Vignettes (adventures in the UK)

A chance of a lifetime presented itself when a couple invited us to join them in their tour of London. This couple has been here for almost five years. But the husband’s mother just arrived and he wants to take her around the country. London is their next destination, after spending almost a week up north, a far as Scotland.

At first, I was not very keen on going. For one, London does not hold any charm as far as I am concerned. I’d rather be in the countryside. It is crowded, expensive and too high brow for me. More so, the prospect of going around the city by bus with five active kids in tow (ours plus the couple’s three kids) was not very attractive. But our London host, a friend to both the couple and us, was just so earnest and sincere in her invitation. She lives alone in a four-bedroom house and company for a few days seemed delightful to her. Well, staying in a house in London for up to a week (though we stayed only for two days) for free is one prospect not a lot of people are presented with. And so, we agreed to go.

We arrived in the city late at night. We had the whole house to ourselves for the two days we were there as our friendly host left us for Holland the next day. The plan was for us to spend the first night there so that we could start early the next day. It was easier that way, for us to be fully rested before plunging into a hectic itinerary. Our first destination was, of course, the Buckingham Palace. A courtesy call to the Queen of the land was in order, especially for first-timer me. Besides, I am a royal watcher. Even before my hubby and I harbored any dreams of coming over to the land of knights and nobles, I have been following closely the lives of the royal family, particularly the queen, her children and the iconic Princess Diana (though, this has never been a title bestowed on her – it should be Diana, Princess of Wales).

We did not see the queen, but we witnessed some sort of a presentation by a band and the palace guards in their gala uniform astride beautiful, magnificent horses! The place was crawling with tourists from all over the world. I did not realize that the Palace was that popular a destination. The fact that the temperature soared to past 20 degrees did not make it easier for us to keep the children from throwing tantrums. But I was beginning to take notice of the attractions of the city.

Flowers were everywhere – it was summer and the whole place was abloom. There were large parks which we also explored. It was in one of those parks that I took my first snapshot of a wild animal – a squirrel! Scantily-clad men and women were lying on the grass, taking advantage of the glorious sun. They were like worshippers offering a view of their bodies to the sun, for it to warm and bake into a golden brown. It was there that I wondered, maybe the pagan practice of worshipping the sun was not a far-fetched idea, after all.

We saw a lot of Filipinos, mostly women trudging buggies with white, blond babies. Some of them sitting idly in the park, having picnic or playing with their wards. They would invite us to eat with them with words like: “Kain po tayo.” We would all automatically smile, immediately connecting with one another.

London was clean alright, though not exceptionally so. But I was impressed by the transportation system, particularly the bus. They all arrived on time and we did not get lost at all because they were properly-marked, with corresponding guides conveniently posted in every bus stop.

I am not ashamed to admit that I know more about Diana’s affairs than London itself. I couldn’t understand why my hubby persistently nudged me to pose for him beside the red phone booths that were everywhere. And he would ask me to take his picture, too. Well, now I know that those booths are actually symbolic of the city. But I’m afraid I will have to do more research about why this is so.

We visited other places of interest, of course. The British Natural History Museum held a lot of attraction for Science lovers. It was so big it will take more than two days to fully explore it. We were only able to visit one wing, the highlight of which were the dinosaurs fossils on display.

Diana’s former residence, the Kensington Palace, was the big thing on the second day. It was a dream come true for me to actually see the building where she lived! When we went there, a campaign was ongoing to get as many people as possible to help in putting up flower sculptures all over the place in time for her 10th death anniversary in August. My hubby and kids decided to help dust gold powder on two metal dandelions that were to be added to the flower sculptures. Then, we had our picture taken as we placed our flowers on their stand. It meant so much to me to have done that with my family. Still on Diana, we also went to this memorial fountain set up in her memory not far from the palace. It is actually a large circular fountain, with the water just going round and round. People just sit down by the edge of the fountain, some of them dipping their bare feet in the water.

Of course, any London trip would not be complete without seeing the London Eye and the Big Ben where the Houses of Parliament are. The London Eye is like a giant ferris wheel to me – where people cram into each transparent eye-shaped compartment. Then it slowly goes round and round and anyone in the compartments would be able to see the whole city.

Other places we have been to were the Trafalgar Square, Harrods (no, we didn’t shop there – it was scandalously expensive), and others I can not remember now. We did not see the London Bridge. But at least we saw the London Tower Bridge (does that count?). The London Bridge is a drawbridge, the kind that folds up when a tall water vessel passes underneath. We were lucky to see how it works when a barge passed while we were by the riverbank.

We did not see any mouse under a chair, too – much less the queen we were hoping to catch a glimpse of. But I gained a fresh understanding and admiration for the city. Yes, it was crowded and it was very expensive. But it is screaming with class and culture and a very rich heritage. From the eyes of a simple tourist like me, London might not be the best place to see but it was worth the time and the sore feet I had after the adventure.