Norway 2019
Believe it or not, but I never visited London before. I, who have traveled to 85 countries so far, could not find time for one of the most popular cities in the world. I mean I was in England but not London. Heathrow airport was my regular place for changing planes when flying between North America and Europe, yet I never left the airport buildings to see London. That’s why I decided to stop there on the way home from Norway.
London was the dream city on my childhood. At all schools that I attended in Russia, English was taught as a foreign language. Not that these lessons helped me to speak English (they didn’t), however the lesson topics always revolved around London’s main attractions like the Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Tower and so on. We learned by heart short texts about these attractions and recited them during the lessons. We got them because the texts were politically neutral; they were nothing more than brief descriptions with some historic data. Somehow, those boring texts and pictures of the attractions sparked my curiosity and desire to see these places one day. And of course, there was Sherlock Holmes. I knew he was a fictional character; I was not like other kids who thought that he was real, but anyway, visiting 221b Baker Street felt like a must.
So the day had come, and I stepped out of Gatwick airport to finally meet the city of my childhood dreams. It was evening when I got to London, and too late for anything more than dinner that I had near my hotel Shakespeare & Dolphin.
This hotel was chosen because it was next to Paddington Station, reasonably priced and had good reviews. The only bad thing mentioned about the hotel was steep narrow stairs and the absence of an elevator. Guests had to drag heavy suitcases to the top floor. Since I traveled with a backpack climbing the steps was not an issue.
In case someone wonders what Shakespeare has to do with a dolphin, the tradition to give British inns and pubs weird names goes back to the old times when most customers were illiterate, so a memorable pictorial sign and an amusing name helped them to come to the same place again and again. Often, these names have two components like The Camel & Artichoke or The Mad Bishop & Bear.
Apologies for no photos in this post. There will be a lot of them in my next posts about London.
London is the dream of my childhood too. Looks like we had the same school program:) Interesting to know about the names of the inns, I always wondered why they sound so strange. Looking forward to your further posts about London!
If you have not been to London then go! Dreams should come true. London will not disappoint!