After living in London for about three months, there are many tourist attractions I have still yet to attend. Recently my childhood friend, Brian, who is currently studying in Italy, came to visit me for a weekend. I figured I should come up with some kind of itinerary to show him around the city; after all, he had never been to London. I thought back over some key places I visited and remembered from the beginning of my stay in the city and of course thought of "Big Ben", the Thames, Westminster Abbey, the House of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Tower of London, and for shopping and eating, the Camden Town markets. I figured these would all be good places to visit if he was interested; of course he was interested, so we headed to the tube station, bought him a day pass and started our tour.
We decided to see Big Ben first since that was the "most crucial" site to visit on the tour. I have seen Big Ben many times since my first glance at the shiny gold clock, which comes up on you out of nowhere every time you see it (funny since there are four dials each 30 feet in diameter, and a bell weighing 14 tons) and yet this visit gave me another feeling for the clock. All the other times I had passed through the city I would overlook the clock because I saw it so often, but considering the point of my view at that moment, I was a tourist again and had a fresh pair of eyes. Brian took photos from every angle, including of the House of Parliament as we passed by its guards each holding threatening machine guns. Once we got back underground Brian suggested we visit Westminster Abbey next because he didn't realize we had just been standing outside the building.
I had pointed out the Notre Dame like structure, but apparently (like me the first time I saw the abbey) he couldn't pick out Westminster from any other abbey. That fact was interesting to me at the time because that moment was like the first time I gave directions to someone on the streets of London, as a foreigner myself, it is great to unknowingly become so familiar with a place. Our next stop was Trafalgar square. The last time I had visited Trafalgar square was for an anti-war protest on the US Election Day and the weather was, although deeper into the cold months, warmer than that visit. Brian took photos again, including me in a few, which once again reminded me of my first time visiting Trafalgar Square. I never took any photographs because I conveniently forgot my camera to avoid looking like a tourist, but now that I feel comfortable in London I also feel comfortable "looking like a tourist". After the square we were off to the Tower of London.
The Tower allowed me to share some stories with Brian about the Beefeaters. He actually asked if I was pulling his leg, or if they really existed (I know it seems too good to be true, but they do exist). We overlooked the river and were engulfed by the immensity of the Tower Bridge (which was once run on steam) across the way.
Finally it was time for lunch. I decided Camden Town would be a fun place to eat lunch, besides its one of the best places for vegetarians (which Brian and I both are). Brian didn't know what to expect from the market. Many people told me it was "bohemian", "alternative", "student oriented", "international", or "gothic", some people even told me it was "scary" so my first time I was picturing anything from the Moulin Rouge to a haunted house. I told Brian we could get good food despite the fact that the streets can be pretty intimidating at times. I have now been accustomed to the area and feel comfortable entering all the shops and ignoring the shady characters on the streets, the crazy outfits and rave music blaring from all the underground shops. For a day full of "tourist sites", Camden Town is a good way to close since it is so contrasting to the rest of the day. We walked around bit, but the weather started to turn a bit colder (it was raining
my first time) so we headed for a more indoor eating area. We ordered our vegetarian burgers and spring rolls and rested after a long day.
My day with Brian was great. I learned more about myself than I ever would have if I had not revisited those places in London from the same (yet different) perspective that I had the first time I visited. The tour was an interesting way to refresh my memory's recollection of how I felt when I first saw the sites, what the weather was like, what I ate and I was also made aware to how my knowledge was revised over the course of time since I last visited; all of this would have gone unnoticed had I never revisited. I hope I remember the next time Big Ben sneaks up behind me.
