The Best of London... part 1

Any guide book you find will probably give you roughly the same list of "Must See" sites. Some may even tell you what to do if you have 3 days vs. 5 or 7 or whatever. And I'm not going to argue with those lists. Except to say that if you find something really doesn't interest you, then don't waste your valuable time. If they do, then OF COURSE you want to see the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, etc. These are quintessential "London" and as I've said before, if you go to Paris and don't see the Eiffel Tower, in my book, you really haven't been. And the same is true for London. That said, some of the highlights are basically things you SEE. You don't have to actually climb, attend, or interact with them, and that makes it sort of easy. I've already made the point that you ought to personalize your trip with things that interest you, & I see that as being far more important than following someone else's proscribed list. I will however, tell you what I think make several of these sites special and also perhaps some insight into things that missed "THEIR" lists but made MINE!

What makes London so special overall is it's rich history and it's global impact. By London, here I should probably actually say England, but as the capital of that country and the hub for most of it's important influences (social, cultural, economic, etc.) you are often talking about one and the same. The British, especially in the Victorian age, were fond of saying that the sun never set on the British Empire, and at that time, it was the TRUTH. Where ever the sun was shining on any given day, somewhere basking in that light (perhaps not entirely happily but nonetheless) was a British Colony. You can't talk about the world and the history of civilization and not talk about England. You can argue that that statement would be true of any great country or civilization, but your conversation is pretty stunted if you try to skip by the British. So...back to London.

One of the things that I find very relevant to understanding and appreciating London is knowing it's personal history. What factors influenced the way it grew. What were those events, many of which are memorialized? (The British were GREAT about putting up memorials to important events and people. The Statue of Boudicea on the bank of the Thames across from Big Ben, Nelson's Column at Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, the Monument to the Great Fire, etc.) Some of this may be of no interest to you, and if so, fair enough. See the things that you want to see and enjoy them for what they are and appear to be. No harm, no foul. If all this "biography" of the city does interest you however, then my strong recommendation to you is start your visit or very soon into it, go to the Museum of London.

The Museum of London tells and shows the history and influences that resulted in the great City it is today. I'm not really a fossils and arrow-head kind of person myself but if prehistoric and archeological type things are of interest to you, the museum begins with how London before there even was a London, came to be on the present location. If this is really not your thing, then suffice it to say that the most critical factor was the Thames River. There were several other rivers, now covered and or filled in over time, but the Thames was and remains probably the most important. Being deep and still tidal at this point, it allowed ships to make their way deep into the country and to this point where London now is. Where things got REALLY interesting from my point of view was when the Roman's invaded and "Londinium" was founded. From this point on, there remains here and there around the city actual remnants of this period. Roman Britain still exists in a minor way. In the museum the dioramas and artifacts from Roman London are amazing. Knowing of the Dark Ages that were to come when the Roman empire fell and the Saxons and Danes, to name just a few, invaded and took over, it's astounding at how much the Roman Britons knew but forgot and lost.

The Museum proceeds to cover the various ages, touching upon the royalty, the theological rifts, the scientific endeavors, the wars and colonizing, etc. All these things left their mark but one of the biggest, perhaps the single greatest impact after the Normans invaded, was the Great Fire of 1666. There is a whole section dedicated to it and it is exceedingly well done. You may not know it looking at the skyline, but it would not be the same city in many significant ways were it not for that fire. While it did not become the city it could have, and those reasons are also explained, much of what you see today, including St. Paul's Cathedral, are there because of what the fire did to the City of London.

When I was there in April 2008, the museum from that point in time on, was under reconstruction. It is free, at least as long as significant portions are closed, so while not complete or displaying all it will eventually cover, it still is well worth a visit. Once you've been there I think it's impossible not to appreciate some of the subtler points and influences and recognize as you tour the other sites some of the key points you would have otherwise missed. If you can spare even a couple of hours, I think the Museum of London is a MUST!

Here is the URL for the website: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/english