London! Day 1/5

Day 1:
Day 1, and we're in business!!! We had a better look at St. Christopher's Orient Expresso in the morning. It was a small, cozy place - the rooms were upstairs and there was a nice cafe at the ground floor. Our room was on the 2nd floor - it's the window on the right!

For breakfast, we had to go over to St. Christopher's Village which was just a 2 minutes walk away. Breakfast was consisted of toast, cereal and tea. The toast was surprisingly good with the spreads of butter and marmalade! But everyone, including the waiter agreed that the coffee was terrible!
By day, breakfast was served in this nice, quiet bar during the day. But by night, the whole place is transformed! The music was blaring like crazy from the dance floor below when we checked in. More on that when I tell you about tomorrow night in the next installment!


We briefly discussed our plans over breakfast and decided to cover the city area by foot. Borough Market was just outside the Orient Expresso and we chose to walk through it on the way. It was so colourful! There was a kind of carnival atmosphere to it all! The vendors represented different farms selling their all types of produce. And Abel and I agreed that that in London, even the female butchers and fishmongers are pretty! To think this is the equivalent of wet-markets in Singapore!
London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. This classic nursery rhyme had new meaning for us when we reached London Bridge. For we wondered if the bridge had indeed fallen down! At the site was a boring bridge that had less artistic sense than the Causeway in Singapore! London Bridge was just a flat concrete span that stretched from one end to the other. I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this kids!
We walked on along The River Thames and took in more beautiful sights. The sky was a rich blue, river was calm and the breeze blew gently. It was just so peaceful and serene!
Around us, people were jogging and taking nice leisurely strolls. So many smiling faces around. It reminded me of Roxette's song June Afternoon - "Look at all the people happy faces all around. smiling throwing kisses busying making lazy sounds. It's a bright, June afternoon, it never gets dark... " Give it a listen as you see these pics! It's one of my all-time fav feel-good songs!
Further up, the HMS Belfast was berthed along the the Thames River. The Belfast was the largest battlecrusier in the British Royal Navy that served in World War 2. Now it's a naval museum. Abel and I did think it was worth visiting and gave it a miss.

But this is a must-see! Like the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge also crosses the Thames River, but it is way more impressive! No wonder so many tourists mistake it as London Bridge! It was built in the 19th century to increase traffic flow across the river after London Bridge was built and the economy flourished. It got its name from the Tower of London that is at the end of the crossing. More on the Tower of London just below. The Tower Bridge is able to open at its centre to allow large shipping vessels through. But large vessels only come by rarely. Plus Abel and I figured that building a large wooden ark by ourselves would take too long. So we decided to move on.
We crossed the Tower Bridge and saw some kind of old castle. We had reached the Tower of London! It didn't look very grand from the outside, but step inside, and you'll realise just how big it is! There are so many museums inside! So many things to see!
We bought the tickets for 12 pounds (S$36) each under the student concession rate. The usual price would have been 15 pounds! But if you ask me, it would still be well worth it!
The Tower of London is famous for its Beefeaters. These are the guardians of the Tower throughout the ages since it was built (in the 12th century). Ready to defend the tower against all sorts of perilous invaders! But now, they simply conduct guided tours. Now that is funny!
Abel and I joined the tour and our beefeater was such a friendly and humourous chap! His name was Patrick and he explained more about the beefeaters. In his words: the ER II emblazoned across the chest of their uniform stands for Extremely Romantic. Twice. Right. It actually means Queen (Regina) Elizabeth (Elizabeth) the 2nd (II). Ok, not very funny, but he was afterall a big burly guy and we had better laugh!

And why beefeaters? Cos back in the old days, beef was scarce and these guardians had the important task of guarding the tower and were given rations of beef. The public was envious and called them beefeaters. The name stuck! And now you know!

=fixing bug. video coming soon!=

Patrick brought us around the Tower and explained to us the significance of all the sites. The tower later became a prison and here he is telling us about some of its many "guests". During the tour, we learnt so much about England's rich history - all about the many kings and queens and lords and ladies. And exactly how many of them were beheaded here! It was one messy web of deceit!

Patrick could make a great history teacher - he's really good with dates! The way he rattles on about what Henry the Vlll did to Catherine of Aragon in 1538 blah blah... I only know Sang Nila Utama may have done something that was probably quite important before or after 1538. Could be 1538 itself actually.
And torture was usually used in the tower! This is the rack. First, allow the prisoner to lie down comfortably on the wooden board. But that's the only good part. Next, securely tie the prisoner's fingers to the top and the toes to the bottom. Now, crank the lever as hard as you can and literally strech the prisoner like a piece of play-doh. Guaranteed to get signed confessions of any kind!
And here's another torture device: The Scavenger's Daughter. This time round, allow the prisoner to sit down and lean forward. Next, clamp his back and legs together, squeezing his body together. Ouch! Now tighten the metal clamp as far as it will go. And squish the internal organs and force out all the air. Gasp!

After all that gruesomeness, we went to see the crown jewels! Not some cheap imitation but the real deal! It was housed in one of the towers but with maximum security! You should have seen the thickness of those steel doors!

As a sort of prelude to the jewels, we were shown videos of the coronation of the present Queen Elizabeth. Although it's mainly something for the British royal family to boast about during afternoon tea, the jewels have been used during the elaborate conoronation ceremonies of the British monarchy. The crown jewels are not simply a few jewels but a whole collection: the crowns, the orbs, the sceptres, the jewelled swords, the rings etc. Each of which holds a special meaning in the ceremony! Security was tight in the vault, and we were not able to take photos of the jewels. But as usual, there's always wikipedia!

Without realising it, we had spent 4 hours in the Tower of London! We were also prisoners - prisoners of time, trapped in the endless maze of corridors and exhibits! Right. With all that history that filled our heads, we needed to fill our stomachs. Time for lunch! Our next stop was the famous St Paul's Cathedral and the plan was to have lunch at the cheapest place along the way. We settled for - Burger King! For 1.99 pounds (S$6) we can get a huge whopper. It's just the whopper, but it's the cheapest hot food you can get around. A whole meal would have cost about 4 pounds.

After a very satisfying lunch, we walked down the street. And then we saw it. St Paul's Cathedral! I had heard so much about it! It has an illustrous history - the first version of st Paul's (also at this exact spot) was built in 604AD! It was rebuilt over the years and this latest version was completed in 1708. And it was such a grand sight! So huge and majestic! Just look at the people compared to the size of the pillars! And it was built so long ago! How did they do it???
Now enter the church, and IT IS a sight to behold! wow! wow, wow, wow!! It is so grand in a classic way! Such a huge expanse of space! Dedicated to the worship of God! Inside, although there was a small visitor crowd, there was this holy, peaceful feeling that stayed with me. From the main entrance, you can just make out the end of the church which has a long panel of magnificent stained glass. Yep, in the photo, it's that bright white vertical panel at the end!
This picture is taken at the centre and right below the main dome. Just look up and you may never want to look down again. The roof is so high! The minor domes are already so high and there's an even higher main dome! And where the main dome is, you notice the mosiac designs round the walls of the dome. They include that of the prophet Isiah, St John, St Matthew, St Mark and St Luke. But look futher on and you notice that the roofs of the minor domes in the front are also adorned with more intricate designs! The altar is at the far end, and someone standing there would look so tiny!
Now look higher up and you'll see the main dome is also intricately drawn with the life of st Paul! Such detail at such a grand scale! The dome is 111.3 metres high. But more impressive is that it weighs in at a staggering 65,000 tonnes! Putting that in perspective, the humongous cruise liner Queen Elizabeth (one of the largest cruise ships in the world) already weighs about 70,000 tonnes!
Abel and I reached there after 4pm when the Cathedral was closed to tourists. But it was now open for evening service. And we could enter for free! Though there was only limited access to certain areas. St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican church, like most of England (Read about how that happened because of Henry Vlll). The Anglican evening service is called evensong and the photos above show the cards that were used during the service. Abel and I decided to attend the service. And we were astounded by the choir! It was like a shortened version of a Catholic mass and almost everything was sung. The acoustics of the cathedral was fantastic!

The service lasted for about 45 mins and when it was time to go, I was reluctant to leave without being able to see the rest of the cathedral that was already closed. Besides the grandeur of the church, there was this holy presence about St Paul's that made me want to come back. I made up my mind to return. Check day 4 for a little more info on St Pauls.

Tate Modern was just across the bridge from St Paul's. The supports of the bridge do look very much like cataput sticks!

Tate Modern is an arts museum that houses collections of art that are more abstract. It was newly opened in 2000 when an old power plant was refurbished to become - Tate Modern! But even with its second-hand past, the design is innovative and it does look like a modern arthouse! Not impressive enough? Then come on in and take a closer look!

This is the very spacious interior of Tate Modern. It's very modern and minimalistic!

On the ground floor, there was a huge exhibit using thousands of white plastic boxes. I did not get a chance to read what it was supposed to be, but looking at the massive stack, I had the feeling that someone had bought way too many Ikea boxes.
There were several more levels, each of them containing different art collections. But unfortunately, the area was tightly patrolled with guards, so I could not take any photos of the exhibits. But at the end of the day, I learnt a lot about abstract (conceptual) art. There were many of these boxes with a speakerphone that allowed you to choose what topic you wanted to hear. This one was on conceptual art.

I also learnt that really, anyone could be a conceptual artist! Take for instance Marcel Duchamp, who in 1907 took an ordinary urinal, signed it and called it Fountain.

But I feel nothing can top this. I almost burst out laughing when I came across this. It's an untitled piece by Clyfford Still in 1953. All it is is a big canvas of blue with a randomly painted stroke of red at the bottom and another randomly painted yellow stroke at the top. Clyfford claims the red stroke was intended to contrast with and therefore emphasise the depths of the blue. Ok, fine. But it gets better. The yellow stroke was - "a reassertion of the human context - a gesture of rejection of any authoritarian rationale or system of politico-dialectical dogma." I say give me a canvas and a thick dictionary! I can do art too!

After that, we returned to the Orient Expresso. And met our roommates! Our room was a 8-bed mixed dormatory and we had a great crowd! Besides Abel and I, there were 4 Swedish girls (Maria, Emma, Sarah and Sophia) as well as an Italian (Marco) and a French (Raphael). Everyone was very friendly and we hit off very well! The next thing we knew, we were looking for a place to go party together! It was a rather last minute decision and we finally set off after 1am.
This photo above shows our little gang! From left: Marco, Abel, Sophia, Sara, Raphael and me!

And here's another photo! From left: Raphael, Maria, Sophia, Emma, me and Abel!

It was an adventure really. Marco had stayed in London for a few years and we followed him as he brought us out. However, when we reached the club he recommended, we were told it would be closing within the hour! We agreed it was too short, and since Marco had no more ideas, we simply walked around and around, looking for an alternative.
A passer-by recommended The End. But where was The End? We walked around asking for directions. And finally, we were at The End. But it was really the end of our little party. We realised it would cost 16 pounds (S$48) just to enter! And it was already almost 4am! In the cold, windy night, we huddled together as we navigated and found a bus to bring us back home. We didn't exactly get to party, but we had a great time all the same! Joking and crapping. And we promised ourselves we would set off earlier the following night. Will we make it? Come back and find out!

Wow! So much has happened! And it's only day 1!!! More on the other days coming right up!