Day 21: New Europe Tours: London

The gathering place for New Europe’s free London walking tour.  They’re getting people queued up and broken into groups.

The next day we went to Hyde Park for the New Europe walking tour of London.  New Europe is a walking tour group in major European cities and I’d gone on their Berlin and Munich tours in the past.  They break up into smaller groups that go from site to site explaining the history, backstory, and some trivia and humorous anecdotes about the city.  They don’t charge any money, leaving it up to us to decide at the end how much to tip.  Every time I’ve gone on one of their tours, the guide has always been enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and has left me with a much better understanding of the history that’s present in these European cities.  In addition to the free tours, there are several other pay tours they offer, including at least a pub crawl and in the case of London, a tour of the old city of London and the “Grim Reaper” tour of places like the Tower of London.

The Wellington Arch, which was modeled after the French Arc de Triumph but was far less impressive.  The Duke of Wellington is one of the most famous people in English history, famous for his victory over Napoleon at Waterloo, but who also fought and won dozens of battles in Europe and India.	A monument to the Indian, African, and Caribbean soldiers who fought with the British in World War I and II.  In all, these totaled over 5 million people.

The changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace.	Judging by the number and type of monuments, the British have quite a sense of their history – there’s even a monument dedicated to the British artillerymen who died in World War I.

Buckingham Palace.

London’s clubbing district which contains numerous “Gentleman’s Clubs” (no, not those types of clubs – these are the ones where refined members of society socialize in smoking rooms and make bets about traveling around the world in under 80 days).	Trafalgar Square, named after Admiral Nelson’s victory over the French fleet.  Nelson is at the top of the victory column, and the National Portrait Gallery is behind it.

The Household Cavalry is a ceremonial cavalry regiment stationed in London.  In addition to posing for pictures, they also have a museum open to tourists.	We walked by Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives.  The street used to be open to the public though after the IRA lobbed a mortar shell at the house in 1991, security has been increased to include fencing off the street to the public.

Big Ben (which is technically just the name of the bell) in Elizabeth Tower.	Westminister Abbey, the place where the British monarchy has historically been coronated.

 

The tour ended at Westminister, with the Palace of Westminister (pictured, where the British Parliament meets) and the Abbey (not pictured here).  This photo was taken a few days after our tour.