yooperprof's VirtualTourist Home Page

There are a lot of different ways to travel - and one way isn't better than another. When I find a place that means something to me, I like to return to it. And so in the summer 2009 I find myself spending ten nights in London, which is certainly one of the capitals of my personal world.

London is one of my personal havens. I don't think it's presumptious for me to say that I can claim it as I place that has changed my life. I first visited it back in 1977, with my parents. I've been back every few years intermittently ever since. Moreover, in 1988 and 1989 I spent longer periods here while working on my dissertation: from January to June 1988, and again from June to August 1989.

I've explored a lot of London, but there's always some new museum to uncover, or a transformed neighborhood to explore, or a recently renovated historic site that I've never visited before. For example -Kenwood House - I was here back in 1987 - but since then there's been a major renovation of the house, an expansion of the art collection, and a complete re-hang of the paintings. No wonder I'm smiling.

And pubs - I love 'em. Especially the historic ones, without tv's or fruit machines, with hand-drawn ales. Nothing like good warm (o.k., room-temperature) English beer!

This summer I've made an effort to research some of the most traditional pubs remaining in the City of London. And I've been enjoying the fruits (and sips) of my research.

The pub in the photo is "The Hand and Shears". It's a classic one-bar tavern, just around the corner from St. Bartholomew the Great church - and not far from St. Paul's Cathedral. It's located in the warren of narrow streets known as "Cloth Fair" - and it's one of those places where time seems to have stood still.

Architecture! London's got great buildings - from the old (Tower of London - 1066) to the new (the famous "erotic gherkin" - Norman Foster's cigar-shaped glass skyscraper in the City of London.) This summer I explored some of Christopher Wren's great buildings that he designed after the Great Fire of 1666 - not only the magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral, but also this square church close to the Thames, St. Stephen Walbrook. Some people have called this the most perfect architectural space in Europe!

And London is one of the world capitals of music. You can find it not only in the expected places like theatres and concert halls, but also at open-air free spaces all around the city. I was fortunate to be able to catch several free "gigs," including this one by a jazz quintet, held in the fresh open-air at Finsbury Circus in the City of London.