Exploring Swinging London
Day #1
A morning misting rain couldn’t deter dad and daughter from exploring London’s legendary music scene. Our first stop was the original Hard Rock Café located in Mayfair across from Green Park on Old Park Lane. Established in 1971, in an effort to promote his new music themed restaurant, a local restauranteur convinced Eric Clapton to donate his guitar. Once fellow musician and rival Pete Townshend (The Who) got wind of this, he wanted his guitar displayed as well. So began the legacy of the Hard Rock Café chain restaurants. Lunch complete with a shot of tequila each, we started to feel the London Rock Vibes! After lunch, Lauren and I were treated to “comped” tickets to visit the Vault. The Vault is basement storage annex area of the Hard Rock Café housing extremely rare, never been displayed rock memorabilia including guitars and stage props from Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Perry and many other rock luminaries. Cool little experience!
Next up was a 3-hour rock music tour of London. Our tour guide Brett, showed us where some of the coolest and most iconic rock moments went down. A walking encyclopedia of modern music, Brett transported us back in time to when the Beatles, Bowie, Clapton, Pink Floyd, Queen, the Clash, the Who and countless other seminal English bands were making music the world would worship nearly 60 years later. We viewed the former location of the Beatles’ Apple boutique store, flat where both Mama Cass and Keith Moon would leave this world, Brian Epstein’s offices, Imperial College (Freddie Mercury), Jimmy Page’s and Eric Clapton’s current residences, where Yes recruited Rick Wakeman, where Pink Floyd recorded 70s records, along with dozens of other landmark buildings and locations recounting the story of British Rock worshipped by Americans since the early 60s. The highlight of the tour was walking across Abbey Road. Yes, that street AND studio where the Beatles’ album of the same name was recorded in 1969. Pinch me!
Dinner at the Admiralty near Trafalgar Square the site dedicated to the British Navy defeating France and Spain in the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century as well as many political and anti-war demonstrations in the 60s through current times concluded our first night in London.
Day #2
A morning of abundant heat and sunshine greeted us as we prepared for a bus and walking tour of the iconic landmarks of London including Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Place and Parliament Square.
Lauren and I decided to forgo a previously scheduled afternoon bus trip to the English countryside to visit/tour Windsor Castle (recent Royal hookup of Harry & Meghan) opting instead to explore London by foot.
30,000 steps and 12 hours later this is what we experienced and photographed….
Munching on hot dogs and English style popcorn (similar to Kettle corn) we started out exploring Hyde Park; location of the Rolling Stones 1969 festival show commemorating the death of Brian Jones, Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, Peter Pan statue (“all you need is faith, trust and little bit of pixie dust”) and beautiful grounds of the Kensington Gardens with locals and tourists alike enjoying paddle boats in the Serpentine (lake). Sitting in lawn chairs we watched the Londoners enjoying themselves on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
We stopped by the Royal Albert Hall, home to numerous iconic music/rock concerts (Eric Clapton 1990), plays and performances for some obligatory photo ops of this legendary music venue.
Armed with our Oyster Cards, we then rode the Tube (underground public transportation system) just like the locals do heading back to Tower Bridge. After walking the Tower Bridge, we headed towards Borough Market established in 1276. A festive outdoor open-air wholesale/retail food marketplace, this is where the locals shop for produce and fresh meats for their daily meals. It reminded us of the Philadelphia Reading Terminal Market from back home. Briefly we missed our famous Philly Cheesesteaks and Soft Pretzels and Scrapple.
Heading south, the River Thames to our right, we explored South Bank home to London’s cultural scene. There we enjoyed an outdoor rehearsal of an acting troupe performing The Wizard of Oz while sipping pints of local ale. We enjoyed street performers, active circus, pop-up beer gardens and food trucks making our way to the London Eye. Unfortunately, tickets were sold out, it would have to wait for another time. We settled for some more people watching on this bustling Saturday night. It was clear the locals were looking to let off some stream after the long work week and we were stationed at Ground Zero waiting for their celebrations to begin!
We walked across the Southwark Bridge photographing St. Paul’s Cathedral, the mother church of the Diocese of London built in 1697. We crossed the Millennium Bridge back to South Bank heading towards The Shard. It was here that Dad’s feet were beginning to blister so I bought some Union Jack socks and soldiered on. Rookie mistake, Lauren would have some fun with this travel faux pas moment the rest of the trip, but first she texted Marie back home in the States, our “current” situation. An Instagram moment for sure!
Fish and chips dinner at the Mad Batter Hotel and Restaurant along with a few more pints of ale and we were right back into our London groove.
Next stop was the Shard. The Shard is a 95 story-skyscraper built in 2013. We pressed the up button and arrived at the 72nd floor which included an open-air observation deck/restaurant. In the misting rain (once again) we enjoyed 360-degree panoramic views of daylight turning into nighttime over London Town.
Exhausted but smiling, we hopped back on the Tube and headed back to the Radisson Blu Hotel on Grafton. Sleep could not come quick enough.
We did London dirty….
Dad & Daughter
London, England
August 10 – 11, 2018