London Calling!

Welcome to my blog! This is my first post of (I hope) many. I just returned from my first ever trip to London, and there is just so much to say and process.

Really, I was so excited for this trip. I have been teaching history and government for over thirty years, so the opportunity to see and appreciate all the historic sites I've only talked about was amazing. And the city did not disappoint. Luckily, I also had some friends and fellow agents with Fantastical Vacations who gave me indispensible insight about details like what to wear, the best way to get around, and the best way to arrange tickets to sites.

One of the best things we did was to choose a hotel that was central to most of what we wanted to do. We chose to be in Charing Cross, and our hotel was located adjacent to Charing Cross Station as well as the Embankment station, both of which had both overground trains and the Underground (Tube). We were able to navigate to every destination by walking or taking some form of public transportation - buses (yes those double decker red ones!), Tube trains, and overground trains. The location was in the midst of several vibrant neighborhoods where we could find restaurants and activities - Trafalgar Square (the National Gallery), Covent Garden (Theater District), Picadilly Circus (so much going on!), Westminster (site of Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, and so much more including British government offices), Victoria (home of Buckingham Palace), and even just over the other side of the Thames where we could see the London Eye (a gigantic ferris wheel).

The other thing that really made a huge difference in our pre-planning was purchasing the London Pass. This allowed us to get into a wide variety of sites for an inclusive cost, and in some instances to skip the line. The app that goes along with the London Pass is comprehensive and includes detailed descriptions about each site as well as logistical concerns (how to get there, when is best to go, and whether you need to make advance reservations). We used this exhaustively - there were some places that were not included and we paid for advance tickets separately, but in the main, the Pass was (literally) our ticket to everything.

I'll cover my eating experiences in another post. For those without food allergies and who are adventurous eaters, there is so much to choose from in London. It's a huge city with an incredible diversity of people, cultures, languages, and food. The city really celebrates its diversity and we lost count of the number of languages we heard out and about.

Another thing that struck me deeply, especially as an educator, was just how embedded the monarchy and Royal family are in British history and collective memory/culture. It's one thing to learn about it, but as an American, our perspective tends to divert from the monarchy except as a curiosity or relic of our colonial past. But nearly every site we went to represented some aspect of how the monarchy and the Royal families impacted, and were impacted by, British history and historical narrative. The sheer scale of Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle, and the like - as well as the gorgeous and grand details in palaces like Buckingham Palace was awe inspiring. I must admit (and here's the nerd factor again), two of my favorite activities were seeing the House of Commons debate legislation in sessions; and spending a few hours exploring the Churchill War Rooms at the Imperial War Museum. There simply is nothing like experiencing these things in real time.

So, put London on your list. It's worth the (very long plane) journey!