For centuries British history largely revolved around the kings and queens of the day. Nowadays real power lies elsewhere, but there's still a very strong royal presence throughout the city. The focal point is Buckingham Palace, the residence of the queen, which is next to St James' Park, about a kilometer or so from the houses of parliament. The park is open to the public and is home to a large collection of live birds from around the world which was started during the reign of Charles II.
The English have always been very class conscious, which is one reason why my parents emigrated to New Zealand. While the royals and the upper class were doing their thing, the lower classes developed their own culture with its peculiar traditions and pageantry. The woman standing next to the guardsman looks every bit the expression of a third element of society, the middle class, looking up to the royals and down on the working classes. It's been said that the queen and her generation of the royal family are more middle class than the middle classes, not because they look up at themselves but because they are the greatest adherents to middle class moral and social values, whereas the upper classes and the lower classes both do what they feel like rather than what conventional morality says they should. The shenanighans of Prince Charles, Lady Di, Fergie and their offspring are one more sign of the breakdown of this class system.The houses of parliament, with one of the most misidentified sights in all of London on the right-hand side. Although the clock tower is commonly referred to as "Big Ben", that is actually the name of one of the bells within the tower. Immediately behind parliament is Westminster Abbey, where many kings, queens, poets, writers and other famous inhabitants of the UK are buried. Many of London's most interesting buildings, statues and other historical items are located within a short distance of the Thames River, with most of them concentrated in an easily walked stretch of the river between parliament and Tower Bridge, which is another widely misidentified landmark.
Here is perhaps the greatest achievement of Christopher Wren's labours - the Whispering Gallery under the dome of St Paul's cathedral. The gallery is accessed via long flights of narrow steps, and it's even possible to go to an outside viewing area at the top of the dome - 530 steps in all from ground level. As you can see, the dome is huge, second only to the dome of St Peter's in Rome. This area is called the Whispering Gallery because if you whisper (rather loudly) with your face perpendicular to the wall, someone on the other side of the dome can clearly hear what you're saying.
St Paul's and other buildings in London are very impressive for someone coming from a country like New Zealand which has no ancient buildings or other structures, and where no world shaking historical deeds have ever been done. However St Paul's hardly rates as ancient history in London. I've already mentioned the 12th century Temple Church, but it's 200 hundred years newer than the White Tower, part of the complex making up the Tower of London. However even they are relatively recent compared to other artifacts which can be seen nearby. For instance, right outside the Tower of London is this section from the original Roman wall around the city of Londonium. It was the Romans who founded the city, and who built the first London bridge - it wasn't until Westminster Bridge was built in 1749 that there was more than one road across the Thames. The original Roman bridge is long gone, having been replaced several times over the last two thousand years but other evidence remains, including the Temple of Mithras, or at least its foundations, which were excavated in 1954 just down the road from St Paul's.
The London Eye is a must-do on any visit, with great views over the central area of the city. A single rotation takes about 30 minutes, slow enough that the wheel doesn't even need to stop as one set of passengers departs a capsule and the next set enters. In this photo you can see Cleopatra's Needle on the riverbank on the left-hand side and the dome of St Paul's cathedral on the right-hand side. As you can clearly see from the previous photo and others on this page, the myth that the United Kingdom suffers from poor weather is a complete concoction, designed to keep uncivilized colonials from flooding in and spoiling the place.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar