Just Tripping!: England – A Day Walking London

Trippingg Abroad

London, the OG of World Cities - June 2024

After spending few days among the pretty rolling grasslands and post-card beautiful villages of Cotswolds, you arrive in London. London for centuries was the nerve centre of the Empire where the sun never set. Long before England will go on to rule over quarter of the world’s people and land, England was itself invaded by the Romans. There is history everywhere in this wonderful city which you will uncover over three days walking the streets of London. Along with walking, you will be using the London Underground extensively; just like the locals. Away from Cotswolds, you won’t need to pause for just that moment to be able to pronounce places’ names correctly to the bus drivers or when asking for directions – yes, the British pronunciation of Cotswolds, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, Winchcombe and Burford is totally different from what an Indian or American will pronounce. And yes, you did take some time out to practise them before the trip to UK!

View of Tower Bridge from London Bridge - London UK

The Church of St Dunstan in the East - The prettiest Garden Church in London

London is a megacity that hums and throbs and barely pauses. London is in throes of a heat wave. The day is predicted to be a scorcher – it could touch 27 degrees today! The Underground is convenient and a station is always ten-minute walk away. The tube has a dense network with the metro lines running and criss-crossing the megapolis providing a no-brainer commuting option. And just like Tokyo, everyone – from workers to professors to suits hop on the tube. On the streets, the buses run like a charm, with their bus-stop numbers, time and arrival announced on the google maps that you really do not need to ask anyone for directions. In the city-centre, people walk and cycle to their work-places. The only vehicles on the roads are the taxis, delivery trucks, and a few private cars. And this is probably the reason that most people here are fit and healthy with hardly any out of shape people – just like Japan. Oh yes, Londoners love to dress up and the stylish ladies wear lots of colour on them instead of the dull greys.

It is a brilliant sunny day as you make your way from your little hotel room to the underground station – a perfect heat wave day to walk the city! Yes, hotels are extremely expensive and small just like Tokyo and you have just enough space to shower and get ready in these suburban hotels with the bare amenities. At least Japanese hotel rooms have heated toilet seats and hands-free operation orchestrated from an electronic pad – you missed them every January morning in cold Delhi.

When walking on London streets history juxtaposed with beautiful buildings is everywhere. The morning starts with these two magnificent train station buildings built across each other. The brown building with the clock tower is the King’s Cross Railway Station in the borough of Camden and is one of the busiest railway stations in UK. The station façade with twin arches was built in 1852 with the classic muddy-yellow London stock brick. You are not a Potter-head but the King’s Cross station was the departure point for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the Platform 9 3/4.

St. Pancras International Railway Station & Renaissance Hotel - London

King's Cross Railway Station - London

Across the Pancras Road is the St. Pancras International Railway Station for the sleek Europe continental trains that go through the channel tunnel. A glorious red Victorian era Gothic building – St Pancras Renaissance Hotel - rises over the front of the station that was originally built in 1873. The architecture is magnificent guaranteed to stop you in your tracks and just stare. You would have loved to rummage through this neighbourhood but you have to see so much today and these buildings were just an unexpected beautiful surprise at the start of the day.

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Life in the Underground Tube

How Deep is your Station? Some stations on Underground are dizzyingly deep

London Tube is a wonderful element of this great city. There is always a station ten minutes away. Google maps show you the detailed 'how to get there' instructions including the platforms and the interchange stations so that you really do not have to ask for directions (Londoners mostly do not make eye contact and will invariably have ear phones) and within couple of rides you will be comfortable travelling on the tube. And just like Tokyo, everyone from students to suits ride the tube.

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Beneath the two stations is the King’s Cross St. Pancras tube station (yes there is a whole lot that goes on in London beneath the streets) from where you will ride the Circle line to Tower Hill station and then walk towards Tower Hill. Today you will be largely exploring the City of London. You have a list of places to see but knowing London you know there will be plenty of distractions on the way. The first unlisted place pops up right outside the station. This is the Tower Hill Memorial built in the Trinity Square Gardens. The sanctuary bears the names of men and women lost at sea belonging to Merchant Navy, Lighthouse & Pilotage Services and Fishing Fleets. Usually, the CWGC cemeteries have graves with inscribed stones but here since the seamen were lost or buried at sea, only names appear on the panels. A sign exhorts the visitors to keep the memorial ‘Clean and Shipshape!’

Tower Hill Memorial and Trinity Square - London England

Names of Seamen Lost at Sea - Tower Memorial

The memorial is maintained by the familiar Commonwealth Graves Commission (CWGC), established in 1917 that commemorates more than 1.7 million dead of the two world wars in cemeteries across 150 countries. You have seen the graves here in New Delhi, Pune, Manipur, Nagaland and more recently in Kanchanaburi Thailand (The Death Railway built during WWII). The Tower Hill Memorial has an Indian association. The memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens who also designed the Seventh Capital of Delhi – New Delhi. The memorial is in the form of a vaulted corridor and made of Portland stone. You will spend few moments in this nicely maintained memorial with this aesthetic signage that you love seeing across England. Later an extension will be added with the names of seamen lost in WWII.

Tower of London with a Yeoman Warder Guided Tour in the background

Munstead Blue Lavender or English Lavender - Wildflowers at Tower of London

Planting these wildflowers here is a brilliant idea

Now you will cross the Tower Hill Road and make your way to first of the two main attractions of the day – the Tower of London. The Tower of London gets its name from the its oldest building, the White Tower built with Kentish ragstone. The tower built in 1066 at a bend of River Thames was conceived as a fortress palace to both protect and rule the people of the developing City of London. William the Conqueror will announce the Norman conquest of England by building the iconic White Tower housing the royal palace (and a prison, menagerie and ravens) in the centre of this castle that would literally tower over the medieval city along with the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. The tower was built within the existing Roman city walls for defence. More buildings will be built over the centuries and today it houses The Crown Jewels – a collection of royal diamonds and jewels. The Koh-i-Noor diamond set in the crown of Queen Elizabeth and other royal regalia can also be seen here. The regalia including the orb and sceptre were last seen during the coronation ceremony of King Charles III.

The Turrets and Towers of Tower of London

The Imposing Tower of London under brilliant blue skies

The Medieval and the Modern - Tower of London and Gherkin

You will not enter the UNESCO World Heritage Site fort since that will take up half day and time is in short supply (and ticket prices are quite stiff!) here in UK. You will walk along the raised parapet on the edge of the now dry moat. The castle with curtains of defensive walls strengthened by serrated round and square turrets and a series of towers is imposing and soon castles across England and Wales will adopt its design template. You enjoy walking with the views of wildflowers and grass on the moat bed as the ramparts rise beyond. In 2022, thirty million seeds were planted in the moat to create a superbloom to commemorate Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The wildflowers you see here today and in gardens across Cotswolds create a lovely grassland arboretum for butterflies and pollinators to thrive and at the same time creating spaces in the cities that resemble the wild before people moved in to create artificial spaces.

Tower Hill Medieval Postern Gate - London

You start from the NW corner of the castle as you make your way east. Before you turn south you run into this excavated and now preserved Tower Hill Medieval Postern Gate that gave access to the City of London from the east. Turning south around the bend, you will walk on A100 that leads you to the second highlight of the day.

The Coat of Arms of the City of London seen on Tower Bridge and Boundary Markers of the City

The View of River Thames from Tower Bridge - London

An old metal box containing grit for spreading on icy roads

The workers of Tower Bridge are immortalized on the Blue Line leading the visitors from the bridge to the historic Engine Rooms - love this idea and the aesthetic design and forged plaques installed here in 2016 that will last for a century along with the pavement - this is how great cities celebrates itself and its workers, builders, and inhabitants

Two Symbols of London

Tower Bridge is again one of London’s most iconic landmarks and a symbol of London. The majestic suspension bridge inaugurated in 1894 comprises of these two giant Victorian Neo-Gothic towers on either side of the River Thames connected by two walkways. The bottom walkway is a bascule drawbridge or lifting bridge that pivots up twice a day to let vessels through. No video clip of London is complete without showing the Tower Bridge. As you walk on the bridge it is finally time to make that leap from the virtual world of all those countless movies to actually walk over the River Thames on this architectural marvel. Queen Victoria had wished the Tower Bridge to blend with the Tower of London – the bridge does look like a castle too. Cornish granite clad towers hold the suspension cables as traffic and scores of happy tourists walk and click photos. Above the bridge deck there is an upper walkway with glass floors and mirror ceilings. You had tried that on the Dubai Frame. Now you need to find that little secret.

View of the Tower Bridge from the Horselydown Stairs - Shad Thames

You have seen some amazing photos clicked from the river bed. You will go to the other side, east of the bridge, through a passageway under the bridge and come out on the south bank of Thames. This is Shad Thames, a historic riverside street that was home to warehouses which would close down in the 20^th century. You will walk through the first building which housed Old Anchor Brewery leading to the Horselydown Stairs, a little-known secret of London. Going down the precarious stairs (sadly you forget to click the stairs), you come down to this little beach made up of rocks at low tide. Just to the left, the Tower Bridge looms offering amazing views.

Red Double Decker and London Tower and Gherkin - all symbols of London

You will spend few moments here before backtracking over the bridge, through the Trinity Square Garden and then stepping back couple of centuries into Londinium just north of Tower of London fortress.

Roman Wall built around 200AD to protect Londinium

perhaps Roman Emperor Trajan AD 98-117

Modern wall built on top of Roman Wall

Before Great Britain colonialized the world, the island of Great Britain itself was conquered by the Romans from 43 to 87 AD and the Roman rule would last until 410 AD. Before this, even Julius Caesar had invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC. Anyway, the Romans could not subjugate the Caledonians - Highlands of Scotland - to the North and will therefore build two walls for protection (the piercing notes of bagpipers perhaps disoriented the Roman troops). The remains of one that you are seeing now was built in 200 AD around Londinium or London. London would remain a walled city for the next 1,500 years. The wall was 3km long, 10m high with regular bastions and a ditch on the outside.

Just like Shahjahanabad or Old Delhi, London too was once a Walled City

The Multilingual Signs - Tower Hill witnessed several hundred public executions

The updated Tower Hill sign

Today, what you see is a composite – the bottom 4m remains of the wall are Roman built with three rows of red tiles and the top part was built in the medieval times. It is a miracle that this section has survived. Modern buildings have come on all sides. A little to the back and you see the modern wall resting on the Roman portion. This small length of about 300 metres from here to the fortress outer wall is a historiography of 2000 years – from the early Romans to William the Conqueror to Edward I to Charles II and to the Shard gleaming under the morning sun! This is what you love about the British. The concise and valuable information available on the signs here, the signs themselves with excellent artwork and aesthetics; this can only be done by the British (or the Japanese!). You have a fair idea of their documentation prowess reading their masterful reports and gazetteers written during the early days of Indian Archaeological Survey.

In three days in London, the only time you will try something Indian, okay Differently Indian! Wrapchick is a play on the Bambaiya word Rapchik meaning attractive or sexy

All Hallows by the Tower - Oldest Church (?) in London founded in 675 AD - you are conserving your energy so will not cross the road! The crypt museum has several Roman era artefacts discovered after the fire bombing

View from Great Tower Street - 30 Fincher Street or 'Walkie-Talkie'

The Surviving Wren Tower of Church of St Dunstan in the East - London

The prettiest lunch break spot for the local workers in the area

You are making your way to St Dunstan Hill that houses the remains of the pretty The Church of the Dunstan in the East. The Church had stood here since the ancient times but was gutted in the Great Fire (will visit the memorial shortly) and then again got destroyed in WWII with only the Wren tower surviving. In the aftermath, a garden was laid out and today mostly office workers have gathered here in the lovely garden on their lunch break. The garden indeed is beautiful and seeing all these plaques on the wall it seems it is regularly getting awards in the small public garden category.

View from Lower Thames Street

Old Billingsgate - Former Victorian Fish Market - now a premier event space

Gotta love these blue ceramic plaques

The Parish Church of St Magnus The Martyr - London England

The Prettiest Church you saw in United Kingdom

You will cross River Thames again over the London Bridge (yes this is different from the Tower Bridge!) this time. And then you run into this prettiest of churches – St Magnus the Martyr Church is located at the head of the London Bridge and was visited by everyone entering London. You just stand transfixed inside gazing at the small and beautiful interiors built in this fine wood. The Church is dedicated to St Magnus the Martyr, earl of Orkney who died in 1118 during a power struggle with his cousin and was canonised in 1135. Though the church survived the London fire but it was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren looking at the chequered floor and the tall steeple. You have seen several churches and cathedrals in the Cotswolds in the recent days but this church here is definitely the prettiest.

River Thames from London Bridge

London Bridge

That is why everyone in England is fit, slim and healthy - taking public transport, cycling and walking dogs

Now you will walk across the London Bridge for a quick inspection of Borough Market. London Bridge is upriver and about one km east of Tower Bridge. It is the oldest bridge here on Thames starting with a timber version during the Roman times and would be the only bridge here on Thames till 1750. Later it was built of stone and the current form is built of steel and concrete and was inaugurated in 1973. Midway on the bridge, you can see the Tower Bridge in the distance. These sights keep reminding you that yes you are in the city that was the nerve centre of the British Empire not too long ago.

Borough Market - Prepare for some jostling

The Atmospheric Borough Market - London

At the south end of the London Bridge, the Borough Market has existed here for 1000 years and is still filled with eating places and retailers and wholesalers selling food and produce. This could be any market in India as shops and visitors jostle in the narrow aisles. Overhead, three different rail lines run completing a typical scene in a crowded market in Kolkata. You love the signs on the shops – it is quite possible that the city does not allow changing or painting over the old signs; something you saw in the beautiful city of Bath a few days ago.

Memorial for martyrs in The Great War - Southwark Borough

The Borough High Street - Pret sandwiches keeping you alive here in London

Of course, being a vegetarian, it is not easy to find food that you can eat. In London, you are subsisting on the sandwiches offered by the Tesco Express and Pret a Manger stores. There is always a Tesco withing walking distance and London has enough street furniture to sit on and enjoy the snack and catch your breath. Daily 25K steps need periodical nourishment.

The George Inn - London

The George - Galleried Coaching Inn in London

In front of a Lloyds Bank branch, you see an interesting sign of this wonderful piece of living history. In the cobbled courtyard at the rear is the last of London’s surviving Galleried Coaching Inn. The George was established in 1542. It is here visitors and travellers going to London in the stagecoach era would stop over for a drink. Charles Dickens too would come here and has immortalized The George Inn in his novel ‘The Little Dorrit.’ Inside, under the shadow of ‘The Shard,’ well-heeled people of London enjoy their tipple. This is what you have been loving about this country and this city – history is never far away and every effort is made to reveal it to people like you through these signs and just by taking care of the old even as new is everywhere or above like this gleaming glass skyscraper. Charles Dickens would have approved.

How can public spaces be this perfect?

Up ahead looms a massive pillar.

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The Great Fire of London - 358th Anniversary Special

A sleepy King’s baker on Pudding Street put a pudding in the oven to bake. Charles II probably felt those midnight pangs for something sweet. The baker unfortunately fell asleep and soon the oven was on fire and so was the medieval walled City of London. The conflagration raged for four days and burned down two-thirds of the city including St Paul’s Cathedral and the pudding in the oven. The Tower of London however survived with the help of effective firebreaks. Charles II would have been devastated if the Crown Jewels had suffered the same fate as the pudding. He vowed never again to eat between 8 pm to 8 am.

Monument to the Great Fire of London

Rebuilding efforts started soon. The celebrated architect Sir Christopher Wren recommended a grid layout for the warren like city with narrow streets, inspired by Baroque Paris. However, he was overruled and the original layout was recreated. Wren though got to rebuild a number of churches – including St Magnus the Martyr Church and The Church of the Dunstan in the East that you just visited - and St Paul’s Cathedral. Some of these rebuilt buildings would again be destroyed in World War II.

Charles II commissioned a monument to commemorate the great tragedy. The 61m tall Doric column is exactly 61m away from the site where the great fire started. Inside the column there is a spiral staircase that can be climbed for panoramic views of the city. These days you stay away from stairs, especially if they are in a narrow high column of stone.

The interwoven brilliance of the aesthetics, signage, street furniture and the public spaces overall simply keeps astonishing you - got to love the city planners here in London

You have walked from the Tower of London, crossed the remnants of Roman Wall into this great warren of shiny buildings co-existing with a smattering of old buildings. It is hard to believe this city was first burnt down and then levelled during the Blitz of WWII. The streets were never widened and the old buildings still look the same as they did when you see those WWII photos popping up on Facebook. The buildings were restored to their original designs while the cobbled streets with granite lined footpaths are probably the same over all these centuries. You are amazed at the longevity of these cobbled streets and the pavements. Back home the streets and the footpaths are in a perennial state of getting torn and getting laid. The streets where carts and horse carriages plied now have the red double-deckers swishing through. There is so much here in London to love.

Monument to the Great Fire of London - Sep 2nd to Sep 5th 1666, London, UK

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The Old and New - London

View from Lombard Street - on the right is Bank of England

Statue of James Henry Greathead on Cornhill - He invented the Travelling Shield that made deep tunnelling for Underground possible

Royal Exchange - View from Bank junction where the streets Threadneedle, Poultry, Prince, Queen Victoria, Cornhill, and Lombard streets meet - London, United Kingdom

The interiors of the Royal Exchange - London

Royal Exchange - established by England's Father of Banking, the wealthy merchant Sir Thomas Gresham for trading stocks - formally inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth I in 1571

Now you will walk into the centre of the financial district. You have left most of the tourists behind. Streets are empty barring a few double-deckers. Sharply dressed men and women can be seen walking purposefully. The buildings here are drool-worthy. Flanked by Cornhill and Threadneedle Streets is the trapezoidal neo-classical Royal Exchange with grand portico and pediment that was first established in the 16^th century. Today, it hosts luxury stores and upscale restaurants. Though intimidating, you must go inside to have a look and maybe click a few photos. In the central courtyard, formally attired waiters serve their high-end clientele. Upscale stores line up on all sides. Outside, Royal Exchange is one of the places in London where a Herald or Crier reads out royal proclamations like death or coronation of a king.

View of the Financial District of London with the Royal Exchange

Signage in London and England keeps surprising you

A London View

No Building is ever forgotten in England - St Benet Fink site

Bank of England

All that Gold stored in the Bank of England

Flanking the Royal Exchange is the Threadneedle Street that was the centre of the Roman London. It is here the Bank of England nicknamed ‘The Old Lady of Threadneedle’ has been standing since 1734. The Bank of England was recently in news when India transferred about 100 tonnes of gold from ‘it is as safe as Bank of England’ to back home. Currently, India’s 324 tonnes of gold reserves remain in London. In 1990’s financial crisis, this gold reserve was put up as collateral. But today, no you are not looking for this gold. You are looking for a company that brought way more than all that gold and gems, cotton, spices, silk, ivory, and other repatriations to this country.

Sir John Soane - English Architect whose best work is Bank of England, though mostly destroyed

You have circled the Bank of England building halfway looking for the statue of its architect John Soane. You have already asked couple of guards at the two doorways but they are as clueless as villagers are in your travels when they are not even aware of this gem in their backyard. And it is in the back of the building on Lothbury that you find his statue. And right across is this narrow alley or court where history happened.

Lothbury Street and the Founders Court on right - London

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Gone East India Company

And the Beginning of British in India

Maybe by design or with evolving times, all connections to East India Company (EIC) have been wiped clean off the London landscape. And this is the beauty of British sense of aesthetic and heritage that when a new building comes up it will have this beautiful blue plaque (metal / ceramic) with a lovely font indicating the presence of the now deceased building. While other buildings will have a round sign indicating if some notable personality lived in that house.

Founders' Court - This is where it all began

East India Company Founder's Hall on Founders' Court in London

So, this is Founders' Court where the EIC founders – a group of eighty merchants & adventurers and Mayor of London - met in Founder's Hall on 24 Sep 1599 to establish this startup with a seed money of four million pounds, obtained royal charter from Queen Elizabeth I for exclusive trade between England and India for fifteen years. East India Company would soon rule the country with the highest GDP and funnel back billions of pounds enriching Great Britain over the next few centuries.

You are happy with this discovery and need to share it! This employee of Bank of England who is taking a cigarette break here is happy with this history nugget you share with him as the architect of the old building Sir John Soane looks at us from across the street wondering if another startup discussion is taking place between this English and Indian guy!

Founder's Hall on Founders' Court, London

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Punjab National Bank on Moorgate - London

State Bank of India on King's Street - London

Just ahead of the Founders Court on the corner of Lothbury and Moorgate streets you spot a branch of one of your banks – Punjab National Bank, housed in the elegant 1 Moorgate building. You will step inside to see if it looks like the Dickensian hell-hole that your Delhi branch is. Inside it looks like a five-star hotel lobby. The lady in saree makes an immediate eye-contact and smiles - What! Is this really an Indian PSU Bank? Well, the location makes one heck of a difference. You just smile back: “I was wondering if this looks like my branch back home!” A little distance away on the King’s Street and in this lovely stone building is a SBI Branch. Inside it is plush and quiet. There is nobody here except a suited employee poring over his computer screen. Wow! Can our PSU Bank branches be like this back home? Fat chance! Our PSU bank branches and their employees will continue to be what they are just like our pavements – dangerous to walk on or in.

Parish Church of St Stephen Walbrook - Sir Christopher Wren's Masterpiece

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Roman London

This is the second Roman encounter of the day in the City of London and it turned out to be the most famous 20th Century Roman discovery in London. The temple is dedicated to the mystery religion Mithraism centered on God Mithras.

The London Mithraeum also called Temple of Mithras is a Roman Mithraeum. Today few parts of the original temple are displayed at the bottom of the new Bloomberg Building.

London Mithraeum

It was closing time and you were unable to see the temple site but on the upper levels you can see some contemporary interpretation displays. Of course, the mother of all Roman discoveries in England is in the beautiful UNESCO City of Bath.

London Mithraeum, Bloomberg Space, Walbrook Street, London

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You will walk along Gresham Street into Guildhall Yard to find another Indian connection. The Guildhall Yard is the ceremonial and administrative centre of City of London. While excavating for the new Art Building, London’s only Roman amphitheatre was found here where the now open yard with black stones is. On the southern side is the St Lawrence Jewry because the 12^th century church stood next to a synagogue. And like every other building, the original church was first burnt in the Great Fire and then damaged in Blitz. Just like 51 other churches in London, Sir Christopher Wren will also rebuild this church here in the aftermath of the fire.

St Lawrence Jewry, Guildhall Yard, London

Hindu Porch of the Guildhall - London

Looking ahead towards the far side of the yard, the porch of the Guildhall looks familiar. The porch has Hindu architectural elements; a result of Empire’s rapid advance and the eastern influences finding its way in the architecture here. The porch was completed in 1789. You will pause here for some time to rest your sore feet and chat with a local lady who is a guide and is waiting for her group to arrive.

A restored Police Public Call Post - Introduced in 1930s and discontinued in 1960s after advent of Police transmitters. Possibly eight remain in the city - Near Postman's Park

St Anne and St Agnes Church - Gresham Street, London

Lord Raglan Pub named after the Waterloo hero the 1st Baron Raglan. Originally the pub was called The Bush and this site is one of the oldest taverns in the city, possible established in 1776, and the cellars incorporate the ancient Roman wall - 61 St Martin's Le Grand, London, United Kingdom. Yes history everywhere in this city.

Gresham Street probably has the maximum number of churches. Next in line is the small and pretty brick St Anne and St Agnes Church. This too was gutted during the Great Fire and Blitz and now has been restored with a lovely garden.

The pretty and serene Postman's Park - London

Postman's Park - Loggia with 54 plaques honoring ordinary citizens who gave up their lives to save others

This walking route is letting you discover some little-known gems of London. Postman’s Park has the same calm vibe as St Dunstan in the East Church. In a beautiful landscaped park, people enjoy the sun sitting on these lovely wooden benches. The park got its name since postmen from the Portland stone General Post Office to the south would come here on their breaks. The artist George Frederic Watts was looking for a place to commemorate the heroic deeds of ordinary folks. In 1900, Watts’s wish came true and a Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice came into being with a loggia containing 54 plaques highlighting the brave deeds of ordinary people who died saving others.

Reading the poignant messages brings back the same feelings like it does reading the gravestones in CWGC cemeteries. You are not sure if something similar exists anywhere else for bravehearts who lost their lives to save others.

The Dome Beckons

Christchurch Greyfriars Garden

The lady guide you met in Guildhall Yard a few minutes ago

The Dome gets closer

From here you will turn left on King Edward Street. In the distance you can see this huge dome dominating over the skyline. Here in this part of the City of London, you are never far from a cathedral or a church. Just before you cross the Cheapside street, you see a garden, some walls and the tower of Christchurch Greyfriars Garden. The timeline of the church follows the same trend – an old church first built in 13^th century, burnt during the Great fire, rebuilt by Wren and then again razed down by incendiary bombs during the Blitz with some walls and the tower surviving. Just like Dunstan in the East, it was decided not to rebuild the church but instead lay down a garden. You run into the same guide lady who is now leading a group of visitors and in the middle of explaining the origin and the history of this garden. The group seems to be comprised of locals perhaps sharing the common interest of history. The garden has rose shrubs and climbers with a palette of colours to bring the garden to life. The appreciative bees and birds chirping makes it worthwhile to spend a few moments here in Christchurch Greyfriars Garden.

of course this is the St Paul's Cathedral

The iconic dome rising above the London skyline reels you in as you make your way through the concrete valley of Queens Head Passage. Hemmed in from all sides by modern buildings stands the majestic St. Paul’s Cathedral in all its splendour. Like most London buildings, churches and monuments, this cathedral also went through an almost humorous grind of a long procession of fires and destruction when finally, it was built in Portland stone by yes, Sir Christopher Wren in a Neo-classical, Gothic and Baroque style that took 35 years of his life and some withheld salary. At least Wren got his burial here, an architect of 51 churches in London. You guess he deserved this as he helped rebuild London after the Great Fire though the Blitz did undo most of the work. This cathedral has a long ancestral lineage probably beginning with the Roman temple to Diana and the first Christian cathedral to St Paul in 604 AD.

St Paul's Cathedral - London, United Kingdom

The church façade is doused in the golden light hour. It is six in the evening here on Ludgate Hill. Yes, it has been a long fulfilling day in the City of London. In the forecourt outside the west front stands the statue of Queen Anne, in whose reign the rebuilding of the cathedral was completed. People mill around the Churchyard; some sit on the giant granite stone blocks while some are part of London Guided Walk tours.

The pedestrian Millennium Bridge over River Thames

River Thames - looking east towards Tower Bridge

Looking back from Millennium Bridge

You will take a walk on the Millennium Bridge for pedestrians which is the fourth bridge from the Tower Bridge and your third bridge over the Thames. You have the last few places to visit and will take a short ride on a bus to get down at the Strand.

London School of Economics and Political Science

On the corner of Aldwych and A4200 stands the venerable London School of Economics and Political Science. LSE just like Delhi School of Economics and JNU in Delhi are those places you wish you had attended – at least in the next life! You walk around a bit trying to peep into the doors and windows.

King's College - Strand Campus, London

Bush House - King's College, London

Coming back to the Aldwych and A2400 corner you look across the street at this imposing and stately Bush House. Completed in 1935, the building was conceived as a Trade Centre by American industrialist Irving Bush and at that time was the most expensive building in the world. Later it housed the headquarters of BBC World Service and currently is owned by King’s College. It is here at King’s College, Strand Campus that a family member earned a business degree recently. King’s College might not have the clout of LSE but the building is a lot grander!

High Commission of India, Bharat Bhawan, London

From Bush House, you will walk to the last stop of the day. This is India House – India’s High Commission in London, designed by Herbert Baker and inaugurated in 1930 by Emperor George V. You do not remember seeing any cops in London except around Buckingham Palace these three days. But here at the gates of the High Commission you can see two cops stationed. Recently, the building has been a victim of political vandals and it seems London Police is not taking any chances today. You ask the cops if it is okay to take a few photos. They are totally ok with that – in Delhi, they would have rudely told you to bloody bugger off. And then you wonder how despite suffering multiple terrorist acts over the years, London is still open to everyone and all accessible. There are no security checks in the Tube. Here in the centre of this great city there are no armed security people looking at you suspiciously from the gates or from over the walls. New Delhi over the years has turned into a fortress pushing common folks and trees out and slowly turning into a concrete place for babus and politicians only. London is still open and free and you will hardly see any security apparatus breathing down your neck. Around the corner, Nehru’s bust is installed. Over the walls of the embassy, there appear twelve emblems representing the twelve provinces of undivided India.

Today’s walking route through the City of London did feel like travelling across time: Londinium of Romans, the castle of William the Conqueror, founding of EIC, the Great Fire, the growing prosperity aided by appropriation and repatriation of huge wealth from India, the razing down of city during Blitz of WWII, the independence of India, and the first prime minister of independent India, Jawahar Lal Nehru. It is time to step out of the time capsule that shrunk two millenniums into a day-long walk through these frozen dioramas.

Thanks for the company!

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The Route Today:

King’s Cross St. Pancras tube station

Tower Hill Memorial

Tower of London

Tower Bridge

Roman Wall

The Church of the Dunstan in the East

St Magnus the Martyr Church

Borough Market

Monument to the Great Fire of London