London through New Eyes

In the past 30 years, I have been lucky enough to spend time in London on at least six occasions. I have my favorite neighborhoods and stores, places to eat, The first time I went it was 1980. My travel partner was my brave, bright-eyed eight years old daughter Erin. And we were going to London on our way to even bigger adventures in India. 

We each read our Frommer's Guide and came up with ideas and set about organizing them for the time we were there. We planned a trip that combined the big tourists sights and shaped a few other experiences to make them more interesting to her. Shopping and souvenirs and post cards home were all important. In fact, I saw the Peter Jones Store on Sloane Square this week where Erin bought herself a very special white china cat. No trip to London now will ever top it because we were both ingenues in the City. Thus began many international adventures together.

This trip came very close to that first one because I was with my sister--a veteran of international travel  who had somehow bypassed London. So, for her I was the one who could guide her and recommend various things on a first visit. We had a long list of museums and sites that were of interest, but she also wanted to be a tourist and see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, do a show or two, ride the Tube. Her obvious excitement rubbed off on me. We were again not-so-ingenue, but excited to be in the City.

I told her that back in 1980 I had read something along the line of "For the American, a visit to Britain is more one of recognition than discovery." And indeed, with Denise's extensive acquaintance with English literature there was no reason to think it would be different for her. 

Also for American girls born during and just after the World War II we were remarkably well-versed in the lives of the Royals. Thanks to what we would today call "coffee table" books sent by British cousins, we had seen Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret wear coronets to official functions, clad in matching dresses. The books served as a sort of precursor to the People Magazine coverage of the Royals today. My favorite parts were about the girls growing up. It wasn't hard to imagine myself and Denise in their places.

So when we awaited the arrival of new Guard troops at Buckingham Palace, we knew that the flag flying meant the Queen was in residence, we noticed the front balcony, site of so many photos we had in our books and of joyous and very sad occasions since. We recognized the contours of St. James Park and sat there reveling in the idea we were there today. We loved hearing English spoken in the manner of our uneducated immigrant grandparents, complete with grammatical errors and irregular pronunciations (med-sin for medicine; symmetry for cemetery; me for my, as in "Let me just get me glasses). Denise captured our experience thus: "It feels like a warm bath."

If I had to predict, I would say we'll go back, if only for high tea..