This visit to London was the first of our New Year’s trips.
We managed to visit the capital of the United Kingdom even before Brexit, because a year later we could have already run the rounds with the visa application. Many programs fit into these few days, Westminster Abbey, the Natural History Museum, the TATE gallery, a Thames cruise or Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square, all places that we have wanted to visit for a long time.
The city was founded by the Romans as Londinium in 43 AD, and although it has been ravaged by fires, plagues and war bombings, it has risen stronger after each tragedy.
We started our walk along the banks of the Thames, the true lifeblood of London. This river is the reason the city exists at all, as it was here that the Romans found the easiest point to cross and build a port. The most important sights are lined up along the river, and its waters still flow under the bridges with the same dignity as they did centuries ago.
As we continued, we reached the Westminster area, which has been the heart of English political and religious life since the Middle Ages. We stopped in front of Westminster Abbey, where almost every English king and queen since William the Conqueror has been crowned. This building is not only a church, but also a vast cemetery where the greatest figures in history are buried.
Right next to it stands the Houses of Parliament with the famous Big Ben. It was incredible to see this neo-Gothic masterpiece in person, within whose walls British democracy was born and developed. As we stood opposite the Parliament on the bridge, looking across the Thames, the contrast between the old stone buildings and the modern glass palaces on the other side was striking.
The history of London is so exciting to me because every era has left its mark on the streets. Alongside the narrow medieval alleys, there are the grandiose monuments of the Victorian era and today’s skyscrapers.
At the end of the trip, we welcomed the New Year in a suburban pub.
