London
London is simply a fabulous city. I’ve been here a few times, but never long enough to get to know the ins, outs and history of even one of the districts. There is so much here to see and do, and blessings upon blessings, it is all in a language I can understand. This is not to say that English is the only language that is spoken. Contrary to popular belief, as a true metropolitan city, I hear French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Dutch, Hindi, German- even Austrian German -and a number of languages I can’t place in the tube (subway), on the streets, and in the stores. London has always been a market town and that sense of commercial traffic invites the world’s peoples and their money in. If the geological fault under Wall Street ever shifts, London’s banking area will still be around; after all it survived the Great Fire of 1666 when 80% of the city was destroyed by a sleepy baker who inadvertently left his oven on overnight. It seems that Shiva was dancing that night and in the aftermath Brahma in the form of Christopher Wren replaced the burnt wooden buildings with stone structures many of which still stand, including his masterpiece, St. Paul’s Cathedral.
As those who have taken my HUM 251 class know, this Cathedral was inspired by St. Peter’s in Rome, not only in the structure of the dome, but also of the baldachin by the altar. What we didn’t talk about were the Whispering Gallery which is at the base of the dome, and then the two look out pathways around the top of the dome just below the spiral. There are 259 steps to the Whispering Gallery, so called because you can hear what anyone says or mumbles a 100 feet away, and another 271 black iron tight spiral staircase steps to the top. It’s easy to get dizzy on the way up, but the climb is well worth it as the Golden Gallery offers a spectacular view of the entire city. Below the worship area lies the crypt where many legendary English political, ecclesiastical and artistic figures are laid to rest, including Sir Christopher in a very modest setting. The website for St. Paul’s with a good explanation of the Cathedral is: http://www.stpauls.co.uk/
There is new walkway that crosses the Thames making it very easy to get from St. Paul’s to the Tate Modern Art Museum and the reconstructed Globe Theater. The new Globe was the dream of American actor Sam Wanamaker who dedicated a number of years to raising the money for an authentic recreation of the original Shakespeare playhouse. He ran into a number of obstacles, but his persistence paid off and it is now not only a living museum but a very active theater. It also has the only thatched roof in London. After the fire there was an understandable ban on flammable building materials, especially thatched roofs. By the time he died, the authorities had still not given permission for the straw, but this is a land where family legacies mean a great deal, and when his daughter continued with her father’s vision, the permission was soon granted. The white Globe stands out along the banks of the Thames and seems somewhat dwarfed by the larger modern structures surrounding it, yet it is a vivid reminder of the power of the living past on our current values and our future hopes and dreams. Uncle Willie and his theater are examples of real time travel.
The buildings of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and St. Margarets are also living legacies as is the Tower of London. The people who have spoken in the chambers of Parliament, the Kings & Queens who have been honored and discredited there, the artists, poets, dramatists, thinkers who are buried in Westminster Abbey and the scandals those walls have been witness to form the history of this small island nation that almost succeeded in ruling the world for a number of centuries. The Tower of London which now houses the Crown Jewels, is also home to gruesome tales of torture and imprisonment.
London history is 'The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Glorious'. This city has inspired some of the greatest literature of all time. Discussions in the pubs sparked debates, knife fights, great poetry and novels. Goldsmith, Tennyson and even Mark Twain frequented “Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese” on Fleet St. (of Barber fame) by St. Paul’s, Dickens was said to be a regular at Covent Garden's (of Liza Doolittle fame) “Lamb & Flag” and mentions "Spaniards Inn" (of Hampstead Heath fame) in “The Pickwick Papers;” this drinking establishment is also where Keats supposedly wrote “An Ode to a Nightingale.”
If the history of the English people wasn’t enough to keep a visitor very busy, the rest of the world is here too. Not just through the people on the streets and the products in the stores, but in the museums. As the British conquered the world, they took some of the best artifacts from across the globe back home to the museums in the city on the Thames. The British Museum has absolutely stunning Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian and Asian Art collections. The Chinese jade exhibition is exquisite. The Victoria and Albert Museum has a beautiful array of Medieval altars from France and England, as well as intricately carved SE Asia and Southern Asia sculptures. A walk through the National Gallery is a journey through European painting. The Tate Modern challenges one’s optical and intellectual senses.
This is a modern city; not one that is simply a testament to the past. The renovations completed for both the 2012 Summer Olympics and last year’s Queen’s Jubilee have transformed the city so much that I didn’t recognize my old haunts from 40 years ago when I was first here. Foyle’s, my favorite bookstore back then, was a run down four story building with great sales, I bought the “Complete Shakespeare” for a pound; I still have & use it. Today it is still four stories, but it feels as if the building was torn down and rebuilt and is more like a Barnes and Noble than the eclectic store it once was. The sales are also long gone. Luckily, some of the secondhand dealers still line Tottencourt Road shops in between Starbucks, Subways and KFC, the new global conquerors.
London’s West End has produced some of the most popular musicals and plays of all time. “Les Miserables” and “Phantom of the Opera” are the two longest running shows right now. “We Will Rock You” from Queen and Ben Elton has been entertaining visitors for the past twelve years and still rocks. I wanted to see something that I hadn’t heard of, so I went to “Once” which is about an Irish songwriter and a Czech piano player. It was one of the best productions I have ever seen; it was beautifully directed, acted and sung. In the musical, the two leading characters come together for a brief moment, but that moment transforms their lives and their careers. In the process there is great loss as they must part to move on with their previous commitments.
In a sense, what they feel is what I feel for this odyssey. I have been fortunate to have met amazing people and learned so much from them and their cities, towns and countries. I would like to continue, but know that I must soon go back. The sense of pending loss as I come close to the end of this phase of the journey is acute. London is a gateway for coming and going. I arrived in London on the Eurostar from Paris after the xAtlantic flight in May; now I’ll take British Air back across the Channel for the next and final European stop before heading back across the big pond. As the characters in the play, I really don’t want to leave and yet staying is simply not possible. BUT, luckily, I do have a couple more days to spend in the great City of Lights.
