Lily's London Adventure: A Tourist's History Lesson, Part III

“I’m Never Stepping Foot Here Ever Again!”

After an hour and a half or so at the gigantic Harrods, Lenny and I made our way to Leicester Square. We met one of his teaching colleagues who we ran into at the airport on the way to London. Turns out, this is the week where he takes the high school drama kids to London to watch shows and see the sights (by the way…he’s a very brave man). We figured he needed time away from the little demons, so we said we’d meet him for lunch.

After a satisfying meal at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, we walked through Trafalgar Square (Which if you watched “The Great Muppet Caper” as a kid…you’d totally recognize it!). There we encountered an interesting piece of American-British History. As we all know, there was a “Skirmish in the Colonies” that ended with our independence in 1776. Sure there were hard feelings, but eventually the United Kingdom became our allies. So much so, that they decided to erect a statue of the first President of the United States, George Washington, in Trafalgar Square.



So the interesting piece of trivia is this: During or after the Revolutionary War, “the O.G. G-Dub” said he would never step foot on British soil ever again. Well, that presented a small problem to those wanting to erect the statue. Not that there was any hard feelings, but those involved wanted to good naturedly keep the President’s request. Those wild and crazy Virginians in the State Legislature finally came up with a solution. As a gift to Great Britain, they sent over a large amount of soil from the President’s home state. In turn, the British laid the soil on the patch of lawn that the statue would reside. Then, the base of the statue was placed on top of the soil. Voila! George’s wish was kept.

“Now I KNOW I Could Live Here.”

A short walk past Trafalgar Square, we ended up in Covent Garden. How did it get its name? Covent Garden resides on land that was originally a Catholic Nunnery. The land was lost in 1536 after the Dissolution of Monasteries Act (Long story short: King Henry VIII wanted a divorce. The Catholics said, “Are you kidding me?” Henry VIII said, “Fine. Get out of my country…I’m the new Defender of the Faith. Hey, that sounds cool…someone put that in the coronation ceremony!” Well…it didn’t go down EXACTLY like that…but you get the picture). Before being lost, the nuns grew their vegetables in the area, hence the name.

For those of you who have been to Boston, Covent Garden is reminiscent of the area near Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. The highlight (for us at least) was St. Paul’s Church. Do not confuse this with St. Paul’s Cathedral. Fans of the play “Pygmalion” or the movie “My Fair Lady” would recognize it as Eliza Doolittle’s haunt at the beginning of the story. But what few people know is that St. Paul’s Church is often called “The Actor’s Church.” The neighboring theatre district made St. Paul’s a frequent house of worship for the theatre and movie greats. According to local history, actors often read during Sunday services. Today, the chapel has memorial plaques to the greats and favorites of British acting: Vivian Leigh, Noel Coward, and Edith Evans to name a few.

But the secret to the scruffy looking façade that is St. Paul’s is around back. Off to the left, there’s a black iron gate. Step through the gate, and you assume that the church is surrounded by the British version of brownstone houses on all four sides. If you didn’t go all the way in, you’d be right. But you’d be missing where you’d find me writing or reading on the weekends if I ever decide to move to London:



How can you turn down someplace like that? I’m born for it, I tell ya!

“See…Even London Has a Swap Meet. Yes, It’s Much Nicer Than Ours…”



When I first came to London, they gave us a whopping 1-hour to shop for stuff to take home. Thank goodness they took us to Covent Garden Marketplace. The group I was traveling with made out quite nicely. Someone even found a pair of Doc Martens at a thief’s price! But what struck me about Covent Garden Marketplace was that it was a mix of posh retail boutiques and open air market. All that combined made for a fabulous atmosphere.

It certainly did remind me of an upper class swap meet. There were street performers, but not the card shark or hustler kind. Covent Garden played stage to an opera soloist and a string quartet. In front of St. Paul’s Church, a magician played funky techno music to enhance his act. It was definitely a fun place to be.

As we were making plans for this trip, I was bound and determined to go back. Again, Covent Garden Marketplace didn’t disappoint. It was almost exactly as I remembered it! I didn’t bother with the retail shops; I’d already been to those. My main goal was to hit up Apple Market and Jubilee Market and finish up our gift shopping for friends and family.

Apple and Jubilee Market were home to many handcrafted goods. I strolled around twice before buying, simply because I knew I was missing seeing something as I browsed. And boy, was it hard not to pick up one of the fabulous hand-dyed silk scarves on the rack (I already had one and what do I need a scarf for in the desert?).

Other obstacles included jewelry, blankets, and purses. On Mondays, Apple Market is home to the antique sellers. Thank goodness it was Wednesday! When all was said and done, Lenny and I made out with some pretty cool gifts. I found a woman who hand painted designs on candles and candle holders at a steal of a deal. Lenny found our guy friends beer glasses by a guy who actually fashioned them out of the beer bottles of some famous brands! Sadly he was out of the Guinness ones, so the gang had to settle for Corona instead.

The thing that struck me about my re-visit to Covent Garden Marketplace was that, despite six years passing, not much of it had changed. Working from memory, I was able to navigate the marketplace and show Lenny everything that made it dear to me. In the biggest example of things not changing, we spent a few minutes wandering Jubilee Market.

Amongst the front street vendors, Lenny’s eye was caught by a football kit (soccer jersey to us Yanks) bearing the name of national sensation, David Beckham. Knowing full well that his father would appreciate it, Lenny bought the kit to take home. The funny thing? It was the EXACT same vendor that I seen six years earlier. I purchased two English National Team scarves for my in-laws!

I guess the old cliché is true. The more things change, the more they stay the same. At least in one corner of London, I know this to be the case.