On a standard Sunday afternoon, the sidewalk on the Westminster Bridge simply becomes invisible. The massive hordes of tourists, of every skin color and speaking every language under the sun, spill onto the bridge, their camera clicking away at the sights of the Big Ben and the Parliament on side, and the massive wheel that is the London Eye on the other. Peddlers dressed up as British loyalty pose for pictures with the delighted tourists, while right there on the bridge, the visitor can purchase anything from an ice cream cone to a little gamble on the which-of-the-three-boxes-has-the-ball game.
Yet, such sight of London as the cosmopolitan destination of global tourism is but another five-minute stop on the self-guided walking tour of the entire city. West from the modern skyscraper district of Canary Wharf and historical heart of the the Tower Bridge and its adjacent medieval castle, to the east with the underwhelming sight of the Buckingham Palace and its changing guards, seeing all the major sights of London could not possibly take more than a few hours if the convenient tube was used a couple of times.
Even for the first-time visitor, each of the sight is not worth dwelling for more than a couple of minutes, especially considering how most of the most important ones, like the Parliament or the Buckingham Palace, does not grant the privilege of witnessing their internal grandeur to the vast majority of eager visitors. For others, such as the St Paul's Cathedral, the inside would not merit more than just a few pictures. Perhaps the only way to make the walking tour any longer is to simply get lost in its crooked streets.
The sheer blandness of London is especially evident when one is the tour guide trying to show visitors around the city. The guide does try to show his or her best effort to explain the excitement of living in the historical streets of the metropolis, among the ghosts of great personalities of the past and influential centers of decision-making even today. But even the best effort to be excited cannot hide the general complaints even the die-hard Londoners will readily expose about their hometown.
The frequent closures of the tube, the lack of convenient shopping options late at night, the danger of some neighborhoods, the lack of delicious meal options...the list goes on and on. The visitors with even minuscule opportunities to speak with locals will undoubtedly have to be exposed to such complaints, and likely to be unhesitatingly agreeing with such sentiment by the end of their one-week trip. The faceless mega-city, for all its residents and visitors, often acts as a black hole for all positive feelings and expectations.
As an alternative, one can argue that the unique lifestyle offered by London could still be counted as a fascinating element for the first-timer. Sure, the British pub culture, with locals watching soccer (sorry, "football," that is) and sipping UK-brewed ales amid gold-gilded wooden frames of historical yet very much local watering holes would be an unmissable experience. But how much of the experience is actually fun without the very act of getting drunk or watching others get drunk? One is forced to wonder...
All this is not to say that one should not visit London. London, after all, is London, one of the most economically powerful and influential cities of the world, commanding over a culture and language whose offspring we all ascribe to in some way or the other. But just because it is what it is does not make London any different from other large cities around the world. The expectation that the city, and Europe as a whole, for that matter, is simply surreal and beyond normal human comprehension is simply absurd.
To be frank, London, with its history of being a small little forge on the mighty Thames River, should be regarded a little local town that just happened to be caught up in the waves of human migration during the era of colonization and globalization. Its massive hordes of foreign visitors and residents, just like its exorbitant prices for everyday goods, are nothing but an unfortunate side effect to an unprepared and sudden shove from the world over that pushed it against its will into the global spotlight...
Yet, such sight of London as the cosmopolitan destination of global tourism is but another five-minute stop on the self-guided walking tour of the entire city. West from the modern skyscraper district of Canary Wharf and historical heart of the the Tower Bridge and its adjacent medieval castle, to the east with the underwhelming sight of the Buckingham Palace and its changing guards, seeing all the major sights of London could not possibly take more than a few hours if the convenient tube was used a couple of times.
Even for the first-time visitor, each of the sight is not worth dwelling for more than a couple of minutes, especially considering how most of the most important ones, like the Parliament or the Buckingham Palace, does not grant the privilege of witnessing their internal grandeur to the vast majority of eager visitors. For others, such as the St Paul's Cathedral, the inside would not merit more than just a few pictures. Perhaps the only way to make the walking tour any longer is to simply get lost in its crooked streets.
The sheer blandness of London is especially evident when one is the tour guide trying to show visitors around the city. The guide does try to show his or her best effort to explain the excitement of living in the historical streets of the metropolis, among the ghosts of great personalities of the past and influential centers of decision-making even today. But even the best effort to be excited cannot hide the general complaints even the die-hard Londoners will readily expose about their hometown.
The frequent closures of the tube, the lack of convenient shopping options late at night, the danger of some neighborhoods, the lack of delicious meal options...the list goes on and on. The visitors with even minuscule opportunities to speak with locals will undoubtedly have to be exposed to such complaints, and likely to be unhesitatingly agreeing with such sentiment by the end of their one-week trip. The faceless mega-city, for all its residents and visitors, often acts as a black hole for all positive feelings and expectations.
As an alternative, one can argue that the unique lifestyle offered by London could still be counted as a fascinating element for the first-timer. Sure, the British pub culture, with locals watching soccer (sorry, "football," that is) and sipping UK-brewed ales amid gold-gilded wooden frames of historical yet very much local watering holes would be an unmissable experience. But how much of the experience is actually fun without the very act of getting drunk or watching others get drunk? One is forced to wonder...
All this is not to say that one should not visit London. London, after all, is London, one of the most economically powerful and influential cities of the world, commanding over a culture and language whose offspring we all ascribe to in some way or the other. But just because it is what it is does not make London any different from other large cities around the world. The expectation that the city, and Europe as a whole, for that matter, is simply surreal and beyond normal human comprehension is simply absurd.
To be frank, London, with its history of being a small little forge on the mighty Thames River, should be regarded a little local town that just happened to be caught up in the waves of human migration during the era of colonization and globalization. Its massive hordes of foreign visitors and residents, just like its exorbitant prices for everyday goods, are nothing but an unfortunate side effect to an unprepared and sudden shove from the world over that pushed it against its will into the global spotlight...
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