London is… a lot.
At a glance, it would seem to be relatively pedestrian in the grand scheme of the locations covered on this blog, but when I moved to London in 2023, it really blew my hair back. It was just so much larger, denser, noisier, and more diverse than I expected!
If I’ve learned anything over the past ~9 years of doing this blog, it’s that some places are simply too big and too complex to address in just one or two articles. Even if those articles are really long. London is definitely one of those places. In fact, it might even set a new bar. This article opens a new season in Peter’s Big Adventure, and it will likely be one of the only times I speak at length about London as a whole. After this, we’re going to be breaking off one bite-sized piece at a time.
London: An Introduction For the Woefully Uninformed / blissfully un-indoctrinated
Before I moved to London, I think I was one of the few people on planet earth that was not particularly interested in this city. Like, it looked nice and all… but, it wasn’t high on my travel priority list. As a result, when I showed up here it felt a bit like drinking from a firehose in terms of how much information was coming at me. There’s a lot to know! In retrospect, it’s kind of cool to enter a place a complex as London without much information on it. The more life I live, the less often I find myself submerged in something completely new. In the most abstract sense, the thought of this submersion feels idealistic and romantic. But the reality of figuring out London on the fly felt more like this…
Instead of giving a “London 101” article, I’m going to cherry-pick a few things that really surprised me and challenged my preconceptions about London…
1. London is f*cking MASSIVE
As an American, I use New York City as a scale for pretty much everything. The population of New York City proper—as of 2022—was ~8.1 million. In 2022, London proper’s population was 9.5 million. This relationship technically reverses when you look at metropolitan area, but the borders of the New York metro area are so insanely far-reaching that I don’t think it’s a good metric. The CITY of London is bigger than the CITY of New York, and not just in terms of population; it also covers nearly double the surface area.
I don’t know if people coming to visit as tourists really get a sense of the scale of this place because most major tourist attractions are clustered relatively close to one another. But to me, whose first time in London was the day I moved to London, its size was a bit terrifying. I couldn’t afford to stay in the city center, so I found an Airbnb further afield. Fighting the traffic and crowds to haul my ass back and forth across this city to do apartment viewings was exhausting, and I only covered a small portion of the city in those trips.
To make London all the more daunting, its layout doesn’t follow any clear organizational system. Whereas New York is mostly on a grid with numbered streets, London’s urban planning is literally medieval, or even older. To make matters even more complicated, sometimes the same continuous street will change names at different points for no apparent reason. Consequently, a rigorous training regimen has been developed for the drivers of London’s iconic black cabs. They are all required to have an encyclopedic knowledge of every single one of London’s streets committed to memory, and they are tested on this before they can legally operate a taxi cab. This vast swath of information is referred to as “The Knowledge,” which is simultaneously hilarious and downright Orwellian. The necessity of all this has clearly been diminished greatly by the advent of apps like Google Maps, but—for now, at least—it is apparently uncommon to see tools such as this used in black cabs. Use it or lose it, I guess!
While we’re on this subject, here’s a black cab scene from Get Him To The Greek that has gotten about 500% funnier since I moved to London. The top comment on this clip is “If you've ever lived in London, you laughed at this for 10 minutes straight.”
2. London is less than 38% ethnically/white British
For me, when I thought of London, I thought of movies that were set in London. Notting Hill. Love Actually. Mary Poppins. That’s the standard fare of London cinema, right?
All of these movies paint a largely posh, Anglo picture of life in London. To be honest, when I moved here, this was the kind of dialogue I was expecting to overhear on public transit. I was surprised to find that I barely even understand half the dialogue I hear around me on public transit because so much of it is in other languages. It is truly a swirl of cultures, skin colors, languages, and dialects everywhere I go. It’s easily the most diverse place I have ever lived—or probably even experienced!
London is a stand-out in Europe because of its shifting ethnic diversity. And this should come as no surprise, because it wasn’t long ago that London ruled 24% of the world’s total land area via a little thing called the British Empire. This means that what it means to be “British” is now more of a fluid concept than other European nationalities (although France has earned their fair share of this as well). There are many people of color in England whose families have been here for many generations. The countries of the former “British Raj” (present day India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, & Pakistan) are some of the most well-established sub-groups in England. I was surprised to learn that tikka masala actually did NOT originate in India, but in fact, the United Kingdom! Although the UK isn’t a full-on “nation of immigrants” like the United States, multi-cultural families are a long-accepted part of the deal. Especially in London. My guy Romesh can vouch for this.
3. Americans often say that London reminds them of the U.S., but it’s the other way ‘round
At least, I’ve heard my fellow east-coast Americans say this.
If you have ever traveled through countries that were once on opposite ends of the colonizer / colony relationship, then you have probably noticed some aesthetic and cultural similarities. I’ll give you a few examples.
Take Algiers and Hanoi, for instance. These are the capitals of two former French colonies which, despite being completely alien to France in every conceivable way, still bear a striking resemblance to Paris. If you haven’t read my series on Algiers, check it out here. It literally looks like Paris. And there’s a reason Hanoian street vendors are slinging baguettes and paté.
Take Havana and Mexico City. These are major historical cities in two former Spanish colonies, and if you compare the architecture in the older parts of these cities to their former colonial overlord, Madrid/Toledo, you will notice some similarities.
Take the U.K. and it’s former colonial hubs, Yangon (Rangoon) and Kolkata (Calcutta). While the streets of London are a far cry from the average street corner in either of these cities, there are other places where it’s quite clear that the British had literally attempted to recreate London all these many thousands of miles away. Don’t believe me? Here are a couple of snaps from those 2 places respectively. Yangon is first/left and Kolkata is second/right.
This is going to expose my privilege a wee bit, but I had grown accustomed to observing these sorts of relationships academically, from a safe distance. It was a true lightbulb moment when I realized that the exact same dynamic exists between the London and the United States! 💡
I don’t want to sound dramatic here, but to realize that so much of what I had always thought of as “American” was actually inspired and imported from Britain was paradigm-altering for me. I don’t know if this was the correct reaction, but it definitely gave me a sense of reverence for England. I mean jeez Louise. Despite all the many evils of colonialism, and its terrible legacy that we are still dealing with today… there is also something to be admired here. How on earth did this dreary, northerly city manage to leave such a massive mark on the world? There is some element of this place’s identity that is truly larger than life!
The identity of England and the United Kingdom, and how I relate to these concepts, is something that will surely continue to evolve with time. For now, I think it’s time to get our swim suits on and jump into the pool! Here are some of London’s more notable landmarks, as they were introduced to me.
Waterloo Bridge
The first place I was brought by my OG London residents (shout-out to Kate & Joe!) was Waterloo Bridge. In retrospect, I agree with their reasoning here: this is one of the best panoramic views of London’s many iconic landmarks. Or, at least one of the best that I have seen so far. This bridge is one of many that straddles the legendary River Thames. However, unlike the other bridges, walking north across Waterloo Bridge, to the east you can see Westminster, Big Ben, and the Eye of London (the big ferris wheel), and to the west you can see London’s many skyscrapers stretching off into the distance, from Southbank to the Financial District to Canary Wharf. It really hits you with everything all at once.
I had been trekking back and forth across the South London suburbs for a few days before I came here, and I have to say… the sight of Westminster and Big Ben was really quite arresting. These were never monuments that struck me as particularly alluring… but on that foggy London evening, it made perfect sense why these structures are so iconic. As I looked across the water at these landmarks, a steady trickle of London’s iconic red double-decker buses crossed the bridge alongside me. Each of these buses is filled with regular Londoners who are just trying to get from A to B, but there is a moment when they cross this bridge that they all look up from their phones for a rare moment to see this view. It’s one of the few things that unites all of the many millions of people in this city: you can’t help but look at these landmarks when you pass by.
The fogginess of that night definitely added to the aura, but alas, I did not have my camera with me. I came back when it was nice and sunny a few days later and took the following pictures.
Palace of Westminster & Big Ben
Ok so now that we’ve seen them from a distance, let’s get a bit closer.
The Palace of Westminster is not just a pretty building. It is still the venue for the United Kingdom’s House of Commons and House of Lords. Together, these two houses make up British Parliament. It’s the equivalent of the Senate and the House of Representatives, a.k.a. Congress in the United States. Colloquially, when people use the term “Westminster,” they are often referring to the British government in general. So, this is truly where the magic happens! *cough* Brexit *cough*
The original Palace of Westminster, which dated all the way back to 1016, was destroyed by a fire in 1834, so what sits here today is the re-build. And standing proudly next to it is the clock tower known as Big Ben. It’s real name is Elizabeth Tower, but the bell inside is called Big Ben, and that is the name by which it is widely known.
You can pay to actually go inside Westminster (assuming Parliament is not in session), but I’m a poor grad student, so all you’re going to get today are pictures of the outside.
Trafalgar Square & The Strand
I think every large city has a big hub that is constantly flooded with tourists, and thus avoided by locals. In New York, it’s Times Square. In Nashville, it’s Broadway. You get the idea.
In London, it’s Trafalgar Square and the Strand.
Trafalgar has been a hub of some significance in London since the 11th century. It’s chock-full of historical landmarks, including but not limited to Nelson's Column (named after General Horatio Nelson), the Fourth Plinth (which plays host to an every-change art exhibition), St Martin-in-the-Fields, National Gallery, South Africa House, Canada House, and MORE. For some reason every other building ends with the word “house” in the UK. To my primitive American ears, it sounded very fancy at first. But then I saw some run-down apartment buildings with the same naming structure and the allure wore off quickly faded.
Just south of Trafalgar Square is 11 Downing Street, which is the office of the British Prime Minister. If you Google that address, the odds are extremely high that you will recognize what you see. That black door set against that white building is another iconic scene, because it has been the site of at least 50% of the UK’s historic political press briefings in the past 50 years. Unfortunately, there was something happening there during my walk, so I don’t have pictures of it… yet!
If you walk eastward (or, more accurately northeast) from Trafalgar Square, you’ll be doing so along a prominent thoroughfare known as the Strand. This street is less than a mile long, but it is the jugular artery of tourist activity in London. There’s a lot of history here as well, before the street eventually morphs into the slightly smaller Fleet Street, which continues its eastward trajectory along the River Thames. If you can’t tell, this area is DENSE! Thousands of words could be written on every square meter of this area.
ALong The River Thames
Once you’re in this area, the possibilities are quite overwhelming! You can touch practically the entire history of the western world within 45 minutes of walking. Walk northwest and you’ll immediately be passing through Soho, Covent Garden, and Mayfair. Continue southwest and you will quickly find yourself approaching Buckingham Palace and the city of Westminster. There’s a lot to unpack. And I promise that I am going to do my best to unpack damn near all of it for you… but today, we’re not going to get too systematic. We’re just going to start wandering around the area and taking pictures. The following galleries were taken in the southern stretches of Covent Garden, and around Fleet Street, an urban walk that keeps you within spitting distance of the River Thames.
Whew!
There’s a lot here.
As I said before, from here on out, we’ll be zooming in on one bite-sized piece of London at a time. This place is just to big and complicated to do it justice with only a few articles. There are layers. The sheer mass of this place, its history, and its impact on the world are both vast and terrifying.
“London Calling” plays as scene cuts to a fast-moving shot of a bat flying over the London skyline on a dark stormy night.FADE OUT.ROLL CREDITS.
