained of the old nave was demolished and rebuilding began.

In the 1530s, Henry VIII broke with the authority of the Catholic Church in Rome. He then took control of the monasteries of England, including Westminster Abbey. This began the English Reformation.

Henry’s agents took many relics, images of saints and treasures from the abbey. The gold casket that housed the coffin of Edward the Confessor was melted down. The monks had to hide his bones to save them from destruction.

The Diocese of Westminster was dissolved in 1550, but the abbey was recognised as the second cathedral of the Diocese of London until 1556. The Benedictine monks returned under the Catholic Mary I, but were expelled again by Elizabeth I in 1559.

Numerous personalities such as Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin are buried within its walls.

This is one of the essential visits to make in London. It is very worthwhile. The visit lasts approximately two hours.

As it was getting close to lunchtime, we decided to go for a walk to see if we could find something on the way. And while we were at it, we saw some places of interest.

Right next to the abbey is St. Margaret’s Church. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch and was founded in the 12th century by Benedictine monks. It was built so that the people living around the abbey could worship in their own parish church.

Most of the building that remains today is a reconstruction from between 1486 and 1523. In 1625 a separate cemetery was added in what are now Christchurch Gardens.

Between 1734 and 1738, the north-west tower was rebuilt by the architect John James. At the same time, the entire structure was clad in Portland stone. In 1878, Sir George Gilbert Scott restored and modified most of the interior of the church.

Directly opposite the abbey is Central Hall Westminster. Officially The Methodist Central Hall is a multi-purpose venue that serves primarily as a Methodist church and conference centre.

The building also houses an art gallery, restaurant and offices. These were previously used as the headquarters of the Methodist Church of Great Britain until 2000.

To the north of the abbey is the Parliament Square Garden built in the 19th century. It is a large open green area in the centre and trees to the west. It contains twelve statues of statesmen and other personalities.

To the north of Parliament Square Garden we come to Parliament Street and Whitehall. Here you will find a number of notable landmarks. Such as the Government Offices Great George Street, a large UK government office building.

It was designed by John Brydon and was built between 1909 and 1917.

Opposite is one of London’s legendary pubs, The Red Lion. It stands on the site of a medieval tavern from 1434 called Hopping Hall. In 1531 the Crown bought the tavern.

When it was already the Red Lion, the young Charles Dickens became a regular visitor. Given its location it also became a frequent haunt of British politicians such as Sir Winston Churchill and Clement Atlee.

The food was very good but not cheap. One course each and two drinks £53.04 (€63.74). By the way, in London you have to pay for service. It varies from restaurant to restaurant but we paid between 5% and 12% of the bill. It is not a suggestion, it is included in the final bill.

We’ll leave it here for now so that the entry doesn’t get too long. See you in the next entry.

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NEXT ENTRY

We are going to tell the story of our second trip to London. We are back after 16 years with much more experience and much better organisation.

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12th February

The flight is scheduled to depart at 12.10 from Malaga. We arrive in good time at the airport’s long-stay car park, park and take the courtesy bus to the terminal.

We go through security and sit down for a coffee. At that moment I realise that we have left our lunch sandwiches in the car. We get off to a good start.

The flight leaves on time. It’s the first time we’ve flown British Airways and the first impression is good. Punctuality, comfortable seats and legroom. Plus, you get a complimentary biscuit.

At around 13.45 British time we land at Gatwick Airport. England greets us with cloudy skies (of course) and a light drizzle. And very cold.

We made our way to the airport train station and took the Thameslink to London Bridge station. The ticket cost us £13.80 (16.67€).

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There we took the Jubilee tube line to our hotel station: Canning Town.

The hotel we chose is the Ibis Canning Town. It is a bit far away but about 20 minutes by underground or DLR train from the centre. It is one of the best value for money hotels we saw and we looked at about 60 hotels in the city. Rooms small but not cramped, with an outside window. The price123€ per night.

The hotel is newly built and very modern. The reception is in the cafeteria and we mistook the receptionists for two young hotel guests who were sitting with their laptops. Very informal.

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We left our things at the hotel and with no time to lose we set off before nightfall. But we had a problem. We still hadn’t eaten and it was getting late.

And the sandwiches in the boot of the car, with their serrano ham and tomato…

Next to the hotel door there was a place of a famous fast food chain, but it was only for take-away. So we ate at the door standing up. At least it wasn’t expensive: £11.68 (14€) for the two of us.

We took the DLR train and headed for the centre. We get off at the Tower Gateway stop and walk to Aldgate Pump.

Aldgate Pump is an old drinking fountain located at the junction of Aldgate High Street with Fenchurch Street and Leadenhall Street in the City of London.

There was a well here as early as the 13th century, and it also appears on 16th and 17th century maps of the city.

It was supplied by one of London’s many underground streams. Its water was praised for being bright, sparkling and fresh, and pleasant tasting. It was later discovered that these qualities came from decaying organic matter from the surrounding cemeteries and the leaching of calcium from the bones of the dead.

In 1876 the New River Company changed the supply to tap water. It is no longer in use today.

From here we approach the nearby St Andrew Undershaft Church. This was the site of a former 12th century church. The present building dates from 1532.

The church survived the Great Fire of 1666. In 1992 its large stained glass windows were destroyed in the IRA bombing of the Baltic Exchange.

Directly opposite is a building that caught our attention. It was because it was both curious and ugly. It is Lloyd’s of London. It is a British insurance market and serves as a meeting place for financial and insurance companies.

We continue our walk and, by chance, we come across Leadenhall Market. It is a covered market located in Gracechurch Street.

Built in the 14th century, it is one of the oldest markets in London. Originally a meat, game and poultry market, it stands on what was once the centre of Roman London.

The Lamb Tavern, dating from 1780, is a traditional meeting place for insurance workers. Many of them work at Lloyd’s of London.

That night, the tavern was packed to the rafters with tinkers having a good pint.

The ornate roof structure, painted in green, maroon and cream, and the cobbled floors of the current structure, designed in 1881 by Sir Horace Jones, make Leadenhall Market a tourist attraction.

We continue on our way towards the Tower of London. Soon we arrive at All Hallows by the Tower. It is an early medieval Anglican church on Byward Street. It was formerly dedicated to All Saints (All Hallows) and the Virgin Mary.

It is said to be the oldest church in the City of London, founded in 675. Recent research has challenged these claims, however.

The church survived the Great Fire of London in 1666. But it was badly damaged during the bombing of World War II. After reconstruction, it was reopened in 1957.

Its proximity to the Tower of London meant that it acquired royal connections. Edward IV converted one of its chapels into a royal chapel. Decapitated victims of executions from the Tower were sent to be temporarily buried here.

The church has a museum in its crypt, which contains parts of a Roman pavement discovered beneath the church in 1926. Exhibits focus on the history of the church and the City of London.

Right next door is the famous Tower of London. Although officially Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Tower Fortress of London. It is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames.

It was founded in late 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest. The White Tower is the namesake of the entire castle. It was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was initially a resentful symbol of oppression inflicted on London by the new Norman ruling class.

It was also used as a prison from 1100 (Ranulf Flambard) until 1952. Although that was not its primary purpose.

The Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat.

There were several phases of expansion, principally under Kings Richard I, Henry III and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established in the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.

As we visited it during our first trip in 2009, we were not going to visit it this time.

If you want to visit the Tower you can buy your tickets from the following link:

We made a detour around the Tower site and headed across the beautiful Tower Bridge. It is a combination of a bascule, suspension and, until 1960, cantilever bridge. It was built between 1886 and 1894 by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. The design was by Horace Jones.

It is one of five London bridges owned and maintained by the City Bridge Foundation, a charitable trust founded in 1282.

From the bridge we have good views of both banks of the river. You can also go inside and see how the bridge’s lifting system worked from its construction until 1976. First by means of a steam engine and later by an electronic system.

On the upper walkways we can also find photos of the most emblematic bridges in the world.

We finish crossing the bridge and head for one of London’s ‘secret’ places, the Horsleydown steps. They are stairs, a bit dangerous for clumsy people like me, that go down to the ‘beach’ of London.

It is the bank of the River Thames from where we have a different perspective of Tower Bridge.

We walk back up the stairs and take a stroll along the banks of the Thames. We quietly enjoy the views and the modern London architecture. Now, it’s getting cold enough to change your wig.

Nearby is The Old London City Hall, the former London Town Hall. It was the headquarters of the Greater London Authority between July 2002 and December 2021. The reason was the high cost of renting the building.

We also find here the HMS Belfast. She is a Town class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy. It is now permanently moored as a museum ship in the River Thames. It is managed by the Imperial War Museum.

A little further along is Hay’s Galleria, a mixed-use building housing offices, restaurants, shops and housing.

Originally a warehouse and associated wharf (Hay’s Wharf) for the Port of London, it was redeveloped in the 1980s.

We cross the gallery and make our way to Southwark Cathedral. Although its formal name is the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie.

It is the mother church of the Diocese of Southwark. It has been a place of Christian worship for over 1,000 years. The church was not elevated to cathedral status until the creation of the Diocese of Southwark in 1905.

Between 1106 and 1538, it was the church of an Augustinian priory, Southwark Priory, dedicated in honour of the Virgin Mary. After the dissolution of the monasteries, it became a parish church.

The church belonged to the Diocese of Winchester until 1877, when the parish of St Saviour’s, along with other parishes in south London, was transferred to the Diocese of Rochester.

The present building retains the basic form of the Gothic structure built between 1220 and 1420. The nave, however, is a late 19th century reconstruction.

When we visited it, the bells began to ring. They could have gone on for about half an hour. The truth is that it was slightly overwhelming.

Just behind the cathedral is Borough Market, one of the largest and oldest food markets in London. There was a market here as early as the 11th century.

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The current buildings were built in the 1850s, and today the market mainly sells food specialities to the general public.

The bad news is that at the time we visited, except for the odd pub, the rest of the premises were closed.

We continued our walk to The Golden Hinde, a galleon captained by the corsair Francis Drake on his round-the-world voyage between 1577 and 1580. Originally named Pelican, it was renamed by Drake in 1578. It was in honour of his patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, whose coat of arms was a golden hind.

What we see on display today is a reproduction. It can be visited by means of an entertaining dramatised visit.

As we continued on our way we came across something we hadn’t expected. A place that I have not seen in guidebooks and I found it curious. It is the ruins of Winchester Palace.

This was a 12th century episcopal palace that served as the London residence of the bishops of Winchester.

Remains of the demolished palace survive on the site today, listed as a Grade II Historic Monument and in the care of English Heritage.

We continue our stroll along the banks of the Thames at leisure until we reach Shakespeare’s Globe. This was a theatre built in 1599 and associated with William Shakespeare. It was built by Shakespeare’s company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.

It was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. In June 1614 a second Globe Theatre was built on the same site, which remained open until the closure of London’s theatres in 1642.

The current building is a reproduction that opened in 1997. It is about 230 metres from the site of the original theatre.

Next to it is the Tate Modern art gallery. It is housed in the former Bankside Power Station built between 1947 and 1963 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

The power station closed in 1981 and was opened as a museum in 2000. Its current appearance is due to a renovation by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.

To finish the day, as we were already quite tired, we crossed the Millennium Bridge, a pedestrian suspension bridge that crosses the Thames towards St. Paul’s Cathedral. We will talk about the cathedral a little later as we have tickets for the next day.

What we did note, however, is that very close by is a fountain that we found really beautiful. It is The St Lawrence and Mary Magdalene Drinking Fountain. It is a fountain located on the eastern side of Carter Lane Gardens. It was designed by the architect John Robinson and sculpted by Joseph Durham.

It was installed next to the church of St Lawrence the Jew in 1866. In the 1970s it was dismantled and stored in a vault in the City of London for fifteen years. The pieces were later moved to a barn on a farm in Epping.

The fountain was reassembled in its present location in 2010.

As it was getting a bit late, we decided to look for somewhere to buy something for dinner. We went to an Asian food chain called Itsu, which is located all over London. They have sushi, pokes and some takeaway food on trays, but you can also order hot dishes.

As it was 20 minutes before closing time, they told us that we could only take ready-made food from the fridge. In addition, because it was the last minute, everything was 50% off.

The whole dinner cost us 11.95£ (14.40€). We grabbed the food, some chopsticks and went back to the hotel for dinner.

A bit of relaxation after dinner, and then sleep, as the next day was going to be quite intense.

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13th February

As we had gone to bed early and were very tired, we got up quite early. We had a cup of one of those dirty soluble coffees they leave in the room as a courtesy and we set off on our way. We have a ticket for St Paul’s Cathedral at 10am.

We take the DLR train to Bank station. On leaving the station we stop at a small supermarket to buy some breakfast and continue on our way.

We arrived at the cathedral, but as it was very early in the morning, we went for a walk around the cathedral.

To the north of the cathedral is Temple Bar London, the gateway to the City of London. It was commissioned by King Charles II from the architect Sir Christopher Wren. It was built between 1669 and 1672.

It was originally located at the west end of Fleet Street and was relocated to its present site in 2004.

On the other side of the gate is Paternoster Square. This is a historic old square, renamed from Newgate Market around 1872.

The area was formerly called Paternoster Row and was the centre of London’s publishing trade. It was devastated by air raids during World War II. It is now home to the London Stock Exchange, which moved there from Threadneedle Street in 2004.

At the centre of the square is Paternoster Square Column, designed by William Whitfield’s firm Whitfield Partners. It also serves as a ventilation shaft for a service road running under the square.

Now it’s 10am and we’re off to the front door of the cathedral.

St. Paul’s Cathedral, formerly the Cathedral Church of St. Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral, seat of the Bishopric of London. Its dedication in honour of the Apostle Paul dates back to the original church, founded in 604.

This former cathedral, in the Gothic style, was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666. The present cathedral, completed in 1710, was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren.

The cathedral is one of London’s most famous and recognisable landmarks. Its dome, surrounded by the spires of the Wren churches, was the tallest building in the city between 1710 and 1963. It is the second largest church in the UK after Liverpool.

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Services held at St Paul’s include the funerals of Admiral Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. Also the peace services for the end of the First and Second World Wars or the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer.

The entrance fee was £26 (31.36€) and includes an audio guide. The visit lasts about 2 hours and we can visit the nave, go up to the dome and down to the crypt.

The central nave is enormous. It has many remarkable elements such as the beautiful mosaics in the lower part of the dome and the black and white frescoes in the upper part.

After touring the nave, we plucked up our courage (and desire) and climbed the 257 steps to the Whispering Gallery in the dome.

In this gallery, 30 metres high, there are spectacular acoustics. If you speak to the wall, the person on the other side hears you perfectly. The sound is so good that when I did the test, I looked to the side thinking that Sara was right next to me.

It’s similar to what happens in New York Central Station but it’s even clearer. If you want to know everything about New York, don’t forget to visit our link with complete information and travel diary.

By the way, it is strictly forbidden to take photos and videos.

Without thinking too much about it, we decided to climb the 119 steps that separated us from here to the terrace of the dome. From here we have spectacular 360º views of the city. The truth is that it is well worth the effort.

The views are wonderful, but it was very cold up there. So after turning around we decided to go down and not climb the 150 steps that separated us from the last terrace. This part was very narrow and with very high steps.

Once on the ship again, we went down a little further to the crypt. Some illustrious figures from British history are buried here. For example: Admiral Lord Nelson, Duke Lord Wellington or the discoverer of penicillin, Sir Alexander Fleming.

We took the opportunity to rest a bit in the cafeteria that was in the crypt, having a coffee. It is curious to have a hot coffee surrounded by tombs… The price of the coffee also left us dead: £4.20 (5€).

After a well-deserved rest, we left the cathedral and headed for the nearby Reflection Garden. This is a small garden whose main attraction is a central pond in which St Paul’s Cathedral is perfectly reflected.

As this visit did not keep us too long, we quickly set off for the next point. Another of the visits we had scheduled with tickets.

The venue in question is the London Mithraeum and we had tickets for 13.30. Also known as the Temple of Mithra is a Roman mithraeum which was discovered in Walbrook during the construction of a building in 1954.

It was originally thought to be an early church, but it was not. It was built in the mid-3rd century and dedicated to Mithras, a solar deity, guardian of contracts, order and friendship.

During excavations white marble images of Minerva, Mercury, Mithras and Serapis from the 3rd century were found.

The visit begins with a small light and sound show that lasts a few minutes. Afterwards, you are free to visit the place and take your own photos.

By the way, the visit is free, but you have to get a ticket.

As it was getting close to lunchtime, we started to consider various possibilities. In the end we decided on an Egyptian fast food place called Koshari Street. It was very, very tasty and not very expensive. Two courses, a starter and a drink, £26.65 (32€).

This was the small plate and the truth is that I ended up completely full.

We’ll leave it here for the moment. We don’t want the entry to be too long.

NEXT ENTRY

Almost 16 years later we are travelling to London again. It was in the summer of 2009 and it was the first destination outside our borders that we made as a couple. Between our inexperience in organising trips and other factors, it was a somewhat peculiar trip.

Now, with the experience of travelling halfway around the world, we are back to enjoy it properly. And we did.

Here you can read the diary of that trip divided into several entries.

IMPORTANT: From 2 April 2025, any citizen travelling to the UK without being a UK resident will be required to have an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). This document can only be applied for on the UK Government website via this link.

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  Europe

  London 2025 (I)

  PorViajando con Fon 22/04/202508/07/2025
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  Europe

  London 2025 (II)

  PorViajando con Fon 24/04/202523/08/2025
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  Europe

  London 2025 (III)

  PorViajando con Fon 27/04/202527/04/2025
• 

  Europe

  London 2025 (IV): Visiting Windsor

  PorViajando con Fon 02/05/202516/09/2025
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  Europe

  London 2025 (V): we escape to Canterbury

  PorViajando con Fon 09/05/202510/05/2025
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  Europe

  London 2025 (and VI)

  PorViajando con Fon 10/05/202510/05/2025

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