That’s the first line of the chorus to a Roger Miller song (he’s most famous for King of the Road, but my brothers know England Swings quite well), and my favorite line is “Westminster Abbey, The Tower, Big Ben, the rosy red cheeks of the little children.”
The first place I went that cold, jet-lagged January day in London in 1984 was to Westminster Abbey. The three times I’ve been back, the first place I go in London is to Westminster Abbey. Then the next thing I do is wander around staring at Big Ben and Parliament. The next time we go back to London, we’ll start with Westminster Abbey, followed by Big Ben and Parliament.
In 1984 (I promise this blog will focus on the current trip, but I also need to supply some background), I couldn’t sleep on the plane (a problem I still have today, although Ambien helps). So I was exhausted when I got to my hotel on a bone-chilling, wet January day. First thing I did was fall asleep (not the way to deal with jet-lag, but what did I know?). When I woke up it was dark, but I didn’t want to wait another day to get started, so I went to Westminster Abbey.
Back then I just walked in, bought a ticket, and was entranced. At that point, Westminster Abbey (built history dating back to 1042) was the oldest building I had ever seen. For this trip I pre-purchased tickets to most London attractions, just because in early June I didn’t want to miss out because of sell-outs.
I bought a 1:30-2:00 pm entry timed ticket. Well, our British Airways flight was an hour late taking off, 45 minutes late landing, so we were pressing our luck with time. After cabbing to the hotel to drop our bags (the room wasn’t ready, but we were early and with a free hotel room for three nights, we couldn’t complain), we rushed back out and grabbed a cab to Westminster Abbey.
We got there right at the nick of 2pm, but I think we still would have gotten in even if we were 10-15 minutes late. The Abbey was packed, but it is just as jaw-dropping as the other times we’ve visited.
Because it was de-Catholicized in the 1530s by Henry VIII (famous for his own song), the Abbey isn’t as mind-blowing as many Cathedrals and monasteries on the Iberian peninsula, but I’m not sure any building of its kind matches the history celebrated in the Abbey. Kings and queens, poets and writers, scientists and leaders, war heroes and the war dead are all celebrated/memorialized at Westminster Abbey.
I felt like Ralphie and Randy from greatest Christmas movie ever made, “A Christmas Story” as they rip open their presents with repeated exclamations of “Wow, wow, wow, WOW.”
I’m not going to go into (excruciating?) detail on everything we marveled at, but highlights included the Coronation chair, which has been used since 1066 and just was used a month ago for the first time in 70 years by now King Charles, the casket of Mary Queen of Scots, caskets of other British kings and queens, memorials to famous poets, writers, scientists, and to Roger Bannister. It’s a stroll through nearly 1,000 years of history, all through a remarkable building.
Oh, the cloister isn’t as impressive as many we marveled at in Portugal nearly two years ago. It manages to be both grand and understated (especially compared to cathedrals in Spain and Italy). Mark my words, Westminster Abbey will always be our first stop in London.
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