What brings people?

London’s eternal draw

I beg your indulgence in reflecting as we end our few terrific days in London. I have to ask how a city so large and so impersonal so consistently draws people-hordes of them like jaded old me-to its winding streets and attractions. Our evening at St.Martin’s in the Fields was simply perfect as the afterward picture below indicates.

London is expensive yet thousands of folks crossed our path this week-literally. We are retired

and lucky enough to have saved our shekels so we can make occasional trips here but this is a pricey place. £7.25 for a jacket potato with a ration of beans, plus £3 for coffee, is definitely not cheap but that is definitely low end for lunches. We saw restaurants consistently over £75 for a drink and an entree each. I have no clue where these families with four kids who we saw all over are eating as I strongly doubt they were eating any more cheaply. And then they all have multiple shopping bags which means huge bucks. I don’t think we saw a single family of Yanks among them, by the way.

It is modern as a city yet old fashioned by U.S. standards. I love the old fashioned bits like the odd street crossings, as does my husband, but things are done slowly and patiently here. Traffic is every bit as bad as D.C. or NYC, though perhaps not Cairo or Mexico City. Yet the skies are Carolina blue when the rains depart. And the hundreds of thousands of tourists and residents on the sidewalks make it a challenge. The sidewalks generally need repair but so do the ones at home so London simply shows it age while we show lack of interest in fixing things once built.

These are not vital concerns as listed above, I know, but I am fascinated by why people do stream here? Partially, I am convinced it is because no one, repeat no one, does pomp like the British. People in democracies bemoan un-democratic governance yet eat up trappings of monarchies. The Royals in Britain may be a soap opera as a family (again, we are hardly immune as our governing families are as colourful as elsewhere) but the Business of being Royal is in fine working order in Westminster—and everyone wants to be part of it.

In my 43 years coming here, I never witnessed the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. I thought I saw it in 1979 only to have English friends tsk tsk me at what was a shift change. THE Changing of the Guard is a 40 minute drill with many moving pieces. We were walking in St. James’s Park today so my husband opined we might watch it because of the music and ceremony.

We stood for about two minutes near Clarence House, then got impatient. Too much formality and preparation for a ceremony with no Royalty involved. We walked on in the lovely sunlight towards Buckingham Palace where massive tour groups were gathered. The drums sounded the March but we had already slipped down by the water again to see the fowl. On queue, 45 minutes later, we were overwhelmed in the Park by thousands who had stood by for the ceremony, cameras to the ready. THAT is what one does, happily, in London. It is incomparable elsewhere.

But this, like all golden cities, is a beautiful place melding a growing population in various hamlets which the city planned by the genius of an architect, in London’s case John Nash. His efforts melded with the burgeoning hamlets to create a livable city center that is not exclusively foreigners seeking a photo op but for thousands of Britons who use the city paths for their lives. These who live here savour the wildlife, the pond, the trees, and the surroundings all together.

Last week you’ll recall I showed some geese and ducks. We were delighted today to discover pelicans, full sized pelicans. They waddled down the path with us more amiably than Harry Truman or Eleanor Roosevelt ever would as cats. These pelicans, of course, expected food (we didn’t honour expectations), but they were beautiful and had had enough exposure to humans that it was as if they were family pets.

Further along we encountered other geese and ducks and squirrels, each still coexisting with every other creature. They all shared the touristas’s attention with the prominent white and gray swans. (No black swans that we saw last week). It was a mini-fowl zoo within a magnificent area open for free to all, without vendors or crime.

It was a refuge from cars, noise, Politix, and everything else.

Finally, London’s blend of architecture is so satisfying. It is also appears so near when one looks in all directions. Some buildings are so well known (often due to history) while the rest is vaguely familiar yet often so comforting as an old friend. The new construction reminds us this city surges forward, never restricted by its past.

Perhaps none of this makes sense to anyone else but this strikes me as the magic that brings people here from across the globe day in and day out. Britain struggles with many things as modern industrialized states inevitably do but it has a secret recipe that no one replicates. And Britain remains intoxicating if one has the time and is fortunate enough to get here.

It is far from perfect as struggle outside the capital is tough but the magic is different from anywhere else.

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We are finished with our wonderful concert tour so back home tomorrow. Be well and be safe. FIN