A Leaden Sky over London

Despite the literary references, Sherlock Holmes, Mary Poppins and Harry Potter... London is not really my city, whether it's the climate, the people, or simply that it excited me at 14 and apart from Pink Floyd there's nothing else I liked back then that I still like now... In any case, having the chance of a free room in a hotel a stone's throw from Hyde Park and one plane ticket in two free, it didn't seem the case to be too picky, and here I am then on yet another little trip to London for a spring break. We arrive on 5 May (and it was...) in the late afternoon, a wander among the hotel's pubs and then off to sleep.

6 May

The hotel is in fact well located, a stone's throw from Paddington underground and Lancaster Gate station, so very reachable from Heathrow airport; it is the Royal Sussex Hotel, a nice and fairly clean three-star, but the rooms are tiny and noisy... if you are on the lower floors the tube passes underneath and, in general, being an old hotel it has wooden floors and any step made above your head feels like the roof is caving in on you! Anyway, don't look a gift horse in the mouth! Our first day begins under pouring rain, so we move by underground and find ourselves in the very bright atrium of the British Museum.

The British is the only free thing that exists in London, but even so it is truly a splendid museum; besides the celebrated Egyptian section, the Parthenon metopes are absolutely breathtaking and the whole museum is curated down to the smallest detail, with truly remarkable explanations and opportunities to go deeper. The museum doesn't have the size of the Louvre, let alone the Metropolitan in New York, so if you love art I strongly recommend devoting a good part of the day to it and trying to visit it all. After the visit we head to Piccadilly Circus to meet my friend Tiziana, who has lived in London for two years now, and with her it's steak and chips in a classic pub. Maybe at 14 the lights shine brighter, but the neon of Piccadilly no longer sparkles like it used to... no use: London doesn't have the decadent charm of Paris, nor the brilliance of New York.

A walk among the closed shops and off to bed.

7 May

The next day, just for a change... it rains! So we continue in the vein of museums and go to the Tate Modern. In this case, without wishing to take anything away from the splendid MoMa in New York, but one of the wishes of my life has always been to work in museum management and I must say that this is absolutely the museum of my dreams. The collections on display are not earth-shattering, a few Picassos, Dalís, excellent Rothkos, but clearly if we compare it to the aforementioned MoMa it is very little... the reason this museum is so interesting is precisely the logic with which the collections are conceived: not an orgiastic jumble of works one after another, but enormous rooms in which you can feel them "breathe", the artists well contextualized, compared and exalted superbly. The main collection is free, while the main exhibitions are paid.

We would like to cross the Thames via the pedestrian bridge but, given the lashing rain, we take shelter in the Museum restaurant and to eat two limp sandwiches we spend the equivalent of Burundi's GDP. The rain stops, we rush onto the bridge and cross to the other side... but as soon as we cross the Thames the weather improves and it starts to HAIL. We enter St. Paul's; the entrance ticket costs a fortune, but I wanted to climb the dome so I thought "money well spent anyway"... except that because of the strong wind access to the dome is forbidden and I get as angry as a Cerberus at the resounding rip-off!

8 May

The next day the weather has improved slightly, it's windy and cloudy, but at least it isn't raining, we take a nice walk around Westminster, Buckingham Palace, the home of the royals. But frankly I don't feel like waiting for the changing of the guard; we stroll... past the Horse Guards building to finally reach the area of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, with the London Eye ferris wheel alongside.

9 May

The next day it's shopping! A pity though that London is very expensive and that frankly the elegant boutiques are the same as you find in many other places... whereas if you move away from the international brands there is very little nice to buy. Here too the comparison with the "Big Apple" doesn't work in London's favour. There prices are much lower and the chic boutiques far more stylish! We also take a wander around Covent Garden, then move to the Piccadilly Circus area. Since "strangely" it isn't raining, but it's still freezing cold, we make a quick stop at Harrods. As always it is the triumph of kitsch, with its staircases in the purest fake-Egyptian style, its immense and overflowing galleries... it reminds me of the excesses and the taste for the horrid of the first Lady D... let's say the pre-Versace Lady Diana... the one with the big collars and the golden bob...

in short, here too nothing to do with Saks Fifth Avenue. The only department I really like is the food hall... with all its flavoured teas, biscuits and jams.

10 May

Today, on the other hand, there seems to be almost some sun... a pale sun, mind you, it's absurdly cold for May... but anyway we can finally visit Tower Bridge and the Tower of London! The ticket is expensive but I must say it's worth it, the crown jewels are as sparkling as ever and since there isn't much of a crowd we can walk past them two or three times... oh yes... because they've now put a nice travelator in front of them so that people don't crowd in front of them too long and block the galleries! When it's crowded it's really depressing: a quick peek and off you go! The Tower of London is very large and there are many things to see; one thing I liked is that on the lawn there are two people in medieval costume who illustrate the art of fighting with swords and daggers; in a fun and very entertaining way you learn something.

11 May

Last day before departure, we're a bit tired and stay in the area, so we walk to Kensington Park, after a stop at the Albert Memorial and the statue dedicated to Peter Pan. A walk along the artificial pond, then we move to the adjoining Hyde Park. The park is immense and if there had been sun and we'd had a nice bike I would really have enjoyed myself! Well, now we set off again. It was a nice long weekend, even though London remains far from my heart, but any trip with my sweetheart by my side is always lovely!