By David Freeze
For the Salisbury Post
In April of 2007, I was fortunate enough to visit London for a week.
My own bucket list included a trip to run the London Marathon, and finally that dream came true. My entry was accepted for the 2006 event, but I was able to defer to 2007, which worked out better. With all the excitement about the London Olympic Trials and the Olympics themselves, I wanted to share some highlights of that visit.
It was my first trip to London or to Europe, and the flights and a short layover in Munich made for a 12-hour trip on Lufthansa. I’ve done lots of flying in my time, but never have I been treated so well on a plane. First class service all the way even though I sat in economy class. Total miles from Charlotte to Munich: 4,491. Then it was on to a short flight to London, arriving five hours ahead of Salisbury time.
Arrival in London at Gatwick Airport included a short stop at customs where they immediately passed me through once I showed my marathon acceptance document. An hour long ride on the tube (subway) got me to the central London area. Just the tube ride was amazing to me, quickly finding that I could understand the routes available and enjoying the scenery since most of it was above ground.
I’ll skip to my third day there and the real sightseeing. My plan was to take the “Big Bus” tour, the big red double-decker buses we all associate with London. It has 30 dropoff points and great live commentary by knowledgeable tour guides all along the way. Cost of the tour was $40, good for 24 hours of riding and included a boat tour of the Thames River.
The Thames (pronounced Tims) is really the center of old London, framed by Big Ben, Parliament, the Tower Bridge, and the London Eye. The London Eye is a huge glass enclosed Ferris wheel type attraction that takes almost an hour to rotate while offering spectacular views.
My first sight of Buckingham Palace was amazing. It is huge, and always has lots of tourists around. A requirement for each of the queen’s Royal Guards (the ones who won’t respond) is to be tall and very thin. There were certain signals that told us that the Queen was in, but I never saw her.
Another amazing thing was that there was a huge amount of healthy food available, but it was very expensive.
Day 4 was another day of sightseeing. It was also the day before my marathon, so I planned to practice my trip to the start of the race. I found my closest stop on the tube closed for repairs, and just as the subway in New York City, I found that every station doesn’t have every train. Imagine my surprise when upon inquiring what to do at a local convenience store as to my best route, a lady who heard me asking took time to walk me 10 blocks to the next best station. She made sure to point me in the right direction and knew the proper connecting train. Many times the local people helped me find my way. Later that morning, back on the “Big Bus,” I went to Westminster Abbey which coincided with the end of my 24 hour pass on the bus. Westminster Abbey is the home of many royal marriages and funerals, and in fact lots of royals are actually buried in the floor that you walk on. Nearly all of the royal coronations are held in the 1,000-year-old building.
Next was a good walk across the Thames past Big Ben to visit the Imperial War Museum, one of the most interesting sites of the whole trip. The War Museum is located in a former mental institution. Both world wars have tanks, planes and much more on exhibit here. You could go into an actual trench from WWI and experience a recreation of the Blitz during WWII. Everything had to be blacked out when the German bombers flew over nightly. London was so beautiful on this day that I didn’t want to stop exploring. I had been walking for much of the last three days, and had 26.2 miles of running to do the next day.
This will be Part 1 of my London visit and I will conclude with Part 2 and much more sightseeing coming up in a few days. In the meantime, enjoy the Olympic Trials.