Visiting Victoria

Victoria Station (ignore the construction)

I realize I mention Queen Victoria every chance I get, which is why you'll be pleased to hear that this post has nothing to do with her.  Victoria Street is just one of the main drags that runs from Victoria Station to Parliament Square, a route I took a few weeks ago on a free afternoon.  I saw many well known sites like Parliament and Westminster Abbey, as well as some random spots that most tourists many not stumble across.

(This study break is much too short for an Edinburgh post, but they are coming ... I promise!)

When you think about London transportation you think of the Underground, those black cabs, and, of course, the red double-decker buses.  The buses, known as Route Masters, have actually undergone a recent makeover, and are my favorite way to get around London.  At first, I was terrified of sitting on the top level, not because I'm afraid of heights, but because I was afraid of missing my stop.  Now I have no problem, and it is great fun to sit upstairs!

Do you remember this part of the Beatles song A Day In The Life:

Found my coat and grabbed my hat

Made the bus in seconds flat

Found my way upstairs and had a smoke

And somebody spoke and I went into a dream

Newest Route Master model, upstairs view

It always confused me how he went from being on a bus to going up the stairs.  As an American teen, I guess it never occurred to me that going upstairs meant going to the upper deck of a red Route Master bus.  Or maybe I never thought too much about it because sometimes you're better off not trying to make sense of Beatles songs.

In any case, I like riding the Route Masters because they are half the price of taking the Tube and you get to see more of London on your commute (most Tube stations look the same underground).  The old red buses used to be open on the back so people could hop on and hop off easily - I've seen people do this and it is terrifying when they barely make it onto that open rear platform.  And, the best part is that the conductors don't care - they are more of the "jump at your own risk" opinion.  If you make it, you have the privilege of paying the bus fare.  The next model that replaced the oldest ones still on the road have a closed back but two entrances (front and middle) instead of one.  But, the newest model (pictured) is pretty awesome: it has three doors (front, middle, and back) and a return to two staircases (like the older model).  The cool thing about the newest Route Master is the way the windows follow the staircases - natural light moves with you.

Here are some of the sites I saw around Victoria and Parliament Square:

The Albert Pub, Victoria Street

Oh dear, I know I promised, but what would Victoria Street be without the Albert Pub?

This picture is actually quite a great example of how London is built.  Unlike Philadelphia (my beLOVEd hometown), there is no old town and new town in London.  Since expanding out is not really an option on this tiny island, the old and the new exist in the same space.

Cardinal Walk, Victoria Street

Just a bit further down the block is this awesome covered outdoor shopping area called Cardinal Walk.  I'm not really sure how it got its name, but I can guess.  If you look straight through, you may see a candy-striped building way in the distance.  That is Westminster Cathedral, the main Catholic church in England (which is predominately Protestant thanks to Henry VIII) - this photo is also a great example of the old and the new!  Since Cardinals are associated with the Catholic Church, that may be how the shopping area got its name.

Modern buildings in London are almost always glass front - they really like the sleek look here.

Westminster Cathedral, and Catholic churches built in the same era, are generally a bit less grand than cathedrals like St Paul's or the Liverpool Cathedral (I guess in the attempt not to out-do the Vatican ... though I'm not sure that is even possible!).  This cathedral was really nice inside, but had dark ceilings; some of the smaller chapels had colorful mosaic work on its ceilings.

Westminster Cathedral (interior)

Westminster Cathedral (front)

As you can tell, it was a challenge getting the whole Cathedral in one shot!  Between you and me, it took a few (5 or 6) tries.

As nice as it is, I think the candy stripes make it look a bit ridiculous.

But, who am I to judge?  I do belong to a synagogue that looks like a space ship (thanks, Frank Lloyd Wright)!

Next, I walked to the end of Victoria Street to Parliament Square.

Westminster Abbey

Here is Westminster Abbey.  I don't mind posting about it before I've actually had a chance to go inside because they don't allow photography inside.  I hope to go soon because I hear it's not something to miss.  This is where most of the monarchs are buried, and where most Royal weddings, christenings, and coronations happen.  Princess Diana is the only exception - she insisted on being married at St Paul's Cathedral (which she was) because she thought it was more of a "people's church" than Westminster Abbey.  Neither the Royal Family nor Parliament were happy with this, which is partially why she is buried at Westminster Abbey.

Buxton Fountain

In the gardens behind the Houses of Parliament is the Buxton Memorial Fountain, dedicated to Thomas Fowell Buxton, a major leader in the anti-slavery movement.  He was buddies with William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp, etc.  The Fountain (it's a drinking fountain) commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire (1833).  This was cool for me to see because my research topic (aka my whole reason for being in London) is the investigation into the origins of abolition in Britain.

An aside: the movie Amazing Grace, with a young Benedict Cumberbatch as Prime Minister William Pitt, is a great movie about the abolitionists in Britain (despite a few historical inaccuracies)!  I recommend you check it out.

In the background you can see Victoria Tower.  This is where the Queen gets ready before she addresses Parliament.  This is another place I haven't visited yet.  Though, I do have some friends who are interning for a few MPs (Member of Parliament, US equivalent = Congressperson), so they get to work in there every day and see things that tour groups do not!  Lucky duckies!

Channel 4 Studios

On my way back to Victoria Station to catch a bus back to South Kensington, I came across the Channel 4 building.  And, because I am taking an architecture elective, I can confidently identify this building as a Richard Rogers product.  Rogers is known for putting the "guts" of a building (ventilation, air shafts, elevator shafts, etc.) on the outside, articulated with vibrant colors.  Virtually every other modern building in London is a Richard Rogers creation - the other half is by architect Norman Foster (the two architects used to be best buds, in business together, but are now THE two competing firms of London.  Though I'm pretty sure they are still friends).

Norman Foster is known for his sleeker designs.  I actually prefer his work to Rogers'.  Foster designed the new parliament building for Germany, and also the HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) building in Hong Kong.


I hope you enjoyed this random post of mostly portrait-orientated pictures.  I promise Edinburgh is next!  Thanks for reading!