…Giddy London, home of the brash, outrageous and free…This is just one of many songs by Morrissey or The Smiths that mention places in or around London, places that I kept seeing or hearing throughout our stay. A few more examples:…all around Sloane Square…3am Northside Clapham Common…Train heave on to Euston…the Piccadilly palare was just silly slang…Turns out, all of these places are real places, not just song lyrics. I found this out as I finally got a chance to actually tour London, where our hotel and home base had been for the past week.
Of course, Bob and I had ventured out on several occasions, not only to catch a train in the Tube, but to the West End Theatre district to see three plays. But it wasn’t until Saturday, April 3, 2010, the last full day of our trip that we actually got an opportunity to see fabulous London. We got a rather late start on that morning – partially because Bob insisted that I drive the day’s events, but also because the major snag was finding our way to the Abbey Road crosswalk, made famous by the Beatles’ album cover to the classic LP Abbey Road.
Our tour guide Steen tried to give us directions there, which proved to be false – then upon arrival at Marble Arch where we were to meet our London bus tour company, they too gave us bad info. I insisted that before we began our pre-paid bus journey, we must find this location.
While we were messing around with that, I went ahead and got my picture at the Marble Arch and grabbed a nearby authentic London hot dog, smothered in sauteed onions – which was truly one of the best I’ve ever had. The Marble Arch is historic in itself. Originally designed in 1828 as the entrance to Buckingham Palace (and modeled after the Arch of Constantine), it was moved to its present location in 1851 when the Palace was expanded. By the time I ate my hot dog, it was 11:30am.
At the Marble Arch
A delicious British hotdog
Another hour had passed by the time we finally figured out where we were going, took the bus to the St. John’s Wood stop, and walked several blocks to the location of Abbey Road. It wasn’t necessary that we recognize the surroundings, because surely the endless horde of onlookers and people walking across the crosswalk swaying their arms and taking broad steps was a good enough clue that we had found the right place.
They just made everything look so easy
The amazing thing about the album cover is that is was captured so perfectly. All four of the Beatles look perfectly natural strolling across the street, but somehow the pose can never be replicated – especially amidst the traffic on this very active street. It is the ultimate scene of geeky tourism and Bob and I were among the many idiots trying our best to get a good photo…taken by a stranger (actually two of our female tour group travelers happened to be there as well, but they had a tough time as well). Below are a few of the many ‘better’ attempts.
Although it didn’t move far, the crosswalk originally was on the left side of the lamp seen to the left of Bob.
Unnatural robotic gyrations in no way resembling the album cover
The best of the sorry lot
No matter; we were there. Not so incidental to the street itself was that the building immediately to the left of the crosswalk was the Abbey Road Studios themselves. Not only did the Beatles record almost their entire body of work from 1962-1970 in this former Georgian townhouse, but Pink Floyd recorded most of their music from the late 60’s to mid-70’s here, including Dark Side of the Moon.
The surprisingly small Abbey Road Studios
We hiked back to the bus stop, stopping at the Beatles Coffee Shop along the way, where I picked up the obligatory Abbey Road magnet. We caught a bus back to the Marble Arch area where we boarded our bus owned by The Original Tour company. Our pre-purchased tickets entitled us to board the bus, which offered narration along the way and would stop at major tourist landmarks. We could get off the bus, check out the sites, and then re-board the next bus to come along.
You’d think that people would have had enough of this silly foursome. But I look around me and I see it isn’t so.
Previewing our London destintions
It was 2pm, by the time we made our first stop at Buckingham Palace. This, of course, is where the British monarch resides. The state rooms are only open to the public in August and September, so for now, there was no getting inside. We had to settle for the exterior views of the gates, palace, and the guards. The changing of the guards was taking place once per day but the next changing would be happening until 11:30am the next day.
Buckingham Palace
Outside the gates of Buckingham Palace. I offered to change places with the guard but he declined.
The Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace – erected in 1911, and me, erected just recently
After our quick pictures, we caught our bus again and took the brief journey to the House of Parliament (officially known as the Palace of Westminster) area, where we could see both Parliament and Big Ben ala Chevy Chase’s classic line “Look kids, Big Ben! Parliament!” from National Lampoon’s European Vacation. Sad how the 150-year history of these magnificent structures is overshadowed by that one line from Clark W. Griswold. But it is.
The Palace of Westminster – aka the Houses of Parliament
One of the Parliament gates were open, so there was a great opportunity to get a full shot of Little Brad and Big Ben
Within walking distance from our drop off point (actually we walked right by Big Ben! Parliament!) was Westminster Abbey. No matter how many times I corrected Bob, there are only three syllables in its name – not West-minister. As impressive as this gorgeous, amazing church is, it is equally as frustrating – especially if you are one of the elite mortals who like to get your picture with famous graves. This one is full of them: most of the Kings and Queens of England, Mary Queen of Scots, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, T.S. Eliot, John Keats, Laurence Oliver, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Charles Darwin, and Isaac Newton – just to give you a tantalizing example. But natch – no photos allowed. But also natch – I snuck a few.
Before entering the abbey, we also visited St. Margaret’s Church, which stands on the Westminster Abbey grounds. This is the parish church of the British Houses of Parliament. Also noteworthy is that Winston Churchill was married in this church. We finished up on the grounds of Westminster Abbey at about 3:45 and then took a walk around Parliament Square located just outside the abbey.
Looking back at Big Ben with some tourist, Westminster Abbey directly behind me
St. Margaret’s Church, with Big Ben in the background
Inside St. Margarets. No photos please.
The North entrance to the abbey
The tomb behind me belongs to Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 – 1567)
The blurry grave of Charles Dickens
An odd but laudable relic, Britain’s oldest door
Monkey emulation over the grave of Charles Darwin
The Great West Door to the abbey and the depiction of the ten Christian martyrs, upon exit
We browsed Parliament square for a few minutes, getting snapshots of a nice Winston Churchill statue as well as a rare statue to an American icon, Abraham Lincoln. There were also nice views of Big Ben (which is actually the name of the bell inside the tower, not the tower itself) and the Houses of Parliament.
Lincoln finally makes it overseas
Look readers, Big Ben, Parliament
Get me to the Churchill on time
Bob and I waited a bit to board our bus and then we headed out on our final stop of the day. On the way, we traveled down Fleet Street – that of the famous fictional killer barber Sweeney Todd. A free riverboat cruise down the River Thames was part of our tour package, but Bob and I missed the bus stop that we were supposed to get off at in order to board the boat, so we skipped that. We did pass over the London Bridge, which – although not the famous bridge from the ‘falling down’ song – spans the River Thames and connects London and Southwark.
Photo of the Tower Bridge – taken from the London Bridge
Although it is often mistaken for the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge is the more famous of the two. We then crossed back over the Thames the opposite way over the Tower Bridge, which led us to the Tower of London. Unfortunately, it was too late in the day, just after 5pm at this point, to actually get inside of it, so we just took some photos outside. Over the years since its inception in 1066, the tower has been used as a royal residence, prison, and fortress. The Tower still houses the Crown Jewels, available for viewing to the paying public.
See if you can guess where I am here
That’s right. The Tower of London.
The famous Tower Bridge and the River Thames
Our final stop of the evening didn’t have much to do with historical London so to speak, but afforded both Bob and I our first opportunity to attend a Sons of the Desert meeting overseas. We grabbed the subway to Russell Square and then took a cab to the Calthorpe Arms, a rather tiny pub with an upstairs meeting area. I was hoping that the pub might be serving fish and chips so that I could have just one authentic British sit-down meal, but alas, it was not to be. We ended up with coldcut and egg salad sandwiches and chips. I did get to enjoy a couple of Strongbow ciders though. That part made me happy.
Outside the Calthorpe Arms, site of the The Live Ghost tent meeting
Strongbow and a Laurel and Hardy film: two things that make me happy
Del Kempster is a long-time friend in the club and the Grand Sheik of The Live Ghost tent. He introduced around the room and invited Bob and I to deliver the toasts to Babe and Stan, respectively. During my toast, I mentioned our visit to Stan’s birthplace two days earlier. I interrupted Bob’s toast when he mentioned that he was born in 1957, the same year that Oliver passed away, with the quip, “Hmm. Two bad things in one year.” We quickly segued into our best L&H lookalike routine as he stomped on my foot and declared “I’m making this toast.”
Delivering the toast to Stan
The the theme of the film program was ‘eggs’ and showing that evening was County Hospital, The Live Ghost, a video tribute to Marvin Hatley, excerpts from The Hollywood Revue of 1929, Hollywood Party, and The Bullfighters. The feature was A Chump of Oxford, but Bob and I decided to head out shortly after it began.
The tent members were very kind to us, lavishing us with a few publications, buttons, and other giveaways. In fact, we were a bit shocked when some members wanted to chat with us whilst the films were showing! All in all, it was a cool experience to see how tents on the other side of the Atlantic celebrate the genius of Laurel and Hardy.
Bob and I with our host Del
With the tent officers, Steve Robinson, Eric Elliot, and Del Kempster
Bob and I took a cab to the train station and then the tube back to our hotel. I was pretty beat by the time we got back, so I went to bed relatively quickly. I put off my packing until the next morning, which I accomplished in a haze, stumbling down to the lobby with my luggage around 8am. We were taken to the London Heathrow airport by taxi, went through the long, long line at customs, and boarded our flight at 10:55am.
I sat next to a couple who had been on our tour, who were alternately annoying (when she actually asked me to turn down my iPod) and generous (as they gave me all of their leftover food). I kept myself plenty entertained watching movies (Everybody’s Fine) and TV shows (The Office, How I Met Your Mother) on demand. I also played lots of poker and Tetris on the built-in screens on the back of the airplane seats.
We gained a whopping eight hours during flight, which arrived at LAX at 2:25pm. Jimmy picked me up and we went back to his place, where I first got the chance to meet his and Ellen’s wonderdog Elbie. Back on American soil, I caught up on phone messages, texts, and Facebook – and laying down in the guestroom for a bit, after feeling the effects of a minor earthquake. When it happened, I assumed that my body was simply going into convulsions from exhaustion.
Elbie – named after Long Beach
This was Easter Sunday, April 4. Back at home, my Mom was hosting our traditional Murphy family Easter gathering at her house. Although I missed being there, I was still able to enjoy a delicious ham dinner with the Wileys, Ellen, and Elbie. Although Jimmy had a very hard time getting Elbie into her bunny ears, that didn’t prevent him from trying.
The delicious Easter dinner, with Big Jimmy, Kris, Jimmy, and Ellen
We sat around socializing after dinner, but I recall very little of it, my head in a daze that wouldn’t improve much when I had to catch a red-eye flight that left L.A. at 11:30 that night. It took me to Cleveland at 6:44am. Now I was losing hours instead of gaining. To make matters worse, the one-hour flight from Cleveland to Dayton was delayed by an hour, so I had to wait at the Cleveland airport for three hours, gnawing on Quizno’s and trying to stay awake.
Back at the Dayton airport, these images greeted me after my first bathroom stop in America
Dad picked me up in Dayton at around 11am. He had had some trouble with my car in his driveway, when he pulled out and rear-ended it with his truck. During the course of the week, he had had it al repaired so had he chose not to tell me, I wouldn’t have been any the wiser. Perhaps I dreamt the whole thing anyway. At this point, my head handn’t hit a pillow in 34 hours. I picked up the car from Dad’s, drove home, and immediately went to sleep. It would take me the entire week to get back on a normal sleep schedule and pull my head out of the clouds.
By the end of the week, I’d be ready to get back out on the road.
Return to the beginning of the trip here…
2010 will continue in Gatlinburg here…
Why were you erect at the Victoria Memorial?
Aaron
July 20th, 2010