The first part can be viewed at thevoice.us/history-tradition-sights-fill-every-visit-to-london
Second of three parts
“There were tennis parties and croquet matches, picnic lunches and white lacy parasols, and juicy strawberries packed in wicker baskets.” —The Perfect Summer, p. 11.
The warm September night in London descended quietly. Similar to a golden coin, well spent, the sun slips slowly over the horizon.
This day had been resplendent.
I always ask for a room facing the street so I can observe humanity passing by on the way to where? Do the lovers hold hands under the street lights? Are the children skipping? Do the wet umbrellas bump into one another?
The 70 degree temperatures were conducive to walking about or taking the double-decker buses all about the city. An Oyster card gave me easy access to transportation.
It was a languorous Tuesday and my reservation for afternoon tea was to be taken at the exquisite Claridge Hotel. It would engage a two-hour respite from the bustle of the world when no problems existed and all was well.
Jo Fredell Higgins photo
The grand piano music was mellow and enchanting and filled the art deco atmosphere with haunting melodies. There was Dorrington ham with truffle and Severn and Wye smoked salmon sandwiches. There were scones served with Cornish clotted cream and Marco Polo gelee. A grand assortment of pastries followed with a porcelain pot of decaf tea. It was a Heaven in a velvet and glass portmanteau.
Kensington Gardens was a 10-minute walk from the hotel, so I tried to walk there many days. The gift shop and tea room were lovely. Visitors pushed prams with smiling children. Bicycles carried passenger west. Everyone, it seemed, was in holiday mood and thankful for the beautiful late Summer days.
The Peggy Porschen bakery and tea room was quite beautiful outside with cascading roses, but everything they baked had nuts in it so I could not linger inside.
So little time!
Riding high above London in the London Eye was delightful with its panoramic views from aboard a towering Ferris wheel. My camera captured Westminster Abbey, the River Thames, Big Ben and other buildings. Couldn’t the Fates allow me to live here? I could attend the theatre, eat lunch at Covent Garden, converse with multi-nationals, stroll along the boulevard, and sleep contentedly.
London’s most historic structures are bathed in floodlights at night. Their magnificence allows us to know that London’s proudest structures remain inviolate. The Tower of London is 900 years old and Tower Bridge is a feat of Victorian engineering. The room with the Queen’s jewels bespoke of immense riches. And so the city of London remains instantly recognizable and eminently profound.
British Airlines provide flights basically on time and smooth while crossing the Big Pond. It was bittersweet to be travelling west again. How can the happy times go so quickly?
Ah, but the memories made will make warm many a frigid Winter’s night and photographs will be so pleasant to look at again and again. Some future year I would like to spend Christmas in London because I imagine it is a wonderland of visual and sensual perfection. Imagine a light snow falling on Westminster Cathedral; shop windows glorious with gifts; remarkable cascading twilight illuminating the old and new.
Just like Londontown itself.
Continued at thevoice.us/final-thoughts-on-londontown-visit-in-a-world-class-city