Wednesday in London was a bit of turning point in terms of both enjoyment and interest in the city.
It began with a visit to Kensington Palace and Gardens (of Peter Pan, Princess Di and William and Kate fame).
There were several striking things about the ‘palace’ itself.
First of all, it ain't much of a palace in the sense I was expecting! I still had Versailles and Buckingham in my recent memory and Kensington was very modest by either of those standards.
On a related note, I have no idea how security is maintained here. It doesn’t seem at all conducive to any royals actually living here, but this is where William and Kate brought baby George and where they will officially reside. I’m sure there are wheels within wheels that we are not privy to, but it sure didn’t seem like a place you would expect to find royals residing. There you go. Modest British sensibilities?
Don’t get me wrong. It is a beautiful house. It just isn’t Windsor Castle. I suppose I was also surprised by the proximity and accessibility to the public Kensington Gardens.
Again, we split up with varying degrees of interest in the castle itself versus the grounds. I knew I would probably be headed out to the grounds a little sooner, and Emily came with me. But we did tour an installation on royal fashion and a series of rooms on the life and sorrows of Queen Victoria.
The fashion didn’t do much for me, but I was intrigued to find out that Princess Margaret (something of tragic figure) was allowed much more latitude in fashion than her sister, Queen Elizabeth II, by virtue of their different status in British society. I did wonder how that went over behind closed doors.
Surprisingly, the installation on Queen Victoria was very moving, especially the following quote upon the death of Albert. She had been very happily married and was only in her early 30s:
"My life as a happy one has ended! The world is gone for me! I had hoped with such instinctive certainty that God never would part us and would let us grow old together.”
and then later …
“And for a woman alone to be head of so large a family and at the same time reigning Sovereign is I can assure you almost more than human strength can bear.”
For the second time on this vacation, I felt the strong desire to read the 800 page biography of a fascinating woman in history.
After touring these two sections of the palace, Emily and I went out and explored the grounds together while waiting for the rest to finish touring the inside of the palace.
Once we reunited, we ate lunch outside the Princess Diana Memorial Playground. After lunch, the younger kids went in to play in what really was a marvelous playground. This was my first exposure to something I would note several other times in Europe. The whole idea of suing over negligence either isn’t a reality or isn’t feared, because kids were doing all sorts of amazing, dangerous, life-threatening things on the ship in the middle of the playground and no one really seemed to care. It was very refreshing.
The kids had a great time in the park. I shot a few pictures of the strange Elifin Oak. When it was time to go, Charis cried. It was so much fun and so peaceful we seriously entertained the notion of returning another day. But alas …
From Kensington we headed to Little Venice for a canal boat tour. The origin of this idea was a dinner cruise I took in a canal boat when I was first in England almost 20 years ago for a mission trip. The mission was in Stoke-on-Trent, north of Birmingham, however, and I had no idea that those canals were actually connected to these London canals.
However, as we learned on the tour, the canals were no mere idle pastime. In the heyday of the industrial revolution the British inland waterways were the chief means for the transportation of good throughout the British Isles, with the UK being the first nation to have a systematic water transportation system throughout the nation. ‘Narrowboats’ pulled by horses along one side of the canal transported goods along a vast network of waterways. The rope marks dug into stone and iron are still present along the towpaths, which now serve as recreational paths.
It was a great trip from Little Venice to Camden Town, drifting along in the middle of the city of London through canals that could have been in the country, past backyards and row boats, through tunnels, beneath a row of multi-million dollar homes high above the canals, by the London Zoo and the old Lord’s Cricket Grounds.
And all along the canal we passed dozens of other narrowboats, either moored or moving. The vast majority, our guide told us, were permanently occupied residences. If I heard her correctly, I think she said that 15 to 20 thousand people live on the canals throughout Britain.
This was the second time on the trip I experienced what I would call a genuine sense of community. The narrowboat men and women all seemed to know each other, called out greetings, asked after particulars, etc.
We disembarked at Camden locks and had an unplanned adventure exploring the magical food court, bizarre and market. The sheer scale of the place was impressive -- a rabbit warren of handicraft vendors, curiosity shops, international offerings stuffed to the gills with everything from nick-nacks to antique volumes of poetry. At one point I seriously wondered whether we would be able to find our way out.
Day 14 Reflection
This second experience of European urban community led me to wonder what sorts of things are capable of holding together a community in the modern urban world. It seems to me that in most situations the urban monoculture is not enough. A major modern city may have a particular identity. Each of the larger American cities I have spent considerable time in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, New Orleans even Minneapolis and St. Paul each have their own ethos. There is something genuinely distinct about being from any one of these places. But whatever that is it is not enough to sustain genuine community. Nor is the geographic neighborhood able to fill that role in most cities anymore. The soup is just too thin.
But here you had something like a small town identity in the middle of one of the world's great metropolises.
I know I would probably have to live on the canals for a couple of years to get a real sense for the nature of the community there, but here are some observations.
First of all, the narrowboat dwellers have a common and distinctive pattern of life. There are things about this way of life known only to those who live it. That must provide a kind of instant bond and insider’s knowledge.
Secondly, they have an "off the grid" sensibility that must be similar to living in a small town, miles off the highway. There is a certain pride in being an outlier of sorts.
Third, whatever economic disparity exists (and some of it does appear to be significant), its impact is at least limited to the ways of life possible in a narrowboat. Approximately fifty feet or so by seven feet.
Finally, because I imagine that the narrowboat is a consciously chosen way of life for most of these folks, there is also a counter-cultural element to the society.
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