When I first visited London in 2000, Covent Garden was one of my favorite places and I have eager to go back. So today, our first Saturday of the semester in London, Jessica, Kevin, Megan, and I took the semi-long walk over there from our flat. It is one of the more popular, and therefore touristy places, in London. It is anchored by a big public square that is full of street performers, shops, restuarants, and theaters. One of my favorite memories involving Covent Garden in 2000 was actually when we were walking to it. My Boy Scout troop was waiting on the sidewalk for the traffic signal to change. All of a sudden, we heard and saw at the same time, a fire truck headed straight for us coming from the other side of the round-about (also called a traffic circle in the US - they are very popular in the UK as evidenced in Natioanl Lampoon's European Vacation, and are becoming more common in the States). It veared around the concrete circular median in the middle of the round-about and came within feet of the sidewalk where we were standing until it whipped around and continued down the street. We all thought we were gonners, but luckily fire trucks over here (this one was made by Volvo) are shorter and sit higher than American ones, allowing them a better turning radius. I will never forget the look on one of my Scout leader's face, as he pushed one of the scouts he didn't like in front of him as a sort of buffer between him and the fire truck. Oh, good memories. Today's trip wasn't quite as eventfull, but we did get to spend more time poking around the shops and seeing everything that was there.
All throughout London, there is an incredible mix of the old and new. Being such a historic city, many of the buildings are very old. However, plunked down among them are examples of extremely modern architecture. The pedestrian bridge in the picture above is one. Although hard to see, the buildings it connects are old. I snapped the shot though more because I thought it would make a neat picture.
There are pubs and restaurants on every corner with shops in between. We had a late lunch that doubled as dinner at a fancier restaurant. Because there are several theaters in the area, as well as the Royal Opera House, many of the restaurants have special deals catering to people stopping in before or after a show. I decided to try a steak burger with fries (one of the few restaurants that refer to french fries as "fries" and not "chips". What we call "chips" in America are referred to as "crisps" in the UK. This burger was considerably better than the burger ball that I had in 2000 at a restaurant in Covent Garden. The thing looked like a meatball and oozed beef juice all over the place. It had been a cute place though...the pub was on the first floor and the restaurant was above it on the second. I looked for the place today when we were there, and think I found where it was, although it seems to be a different restaurant now.
Covent Garden is known for its street performers and musicians. Dozens of people gather round to watch. Performers are out until the sun sets, and the musicians play throughout the night. there are also palm readers sitting along the sidewalks as their customs kneel down to have their fortunes read. I remember some of the same acts from 8 years ago when I was here with Boy Scouts.
Completely covered in copper paint, this street performer stays perfectly still until someone comes up and rings his bike's bell. He then quickly changes position and waits for the next person to ring. It is amazing how still he stays.
We came across this on the way home and had to walk by. My roommate Kevin has been talking about going to see this and was really excited to see it. I'll let you know how it is...I'm sure at least one of us will see it. Sounds pretty good from what I hear - It's a murder mystery! It is the longest running play in history, with over 23,000 performances so far. There is supposed to be twist, making the ending a highlight of the plot. The worst thing you can do is to tell a tourist the ending, since they were probably planning on seeing it. I've heard that if you tick off a cabbie they tell you the ending.
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