London, England (under renovation at the time)
FROM COBH, we sailed all the way down into the English Channel, and back up to the end of the channel, to Dover, England. Dover is at - essentially - the entrance to The North Sea, which separates the British Isles from the Scandinavian/Baltic nations. Apropos of my discussion regarding Liverpool (and Flint, Michigan), I had the same kind of "parochial" vision of Dover. It seemed to me to be small, middle of nowhere, with little of interest to do (we will be there again in June and will perhaps see how wrong I was).
St. Pancras Train Station, London, England
NEVER HAVING been to London, we deemed that a reachable site, especially given that our port stop was a fairly long day. We booked train tickets in advance, and taxied to the train station, boarding a 9:00 train. A distance of only around 70 miles, the train ride each way was about 1 1/2 hours. I think we were due back to the ship around 8:00 p.m. We had hired a tour, who picked us up at our stop - The St. Pancras station and took us around London for the day. The St. Pancras station was pretty spectacular, architecturally. We also learned that the staircase below has been a prominent part of the popular series: "Downton Abbey."
St. Pancras Train Station - Hotel
WE REALIZED later that the tour we had booked was not really a true "highlights of London" tour. It had an odd name, like "Secrets of London," or similar. Although we did see many of the main sights, we really didn't see all the things we wanted to see.
Royal Courts of Justice; London, England
BUT WHAT I also realized was that there is simply no way to "see" London in just part of one day. We would return there in late 2021 and spend a week. Even that was not really enough time, and we look forward to our next visit to that splendid city. Much of what we did see was more in the form of a "drive-by." Not that our tour wasn't excellent. It was. We saw and learned about some pretty interesting things.
Guildhall Art Gallery; London, England
WE TOURED, for example, a small museum dedicated to the London Police Department, and learned about "the Bobbies." We saw pockmarks on the exterior walls of buildings from the bombings during WWII. When our guide learned that I was an attorney, and my wife worked for years in the U.S. Federal Court system, he decided to deviate slightly from his planned tour, and took us into the British "Royal Courts of Justice" at the beginning of Fleet Street. While we didn't see any court action, we did see the inside of the magnificent building. London has some of the most spectacular architecture of any city in the world.
Entrance to Smithfields; London, England
ONE OF the historical places we saw was the old North Gate into the early 12th century St. Bartholomew's Priory Church. The church is located in Smithfield, just down the street from where we saw the damage from WWII Blitzes. The original (north gate) entrance to the church is said to be one of few buildings in the area to avoid damage from the Blitzes. The church at one time housed monasteries, but fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1543, but left abandoned until it was rebuilt in the late 19th century. During the time before its downfall, it was known, among other things, as a place of healing, and eventually, was the precursor for the still existing, nearby, St. Bart's Hospital (a teaching hospital). The north gate, a portion of the original, Tudor style facade remains, having survived the Blitzkrieg and the Great Fire of London.
Original Main Gate; St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church; London, England
NOT REALLY part of the tour, we cajoled our guide into at least a quick stop at Buckingham Palace. Once again, I could see from our abbreviated visit that this was a place that deserved much more time and exploration. On our return in 2021, I spent at least 3 early mornings in Westminster, and in and around the Buckingham Palace grounds and nearby parks. It really represents all the pomp and pageantry the Great Britain is. Especially with its ceremonies like the "Changing of the Guard." But for now, we just had a "tease."
Buckingham Palace, Westminster, England
AS WE drove back and forth across the Thames River, we saw the famous "Tower Bridge" from other bridges. It is a very photogenic piece of architecture, and I really wanted to photograph it. Alas, it was not on the agenda. But we again cajoled, and our guide (hesitantly - he was on a schedule) took a detour to a spot where he let us get out and photograph it. It was a very cool spot, but it was challenging to photograph it. But I am very glad we did. I did not get back to this spot during our weeklong visit to London in 2021, though I did get some other shots of the Tower Bridge that I liked. You can see here that there is a nice little "park" which appears to serve as a lunch and break spot for nearby office workers.
Tower Bridge; London, England
WHEN OUR tour concluded, we were dropped off at the waterfront (Thames) near one of London's "must-do" facilities: "The London Eye." I was able to get a nice shot of it from down the river a way. But the highlight was when my wife surprised the 4 of us with tickets she had bought to "cut the line" and take a spin in the "Eye," along with a glass of champagne.
The London Eye, London, England
THE VIEWS from the eye were quite good, though the reflections created by the thick plexiglass were a challenge. The opening image of London was made from the "Eye." It was a fun experience. But it just underscored to me how much there was to see in London, and how much we had missed. We didn't see "Big Ben." Actually most people don't because "Ben" is actually the bell inside the tower, which is on the north end of the Parliament Building and is known as "Elizabeth Tower" (as it happened, it was under renovation at the time - as you can see in the opening image - and probably would not have yielded great photos anyway), Parliament, The Tower of London, and a few of London's odd, but iconic structures. We didn't get into any museums. No pubs. No fish and chips. We knew we must come back.
View of London from "The London Eye;" - London, England
WE KIND of ran out of time. We had to catch the train back to Dover and board the ship for our next port, LeHavre, France. Back on the ship, we learned that there were some things to do in Dover, including a Castle, the Cliffs, and a military aviation museum. We don't plan to try the "London experiment" from Dover again. We have learned it is much better to go directly there and stay for a period. Because it is not at a port, I suggest you think about a cruise out of Southampton and spend several days in London (where it makes the most sense to fly in and out of) either before or following your cruise. We did that and London was undoubtedly the best part of that trip! I will get us there on the blog eventually.
"The White Cliffs of Dover"" - Port of Dover, England
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