This is part of a continuing series of photographs from my 21-day, three country, five city
winter vacation to Europe with my ladyfriend Serena.
So I finally arrived in London, The City, The Big Smoke, The Square Mile, the birthplace of Claude Rains, Michael Caine, Helen Mirren, Alfred Hitchcock and Gary Oldman. The city where the Rolling Stones delivered their first performance (The Flamingo Club, 1963), as did Black Sabbath (Marquee Club, 1969) and Iron Maiden (St. Nicholas Church, 1976). And where the Beatles performed their last (on the Apple Corps rooftop, 1969).
I mean, it’s the home of MI6 headquarters! You know, where James Bond punches his timecard!
At long last – London!
Let’s just say, it’s a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time, yes? But with only three full days to do it after stops in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Bath, and the villages of Castle Combe & Lacock), we left much of it unseen. But what we did manage to see was enough to wet our beaks and make us long for a return to this iconic city. So let’s get to it, shall we?
First things first, we checked into the chic Leonardo Royal Hotel London St Paul’s, which was just down the street from our first stop – St. Paul’s Cathedral.
St. Paul’s Cathedral
Let’s start with St. Paul’s Cathedral, just up the street from our hotel. It sits on top of Ludgate Hill, at the highest point in the City of London. It’s the same site as the important medieval cathedral, now known as Old St Paul’s, which was destroyed as the Great Fire of London swept through the city in 1666.
The present building was designed by architect Christopher Wren and features white Portland limestone, a Greco-Roman-style facade and an iconic, towering dome. It also features several famous bells, including Great Paul, the UK’s largest ringing bell (16.7 tons!) in the South West Tower, and Great Tom, a 5-ton bell that chimes the hours, also in the South West Tower.
The cathedral is 111 meters high – and for over 250 years, it was the tallest building in London. Its skyscraper crown was stolen in 1963 by the 118-meter-tall Vickers Tower (now known as Millbank Tower) in the City of Westminster. But it’s now completely dwarfed by The Shard, which stands 309.6 meters high.
St Paul’s Cathedral is a busy church with four or five services every day, including Matins, Eucharist and Evening Prayer or Choral Evensong. The cathedral is generally open daily to tourists and has a regular program of organ recitals and other performances. More on this iconic cathedral HERE
Tate Modern
Being the art museum nerds we are, Serena and I made a visit to the Tate Modern a priority during our few days in London (it was also pretty damn cold in London so being indoors also became a priority!). The Tate Modern houses the United Kingdom’s national collection of international modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives.
Tate Modern, opened by the Queen on 11 May 2000, occupies the converted former Bankside Power Station, which supplied electricity to the city and to part of north Southwark from 1891 to 1981. It is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the world.
As with the UK’s other national galleries and museums, there is no admission charge for access to the collection displays, which take up the majority of the gallery space, whereas tickets must be purchased for the major temporary exhibitions. More on this remarkable art museum HERE
Chinatown
You know London is gonna have a Chinatown, right? Right. Chinatown is bound by Shaftesbury Avenue to the north, Rupert Street to the west, Charing Cross Road to the east and Leicester Square to the south. The main focal point is Gerrard Street, which runs through its center. Chinatown is part of London’s West End.
Once home to Huguenot and Maltese immigrants, the location of today’s Chinatown in London started to form in the 1950s, when a handful of Chinese restaurants opened in the district. With other businesses and services moving in, the neighborhood had become a hub for Chinese culture within a decade.
We sat down for a bite at YiQi, a Pan-Asian restaurant that specializes in cuisine from Southeast Asia – Thai, Malaysian and Singaporean dishes. Twas quite yummy.
Royal Ballet and Opera
Located in Covent Garden, central London, the Royal Ballet and Opera is the home of world-class opera and ballet, bringing together two world-class performing companies, The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet, in one of the UK’s leading arts institutions, supported by a cast of more than 3,000 employees including technical staff, creatives, and freelancers.
The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1735, the first season of operas was presented by George Frideric Handel. The current building is the third theatre on the site, following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856 to previous buildings.
The main auditorium seats 2,256 people, making it the third largest in London. We managed to purchase very good seats to behold composer Leoš Janáček’s contemporary opera “Jenůfa” – “A gripping opera of shame, betrayal and redemption.” It was a wonderful production and made for a memorable first evening in London.
The National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London. Founded in 1824, it is home to the national collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the 19th centuries.
The present building, the third site to house the National Gallery, was designed by English architect William Wilkins. Building began in 1832 and it opened to the public in 1838. The National Gallery recently announced plans for a £375 million expansion project, provisionally titled ‘Project Domani’, which is scheduled to open in the early 2030s.
The National Gallery currently has over 2,300 works on display and is free to visit (donations are welcome). There is a charge for some exhibitions. It is open daily 10am–6pm and Friday until 9pm. More on this outstanding gallery HERE
Sky Pod Bar
My oldest cousin from my mother’s family in Galicia migrated to England many years ago. His son Pablo is a DJ and music producer and someone I rarely get to spend time with so we linked up at the Sky Pod Bar at Sky Garden towers above the City of London.
This sleek bar is perched on the top floor of the Fenchurch Building, the iconic skyscraper which is affectionately known as the Walkie Talkie. The Sky Pod Bar often hosts live music, and the views of London are truly spectacular.
Did you know that the London Eye is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom with over three million visitors annually?
Leake Street Arches
Leake Street Arches is a vibrant urban hub in London’s South Bank, famous for its 300-meter-long Graffiti Tunnel where street art is legal and constantly changing (despite the fact that it is against UK law on public property). It features independent bars, restaurants and entertainment venues, all housed in former railway arches under Waterloo Station, connecting South Bank to York Road.
Opened by famous street artist Banksy in 2008, this legal graffiti space serves as a communal meeting point where writers, artists, locals, and curious visitors come together to interact and contribute to its ongoing transformation.
City At Night
On our way back to our hotel, we passed by the Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. A lovely site during the frigid evening…
Now, I grew up on Grand Concourse in the Bronx, right by Poe Park. And if you lived in that neighborhood, you know about the old landmarked Dollar Saving Bank right on the Grand Concourse near Fordham Road. The ten-story office block featured an impressive (at least for us Bronx folks!) clock tower – so passing by Big Ben during our last night in London wasn’t all that big a deal to me. We’ll take a closer look at it when we return to London. Promise.
One last look at St. Paul’s Cathedral before returning back to our hotel…
That’ll do it for our first look at London. Stay tuned for a closer look at some of the attractions listed in this post.
SUBSCRIBE HERE to not miss it. All the cool kids have already done it. Just saying…All photographs taken with the Sony a7RV and the Xiaomi 13 UltraFor more information on all that London has to offer, visit the official tourism site
