The 8 ½ hour flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to London seemed to go by quickly, even though I did not sleep, which is typical for me. My seat television broke down about two hours into the flight and, despite the flight attendants’ efforts to reboot the system, movie-watching was not possible. It was a great opportunity for thought and contemplation.
We had one day in London before heading out on a cruise the next day. We knew that we had to “push through” without sleep during the day to force ourselves into the new time zone. We had never been to London on a visit except to transfer someplace else. Rebecca left me to plan for the day, so I kept it light: 10:00 am Mass at Westminster Cathedral and a rock n roll walking tour in Soho to bring back memories of my teenage years. How’s that for two extremes? By skipping all the famous London sites, we avoided the mobs of summer tourists.
We landed early in the morning and made it to the Hyatt Place hotel near the airport by 8:30 am. We opted for one of the Hotel Hoppa buses that move people between the local hotels and the airport. Big mistake. We waited 45 minutes for the bus, which cost nearly $19, and took 20 minutes to get to hotel that is only seven minutes away by car. We later found ou that we could have taken an Uber for $24 and made it to the hotel in seven minutes. London is soooo expensive. Surprisingly though, there was a room available for us when we checked in.
We thought about catching the bus back to the airport and riding the London Underground (the “Tube”) to central London, which would take more than an hour. But we were too tired. Instead, we grabbed an Uber straight to the Cathedral.
While not known for being a Catholic country, the Mass was packed. After King Henry VIII split from the Catholic church in 1534, Catholics weren’t legally permitted to fully practice their faith until the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829. Westminster Cathedral was constructed much later in the century to become the “mother” Church for Catholics in Great Britain. Construction began in 1895 and continued into the early 20th century. The Cathedral was officially opened in 1903 and consecrated in 1910. Popes Benedict and John Paul II celebrated Mass in the Cathedral in 1981 and 2010, respectively.
For me, the most significant part of the Cathedral was the Chapel of St. George and the English Martyrs. St. George was a Roman soldier put to death in 303 A.D. for his Christian faith. King Edward III made him patron of England in the 14th century. The chapel is dedicated to the many of English Catholic martyrs after Henry VIII broke ties with Rome.
In the Chapel of St. George, there is a scene behind the altar of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher—beheaded by King Henry VIII—standing next to Christ.There is also a glass casket with the remains of St John Southworth—one of the last Catholic priests executed. He hanged, drawn, and quartered by the order of Oliver Cromwell. This courageous priest left for France, then returned to England to minister to the poor and sick of Westminster before he was finally captured and sentenced to death. His feast day is June 27th, which is celebrated as a solemnity in the Cathedral, where his casket is displayed in the central nave for several days.
After Mass we began the 30-minute trek to Picadilly Circus, the meeting point for the pub tour. As we passed by Buckingham Palace, we dodged crowds of people everywhere. Tourists were lined up along the iron fence with their heads poking through the rails waiting for the changing of the guards. Not for me. As I get older, I become less fond of crowds, and even less fond of tourists themselves.
Since our tour did not begin until 2:00 pm, we started hunting for fish and chips. We first stopped by the Phoenix tavern, which we skipped because the fish and chips looked too expensive. At the St. James tavern, a fellow shuffling chairs around told us they were out of fish and chips. He pointed outside and told us to go a few more blocks to get fish and chips at the Coach & Horses pub. At Coach and Horses, the bartender told us that they hadn’t served food since 2019, before COVID. She sent us a few doors away to the Spice of Life tavern.
A friendly waiter named Lachlan from Australia brought us Fish and Chips at the Spice of Life. He was in London on a 3-year visa and loved it. The fish and chips were good but nothing spectacular. It cost only $78 for two orders and two beers—same amount as the first pub we attempted. London is soooo expensive.
Our walking tour of Soho started on time. We planned to visit four pubs and various other spots to hear stories about my rock and roll “heroes” when I was a teen. Soho is an interesting part of London. Not as touristy and crowded as around Buckingham Palace. Soho has a centuries old history of music and theater. It full of pubs, restaurants, shops, “Broadway” plays, and live music of all genres. It reminded me of both Amsterdam and New Orleans, not as raunchy as Amsterdam, but not as dirty as New Orleans.
Our guide Ghertó was very upbeat, enthusiastic about history, and knowledgeable. The highlights of the tour included Trident Studios (now defunct),
where the most famous British bands recorded: the Beatles (where they recorded Hey Jude), Rolling Stones, The Who, Queen, Elton John, David Bowie, etc. and the list goes on; the basement of the 2i’s coffee bar (now Poppies Fish and Chips), considered the birthplace of British rock ‘n roll, where hundreds of pre-Beatles skiffle bands performed, including the Vipers, Ritchie Blackmore and Jimmy Page; and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, where Ella Fitzgerald performed, and Jimi Hendrix played his final live show—two days before his death.
(If you don’t know who I’m talking about, I don’t know what to say.)
But there was also some interesting non-rock ‘n roll history in Soho. We saw where Mozart’s family lived in 1765, when Mozart was eight years old and wrote his first symphony. We also had a beer in the Dog and Duck tavern where George Orwell wrote much of Animal Farm and 1984.
Next time I’ll stay longer in London and be a real tourist.