I recently took my first trip outside the continental United States (barring one short work trip to the Toronto area 15 or so years ago). I journeyed to London the week of Thanksgiving (in the US). Why there and why then? Well, my friend Paul Spiteri has been inviting me to visit (as he invites lots of people) … and my goddaughter Morgyn was spending the fall semester of her senior year of college over there for an internship. So I thought, “maybe it’s time to take Paul up on his offer AND give Morgyn a family visitor a little bit sooner in the semester (her mom and sister spent 10 days surrounding Christmas with her). So I had two wonderful, knowledgeable tour guides to the city, which eased my anxiety about being in a new place for the first time. (Yes, I know: I travel for a living for my full-time job. I should be used to being in unfamiliar places by now. And yet, 18 years in, I still get various levels of anxiety — and my first international travel by plane certainly added to it.)
My tour guides: Paul and my goddaughter
We packed a ton of stuff into 5 short days, to the point where Paul and I had to sit down and have a recap session over tea and a late-night snack so I wouldn’t forget where we’d been and what we’d seen. We prioritized what I wanted to see/do into three groups, and we got to most of the “1s,” several of the “2s,” and a few places that hadn’t been in the plan but occurred naturally as we wandered. I came home with a head cold / ear infection, some souvenirs, a small handful of books, and toooo many photos that I neglected to post daily to my Instagram. So, to make use of at least a few of those photos and to kick off the TOP TEN(ISH) feature for 2025, here are my Top Ten(ish) Experiences from my London trip, in no particular order:
The Wold-Newton Meteor, Natural History Museum
Paul and first met online thanks to our shared interest in the works of science fiction author Philip Jose Farmer. Farmer was the author of biographies of Tarzan (Tarzan Alive) and Doc Savage (Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life), in which he posited that not only were the great heroes and villains of literature actual living people, but also that many of them shared a genetic history that could be tracked back to the first meteor to land in England and be recognized as having come from outer space: the meteor that landed at Wold Cottage in 1795. The village of Wold Newton was too far to make a visit to during my short visit, but the meteor itself is in the Natural History Museum. (But not in the section the guidebook says its in, which was closed for renovations. Thankfully, we found it in a different section.)
Jack the Ripper Tour, Whitechapel
Tour guide MP Priestley in the white hat, pointing.
Can’t go to London and not do a Jack the Ripper tour, especially when your goddaughter’s student flat is in Whitechapel! We had a truly fantastic tour guide by the name of MP Priestly. He was supposed to split the group with a coworker, who called out sick. So he took all 40 (or so) of us, adjusting the tour to stop at places where bigger groups could fit. Along the way, we passed at least a half-dozen other such tours. I think we lucked out. Priestley’s style kept the group involved and interested even as he had to adjust for the larger than normal group size. He had copies of his book One Autumn in Whitechapel with him. So of course I bought it (not pictured). He also carried a small projector with him and showed images of the crime scenes (some pretty gory) on building walls.
Boat Ride Down the Thames
Friday was the one day Morgyn was completely free of work and school obligations, so we spent the day walking along the Thames to Westminster (passing the original and new sites of the Globe Theatre, the National Theatre, the Golden Hind, the Clink Museum, the Anchor Pub where Shakespeare likely drank and wrote, and many other such sites), then we boarded a tour boat down the Thames. We got a lot of architectural history delivered by a very witty man who made it clear he was not a tour guide, just a crewman who happened to know a thing or two. Here’s me with the Tower Bridge in the background.
Greenwich/Royal Naval College/Royal Observatory/Market
“Legs Astride the Meridian!”
One of my favorite movies is Beautiful Thing (from which stems my longtime crush on Ben Daniels), and one of my favorite lines of dialogue (delivered by said Mr. Daniels) is “Anyone fancy a trip to Greenwich? Legs astride the Meridian, as they say? No? Me neither.” So of course, Morgyn made sure we did the Thames boat tour all the way to Greenwich. We saw the Cutty Sark, we did a quick trip through the Royal Naval College, then did the trek up the hill to the Royal Observatory. The view from up there is fantastic, well worth the shortness of breath. The Observatory is now a museum, filled with fascinating history and artifacts – but for me, the big moment was, you guessed it, standing with my feet astride the Prime Meridian, with Morgyn’s feet facing mine. After we made it back down the hill, we ate a late lunch at a wonderful tavern, and then hit the Greenwich Market, in which I found some British editions of Phil Farmer books, along with the novel Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry (my father’s favorite Hitchcock film) was based.
Baker Street/Praed Street/Slough House
Go to London and not seek out the digs of The Great Detective, The Great Detective’s Protégé, and the great Jackson Lamb? Perish forbid! Thankfully, there’s an actual Holmes Museum with a front door that claims to be 221 Baker Street (geographically, that number is really a few buildings up the block, but whose quibbling?), and what a fun tour that was. So much great Holmes-connected memorabilia. And a very friendly and photogenic (and maybe a bit flirty?) police bobby out front.
When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stopped writing Holmes’ adventures (the second time), American author August Derleth asked if he could continue the series. Doyle said no, so Derleth created Solar Pons, a protégé of Holmes and placed his offices at 7 Praed Street. There’s no blue circular plaque denoting the literary importance of the location, but that didn’t stop Paul and I from finding it.
I have become a big fan of Mick Herron’s Slough House books (thanks, like so many, to the very excellent television adaptation starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb). What I thought was just a filming location (126 Aldersgate Street, near the Barbican train station) is actually the building that inspired Herron to write the first book!
Peter Pan, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Paddington too
Trying to hit as many landmarks related to my favorite fiction as I could, we had to stop by the Peter Pan stature in Kensington Gardens.
My paternal grandmother’s maiden name was Milne. Until someone proves otherwise, I am content to believe that I am (distantly, at best) related to Christopher Robin. Paul located a house in London where AA Milne lived for a time. No sign of Pooh Bear.
My favorite bear in childhood was Pooh. My sister’s was Paddington. Had to visit Paddington Station and take a photo with the statue (and also buy my sister a Paddington Bear, of course).
Sir Richard Francis Burton’s Tomb (Mortlake)
One of the few trips Paul and I took out of the city proper was to the village of Mortlake to see the ornate tomb of Sir Richard Francis Burton, explorer, translator, and subject of a short biography written by Philip Jose Farmer (a fictional Burton also plays a large role in Farmer’s Riverworld books). There is a plexiglass panel at the back through which you can see the caskets of Burton and his wife. Eerie, but cool.
Bram Stoker’s Ashes (Golder’s Green)
The other trip outside the city proper that Paul and I took was an absolute must for me: the resting place of Bram Stoker (and his son), in Golder’s Green Crematorium. I didn’t realize you needed an appointment because Stoker’s urn is in a locked building but thankfully groundskeeper Dan (Paul’s new best mate!) showed us around. So many people have been cremated there. I could fill a post just with the plaques and urns we saw (including Sigmund Freud and his wife; Anna Pavlova; Keith Moon and Peter Sellers to name a few. I somehow missed Sir Cedric Hardwicke who starred in some of my favorite Universal horror movies).
Abbey Road and the Globe
I mean, again, can you love music, go to London, and not walk the zebra crossing at Abbey Road? And can you be a fan of theatre and not pay a visit to the original site of the Globe Theatre, the current site of the Globe Theatre, and the portrait of William Shakespeare?
Sir John Soane’s Museum
Of all the museums we visited (The British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery), the one I wish we’d had more time in was the less well-known Sir John Soane’s Museum. I’m so glad Paul suggested it, even for the short half-hour we had in there. When Soanes turned his townhouse collection over to the Nation, he stipulated that the building be left as is. Which means nothing in this eclectic collection is labeled, and the basement (where much of the collection is) and certain interior rooms are very dark after the sun goes down … which in London in November is about a half-hour before the Museum closes.
Thanksgiving Dinner
In addition to being a fantastic tour guide, Paul and his wife Claire were veritable saints for hosting me all week, feeding me, and making sure I got on the right trains. On Thursday, while family and friends in the US were celebrating Thanksgiving, Claire cooked a wonderful traditional Thanksgiving dinner and Paul and Claire’s daughters (and soon to be son-in-law) joined us. One of the highlights of a highlight-filled week.
