Hi London. Thanks for calling. It’s been a while. I’d love to spend longer, but this time I am only passing through.

I am here for two days (one and a half really) staying with a delightful couple – Jonny and Kerry  – who I met through my brother. I am fortunate Kerry can pick me up from the airport being mid-week. As soon as we arrive at their flat she gives me clear and concise instructions about catching the train into town (buying a card and topping it up, which line to catch) and what would be good to see over the next two days (fortunately I am given a helpful real life map at the airport to use) as well as organising for her and Jonny to meet me in town later for dinner. Straight into it. Fabulous!

So within two hours of landing in London, England, my head still full of Iceland, I surface from the underground tube station at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, stand in awe looking up at it and shake myself wondering when I was last here. It was 2000 but that was also brief. Then I commence my walkabout. So many landmarks, so little time. I only have about three hours until sunset, until we meet.

Saint Paul’s is immense and it reminds me of how much history is here. The cathedral leads directly onto the Millennium Bridge, the coolest London bridge, I think.  I pass by black London taxis and red London buses to cross it then walk up and down beside the river, past the London Eye, and back to the Tate Modern only to find it closing. I don’t recall ever walking this side of the Thames. And the Queen’s Walk has been refurbished and updated according to plaques. There are so many things about London that are picturesque, epic, filmic and photographic in nature. The sun sets and London is lit up.

 

 

Dinner is at a theatre restaurant in West End. It is all wood panelling and filled with photos, theatre posters, and caricatures of the stars of the stage. I recognise some actors. We walk down to Trafalgar Square where a live band is busking, but they are not playing unplugged and I wonder where they’re getting the power for their electric guitars. Jonny and Kerry point out places I might know or have heard of. Apart from the places on a monopoly board, I think many Australians grew up with a knowledge of English history and London icons. And with today’s mobile diaspora, Royalty, and other important events like the recent Olympic Games there in the news, and television and movies of course, those monuments and city sights are well-known the world over.  In fact, I feel a bit like I am in a movie.

The next day I start out early. Weather is warm – about 18-20 degrees Celcius – which is warm compared to Iceland, and it is a relief to not have to wear layers and to take my shoes and socks off when I walk around the flat airing my toes and feet. It really is balmy. The tube is odd, as you sit across from people instead of side by side and try not to make eye contact. But it is clear and easy to follow. Also, as I walk through London town, I find there are so many attractive well-dressed men here.

First stop, free museums. And so they should be!  I start at the Natural History Museum, housed in a fabulous turn-of-the-century building with marble flooring and sumptuous displays. To hear about earthquakes and volcanoes you head up the escalator inside what looks like a giant ball of lava. Ancient human remains are fascinating in the display of humankind.

 

Next is the V and A, or Victoria and Albert Museum, which is displaying a history of fashion. It is eye-catching in detail and enthralling. I loved designing and making my own clothes when I was younger so I feel an affinity towards fashion and design, as well as costumery (I love the wardrobe of period costume dramas in film – too numerous to mention). I am captivated.

From there it is a quick train ride to Piccadilly Circus, and a few streets away is Soho and Carnaby street – big in the 60s for fashion among other things ( Austin Powers anyone?) and still a fashionable area it seems, where I am meeting a university buddy for lunch. Stu takes me down some back alleys filled with street stalls of food markets. We sit and chat on a wooden bench setup in the middle of the alley, then walk to a nearby bar for a pint. Such a great catch up. He heads back to work and I walk on, under threatening skies, towards Buckingham Palace. On the road to it , workmen are erecting signs of road closure for the following day. I ask why and am told that they will be filming Transformers there the next day.

Once I am at the Palace I find the Queen not at home. When I landed yesterday I flew directly over her palace at Windsor and she didn’t appear to be there either. Where is she? Didn’t she know I was coming to visit? Disappointed, I walk along the path through St James’s Park in the rain, imagining myself in a movie like Notting Hill where the orchestra in my head plays a melancholy tune while I dolefully look at ducks and geese. The ducks themselves are far from dismal or forlorn. Rather, they are well-fed and chirpy, following me in case I have food. The sun comes out and my imaginary contemplation ceases. All the park and nearby buildings are thrown into pleasing contrast by the dappled sunlight.

 

 

 

I pass the Palace Horse Guards to the river again and the Houses of Parliament. All I can think of when seeing the Houses of Parliament (HP – where HP sauce is named after apparently) –  is the movie Reign of Fire where a dragon sits atop the uppermost tower in a dystopian future. Leaving Big Ben behind ( 28 Days Later, Peter Pan) I cross the bridge to the London Eye again (Harry Potter among many others), and see a Scottish busker playing Duelling Banjos on his bagpipes, and doing a fabulous job. I love all the buskers and modern art installations for public use along the river.

Then it’s up to the Tate Modern, spending a couple of hours in the company of intriguing modern abstract art. The top floor of the second building in the complex has a fabulous view. Yes, I actually seek it out, stand near the edge and do not faint!  Just near it is the Globe Theatre , a remake of the original, reminding me of Shakespeare in Love though I don’t think it was filmed there. I head back to St Paul’s – where I started my London visit – and catch the tube home. So many movies, so little time.

 

 

I am exhausted from my day and a half of walking. I covered almost 19000 steps and that was just today. Fortunately, dinner is not far away in Jonny and Kerry’s suburb, this time at an Asian fusion place set up within an old fire station, with the original flooring, huge red doors, and slide pole still intact. Later, we head to the pub nearby. There is so much choice in London of where to eat and drink, and activities to do, for films, stage, touristy things – the list goes on.

Its vibrancy is not lost on me. What would it be like to live in such an international city? See you again soon London. I’ll call you.