5 FAVORITE MEMORIES LONDON

For Your Eyes Only – London

As we traveled the world we knew living in London for a month was a must. Here we share our 5 favorite memories London. We cherished the entire month we lived like local Londoners. Our flat overlooks the water in the Isle of Dogs quay with pubs and restaurants dotting our neighborhood. The history of London is everywhere in this vibrant city that never sleeps.

5 Favorite Memories London

Considering OUR 5 Favorite Memories London and all of our experiences it became clear this was an impossible task. EVERYTHING was a favorite memory and experience. So we though if we only had a few days, what are the 5 Favorite Memories London that we would not want to miss that really added to our experience. We agreed they are, in no order, the Tower of London, Museums, Walkie-Talkie Skygarden, Borough Market, and London’s West End.

5 Favorite Memories London – But Wait, Theres More!!!

However, we also go beyond the 5 Favorite Memories London adding a number of other experiences that are also not to be missed, even on a short visit. Some other must see highlights beyond our 5 Favorite Memories London include Trafalger Square, Piccadilly Circus, Notting Hill, Carary Wharf and Isle of Dogs, Greenwich Park Observatory and the prime meridian line. Even little everyday experiences like dropping into a pub for refreshments and to join in with the local pub culture.

Surprisingly, even getting around London was a great experience. We initially were apprehensive thinking crowds and congestion of public transportation in a big city. This was not a reality of what we found. Riding the classic red double-decker buses both to get around and even for sightseeing was fun. But the real treat was riding the Thames Clippers up and down the river. We found this to be a fun experience we looked forward to at every opportunity. It is also a very easy and fast way to get around London. Hint – Bus Line 11 winds through the city and provides a great sightseeing route for the low price of a bus ticket. It also works as a great hop on – hop off route.

Check out our article on Getting Around London for hints and details to make getting around easy.

Tower of London

Today we toured the Tower of London, officially aka Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London. Barbara’s brother, Larry, is visiting London and joined us. This historic castle on the north bank of the Thames was founded in 1066 AD as part of the Norman Conquest of England. Today the Tower is on the list of United Nations World Heritage Sites (UNESCO).

CASTLE DEFENSES

The castle complex is surrounded by two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. Over the centuries it has served as a prison, an armory, a menagerie, home of the Royal Mint and the place of safekeeping of the Crown Jewels of England. In addition, it is also a grand palace and a royal residence. View of the Tower of London across the moat. The moat is green as we were told there were 500 years of sewage and other ‘stuff’ being dumped into the moat. 15 feet of top soil was brought in to raise the moat above river level which also made it very fertile ground.

Some notable historic figures who have lived or been connected to the tower include Kings Richard I, Henry III, and Edward I; Anne Boleyn, Sir Walter Raleigh, Guy Fawkes and Rudolph Hess.

The Tower is on the North bank of the Thames River giving us the opportunity to take another ride on the Thames River Clipper ferry to the pier at Tower Bridge which is just steps away from the Tower. The traditional main gate entering the Castle. Originally there was a wooden draw bridge spanning the moat below.

BEEFEATERS

We began our visit with a guided tour by a Yeoman Warder popularly known as Beefeater. We were surprised to learn that the Beefeater regiment is made up of former members of the military forces and that they live within the Tower of London compound and are officially charged with “ceremonially” guarding the Tower and the Crown Jewels. As guides, the Beefeaters are celebrated for the dry English humor that they sprinkle liberally throughout their tours. Our Beefeater guide was no exception, we were laughing frequently during the 75 minute tour. The upshot of his presentation is that the world hasn’t changed much in the past centuries and he made this point over and over with wonderful examples taken from the history of the Tower.

The three of us agreed, the Beefeater tour was a highlight of our visit and worth the admission. Bonding with the Beefeater – The EIIR on his chest stands for Elizabeth the Second, Regina. Regina means Queen.

CROWN JEWELS

Afterwards, we toured the Crown Jewels where we viewed an amazing collection of royal bling including the crown, ring, scepter and coronation robes worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her investiture in 1953. Unfortunately, photography isn’t allowed in the crown jewels, so we’ve posted a picture we found online. After a walk along the Tower wall we found a restaurant for lunch on the water. While the morning had started out chilly enough for jackets, by lunchtime it was warm enough to enjoy lunch on the outdoor terrace and keep an eye on all the boating activity on the river.

These guards are military infantry soldiers. They are on real guard duty to protect the Royal Palace, as well as the Crown Jewels. The Beefeaters perform ceremonial guard duty.

The Imperial State Crown is formed from an openwork gold frame, mounted with three very large stones, and set with 2868 diamonds in silver mounts, largely table-, rose- and brilliant-cut, and colored stones in gold mounts, including 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls.

Museums

One thing there is no shortage of in London are museums. By recent count there are more than 250 museums in London and many of them are free. Double score ! During our month in London we enjoyed visiting a number of museums. One thing we found was very limited ws time. We wished we had more time to visit more, however, this gives us another great reason to return.

Museum of London

The Museum of London is a modern Museum with an eclectic assortment of exhibits and collections. During our visit we learned about “Fatbergs” in the sewers of London, history of London dating back to ancient Roman times, a collection of artifacts decade-by-decade through the 20th century, and walked a life-sized diorama of a section of old London. The Museum itself is built adjacent to an ancient city wall built around 200 AD by the Roman’s when London was Londinium and occupied by the Romans. 

British Museum

The British Museum is the ultimate museum with over 8 million artifacts founded in 1753, the collection is one of the largest in existence. Much of the collection was obtained during the British Empire period. We were speechless entering the museum’s center core, called The Grand Court, was originally a large plaza that has been covered by a glass dome that is impressive to say the least.

There is no way to cover, or do justice to the range and depth of the collection. However, a couple of the highlights that we enjoyed the most are the Parthenon Marbles. These originally adorned the Parthenon and were hand carved in the mid-400s BC.

A pair of human headed winged lions from Nimrud and the gates of Balawat dating back to 1350 BC.

Tate Modern

The National Gallery of British Art founded in 1897 was renamed the Tate Modern. Dropping in for a quick visit, we exit nearly five hours later having barely scratched the surface. But we did get a flavor of the museum and part of the collection. Visiting the Tate also encourages exploring the Millennium Bridge which crosses the Thames from the Tate to Blackfriars Pier. (Hint: A great place to catch the Thames Ferry). Also crossing the bridge and walking a couple of blocks north of the Thames will deliver you to St. Paul’s Cathedral. And just north of St. Paul’s is the British Museum.

Docklands Museum

Photo: View of Millwall from our apartment with Canary Wharf rising high in the background.

Our apartment in London is in the Isle of Dogs near Canary Wharf. We have full size floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Millwall Outer Docks. The entire area are small linked bodies of water called Quays (pronounced ‘Key’). The quays are where all of the ships would arrive and load and unload their cargo supplying London with food spice and trade from around the world. The entire area has now been gentrified and turned into a Financial Center and prestigious residential and shopping area. As we were living in the ‘Docklands”, we felt visiting the Dockland Museum to learn the early history of the area would be fun.

The Docklands Museum is part of the Museum of London and located in the Limehouse area near Canary Wharf. It does an excellent job presenting the rich history of the docklands and Thames river in the history of London. It ties together how a little island of Britain could at one time extend it’s empire around the world.

The British Empire

At one point the British Empire was the largest empire in history and held influence over 412 million people, almost 25% of the world’s population. The British Empire in the name of Queen and Country navigated and controlling large swaths of North America, Africa, India, South American, Antarctica, Australia, the Middle East and Hong Kong.

Goods and merchandise from these far-flung colonies all came through London’s Docklands. The museum covers the 1600s through present day. The exhibits and stories are well curated covering the early history, the slave trade, sugar and spice trade, World War II, Cultural Revolution, and reclaiming the Docklands and revitalizing them to their current state as a center for global financial power.

We enjoyed learning how ships from all over the world came here navigating up the Thames into the man-made docks capable of handling hundreds of ships daily. Also, how England struggled with the slave trade and dealt with freeing their slaves. The World War II gallery was especially interesting learning about the Blitz from the German Luftwaffe, how the government deal with the cultural revolution of the Beatles and rock and roll. This gave rise to the whole ‘Pirate Radio’ movement in Britain with outlawed and banned radios stations broadcasting from ships off shore.

Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf

The Docklands, rebranded as Canary Wharf today is a global financial powerhouse center with most major global financial firms having headquarters or significant presences here. We experience this every day we step out our apartment’s front door. The vibe is exciting, you can feel the energy all around.

Peter Harrison Planetarium and Royal Observatory Greenwich

Greenwich Park is across the Thames south of the Isle of Dogs on the East end of London. Greenwich Park is a large regional park that contains a number of destinations. One of the major attractions in the heart of the park is the Peter Harrison Planetarium and the Royal Observatory.

Cutty Sark

Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Clyde in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest. Now she is a museum. Definitely worth a tour. It sits above an underground cafe allowing a view from below.

Prime Meridian

The Prime Meridian, or 0-degrees longitude is the line that divides the earth into two hemispheres. (Photo Tip – A popular photo is for two people to stand in different hemispheres and press hands on the Prime Meridian).

Walkie-Talkie Skygarden

Nicknamed the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ building because of it distinctive shape is officially 20 Fenchurch Street, a commercial skyscraper. Located prominently in the historic financial district of London, the tower appears to be looking down on the Thames River like a large transformer hiding among the skyscrapers.

20 Fenchurch besides being a landmark and visible from all over London, it sits predominately across the river from the Shard. Sitting atop the Walkie-Talkie building is an observation deck, a lounge, couple of restaurants and botanical terraced garden. This is a MUST SEE ! The cost is free, but reservations are required. We enjoyed a tasty traditional English gin and tonic while relaxing at one of the tables enjoying the view across the landscape as far as the eye can see. This must be what a modern day castle feels like.

Photo: Selfie on observation deck with the Shard in background across the Thames.

Our refreshments were followed by a walk around the outdoor observation deck, and then a tour through the botanical garden. Wow ! Originally we thought this would be a quick go up, look around and move on. Instead we spent 2 1/2 hours enjoying the views and uniqueness of this space. We enjoyed this so much, it made our list of 5 Favorite Memories London.

Borough Market

Borough Market is a giant outdoor food street food market with every delicious and amazing food imaginable- YUM! No need to explain further why it is one of our 5 Favorite Memories. It is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London dating back to at least the 12th century and possibly even earlier back to the 9^th century. Located at Southwark and Borough High Streets, it is adjacent to the Southwark Cathedral at the southern end of London Bridge. We arrive (for our first of many visits – Yum!) by Thames Clipper (see below), our favorite mode of getting around. The market is open to the public six days a week, but not all vendors are open on Mondays and Tuesday, check their website for hours and a handy map before you visit.

Southwark Cathedral

What the Dickens do Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, and Harvard University have in common? Southwark Cathedral of course. The cathedral dating back to 606 AD is both a historical site and artistic repository and has had more than a few brushes with fame!

On our way out of the Borough Market we saw placards inviting the public to visit Southwark Cathedral. Having no particular place we needed to be and we like peeking inside beautiful cathedrals, we accepted the invite and made our way to the welcome hall.

We received a warm English welcome by some docents and an invite to enjoy a Dutch choral performance already underway. The performance by the visiting choir was beautiful and we count it as one of the many nice surprises we’ve encountered while traveling. It often seems when you aren’t expecting anything special, something out of the ordinary knocks your socks off.

Jubilee Walkway

Photo: Millennium Bridge in front of the Tate Modern looking across the Thames.

Leaving Borough market and Southwark Cathedral, we were queued for the London South Bank walk, officially known as The Queen’s Walk. It is part of a much longer Jubilee Walkway. This walk meanders along the Thames River on the south bank and passes many interesting sites and attractions. A few that caught our attention causing us to return for further in depth visits were the Shakespeare Globe Theater, Tate Modern, Millennium Bridge, London Eye, and the Oxo Tower. The walk is enjoyable, filled will interesting sights, and the path is lined with eating and drinking establishments. And for a break from touring and sightseeing, we even rested our feet in the basement Oxo VIP cinema and caught a movie in luxury before and evening of dinner and further exploring.

London’s West End

During our month living in London we discovered the guilty pleasure of London’s West End. We enjoyed seeing Kinky Boots and Book of Mormon. The excitement and lights on the streets in the West End during the evening is electric. This reminded us of our visit to Broadway in New York City, but somehow the electric excitement seemed just a little brighter in the West End.

Getting Around in London

Getting around London is very easy once you understand all of the modes and how integrated each type of transportation is. They all connect seamlessly. Below are a couple of special suggestions to make the most of your visit to London. To fully understand how easy it is to get around, check out our post on Best Ways For Getting Around London.

Thames Clippers

The clippers offer a wonderful view of London from the water. They are also fast, efficient, and reliable running regularly a couple of times each hour to much more frequently during peak times. River clippers or ferries can be seen as a novelty mode of transportation in many cities around the word. In London however, these are truly a regular way people commute around the city. Traveling on the river is generally much faster that other modes of transportation as there is no traffic. It is also the most scenic. (Hint: Ride a clipper early in your visit to London. You may find as we did this is a preferred mode of getting around.)

Bus Line 11

London’s Famous red double-decker buses are a great way to get around and see the sights. Route #11 is especially good because it gives you a bird’s eye view of Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, The Strand, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, and Chelsea. We were very fortunate to land the front seats on the upper deck giving us an unobstructed view of all of the sights. Riding Route # 11 is a fantastic way to not only see the sights, but to get your bearings. Bus # 11 is a wonderful ‘Hop-on Hop-off’ bus line for the mere price of a regular bus fare. The bus ride was also a bit of a thrill ride as we witnessed what looked like dozens of near misses between pedestrians, bicyclists and the bus!

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is a large public square dominated on one side by the National Portrait Gallery and anchored by Nelson’s column, fountains and lions. The Strand is a major thoroughfare starting at the public traffic circle at the foot of the square. The Strand is lined with British flags adding to the pomp seeming like a parade route.

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus – Come One, Come All. We’ve heard about Piccadilly Circus but never really knew what it was. Is it a circus, are there animals, High-wire acts?

Piccadilly Circus is a large confluence of major thoroughfares with hustle and bustle much like Times Square in New York. There are giant LED video-trons, street performers, artists, vendors, and thousands of people there just to say they were there, all taking selfies. So we joined in. However, Piccadilly Circus originally was built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly Street. The term ‘circus’ comes from the Latin word meaning circle for the round space where the streets come together.

Notting Hill

A walk in London’s Notting Hill. We both love the movie Notting Hill. Not only is it a sweet and romantic story, we’ve always enjoyed the characters and feel of this quirky neighborhood. Spending a few hours in this little corner of London’s west side was a dream come true (especially for Barbara!) We scouted out a few of the locations that appeared in the movie. We also poked around the market stalls and some of the little shops. The famous blue door (right, that one) was the front door of Will’s flat in the Movie Notting Hill. Not the actual location of the Travel Bookshop but the inspiration for the business owned by Will.

We also enjoyed seeing the brightly colored row houses of Notting Hill fame and Portobello Row.

5 Favorite Memories London Comes to an End

Cheers! Don’t forget to grab a pint, or two, or three at a local pub. Pubs are different than bars are in the US. Pubs are a friendly and relaxed gathering place where you are more likely to find entire families. We recommend trying a ‘Shandy’, a mix of beer and British lemonade.

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