One Day in London

American tourists in Europe are not hard to spot. Clad in running shoes, and unzipped fanny packs, they make the most of their vacations by shaving seconds off the time it takes to walk from place to place, or to open a bag and retrieve a camera. They swarm into museums, historical sites, and cultural centers, randomly and repeatedly hitting the rapid fire buttons on their shutters, and hurriedly selecting post cards, plunking down foreign currency, and rushing off with their change. All this, while the locals wonder what the hurry could be.

As a tourist from Indiana, I spent May 16th in London. Just May 16th. Overwhelming as the decision making on that day could have been, I refused to succumb. My husband and I chose 3 sites we wanted to see, and proceeded to make May 16th one of the most pleasurable, eye-opening, and, yes, leisurely days of our lives.

We began with breakfast, which ended up being the most stressful part of our day. The upscale hotel on which our hotel had splurged must have been nearing full occupancy, and the buffet-style breakfast was packed that morning. Customers were beginning to become anxious, cups were scarce, toast was a luxury, and complaints were raised as to the place's cleanliness. I helped myself to a standard breakfast of yogurt, eggs, bacon, and (eventually) orange juice. We then proceeded to take three hour tour by bus of the city. In only three hours we saw most of London's sites, though we, of course, did not have time to tour. I caught glimpses and photos of the Tower of London, the London Eye, Harrod's, London Bridge, and Tower Bridge. In about a third of the time it would have taken me to navigate the city on my own, I saw its most famous sites, all to a lovely, witty comedic narration provided by the tour guide. Anyone who wants a cursory glance at a city should take advantage of the bus tour, and those with only one day, like I was, will be able to experience the best of the city, without facing incredible fatigue.

From the tour, which let us off at Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard, which we were delighted to see, My husband and I chose three locations that we would visit: Westminster Abbey, The British Museum, and The Imperial War Museum. Taking the tube, and walking between sites, we filled our day with fun and excitement.

Our first stop, Westminster Abbey, required a donation of 6 pounds for entrance. This being the end of our trip (we spent 9 days throughout the rest of Europe), we were not entirely convinced our bank accounts would hold up, so we simply saw the outside of the church, and flipped through a few books in the bookstore to discover more about its history.

The walk to the underground was wonderfully scenic, Big Ben and the houses of parliament, statues of Winston Churchill, and architectural grandeur peeking out from every corner. We were sad to go inside the tube because of this, but as London has the cleanest subways in the world, or at least i imagined so, riding the underground was an experience on its own.

Emerging from the underground, we realized that before heading to the British Museum, we needed to find sustenance. After 9 days of European food, we craved something American, and were delighted to find a Pizza Hut near the station's exit. After lunch, which cost nearly $30 after the conversion rate for Pizza Hut Buffet, we made a quick tour of the British Museum. Since the place is so large, it would take nearly a week to see all the exhibits, so we narrow our desires down to two: English History and the Rosetta Stone. We spent time perusing the English exhibits, even seeing the Frank's Casket, which I had just learned about in my History of the English Language class. The Rosetta Stone and the Egyptian wing were incredible. We did not tire by exhausting ourselves running throughout the entire museum, but emerged ourselves in the culture and exhibits we did see, though the pure white, spiraling staircases were a bit taxing.

After exploring the British Museum, my husband and I hopped back on the underground to head to the Imperial War Museum, but not before experiencing a bit of the London rain. A short ride, and a few blocks' walk and we were there, standing in front of two large cannons, ready to explore the Museum. Because the purpose of our trip was to learn more about WWII, and because we supposed the Imperial War Museum would be smaller, we decided to survey the whole museum, or at least as much as we could in 2 hours. Luckily, we still chose to visit the most important exhibits first. For me, that was the Children at War exhibit, the Holocaust Exhibit, and the War Crimes exhibit. I never got further than the first two.

Though the Imperial War Museum seems a rather small building from the outside, the information inside threatens to overwhelm the humble human brain. A fully constructed home from the 1940s, photos, video, and artifacts from children during the Second World War, magnify the Children at War exhibit. The Holocaust exhibit features several television screens with benches to watch interviews with survivors. Walking out into the sunlight after leaving that place, though sunlight is hard to find in London, is almost unbearable. When inside, it as if in another world.

Another short walk to the tube, and a rather long walk down one of the ritziest neighborhoods in the borough of Chelsea, though it would not have been so long had we not gotten lost, yields a take home gourmet pizza parlor, our hotel. We turn in early, at 9, for the wake up call at 5 to catch the bus to the airport. When I spy some of the bleary eyed, and scorned latecomers the next morning, with eyes that have rested a full 8 hours, I wonder if they even remember, or had time to enjoy their visit in London. I did. It was incredible. I can't wait to return!