It’s a wintry summer via global warming, but England remains a tourist’s haven
IT IS EARLY AUGUST AND BY normal reckoning, well into the summer season. But you can’t tell from the near-freezing temperatures, or by the way I’m dressed, all bundled up against the wintry chill. Global warming, it seems, has only made the already capricious English weather even more unpredictable—typically warm and sunny one day, cold and blustery the next.

But the flowers are not to be deceived. For England is in full bloom, unseasonal cold notwithstanding.

Flowers, flowers, flowers everywhere! Petunias, begonias, fuchsias, geraniums and clematis, to name a few. They make an intoxicating statement at pub and restaurant façades; vie for attention with window displays at shops and department stores; and extend warm welcome at many residential blocks. Suspended from hanging baskets, bouquets of blossoms in a variety of brilliant hues encircle lampposts and the central railings of many major thoroughfares. They’re part of the government’s “England in Bloom” beautification campaign.

At the British Museum, the focus is on Indian summer, a special exhibition, entitled “Garden and Cosmos” featuring the royal paintings of Jodhpur. The magnificent works reflect the reigns of the maharajas Bakhat Singh (1725-52), Vijai Singh (1752-93) and Man Singh (1802-43), and are from the royal collection of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, Jodhpur, which have never been shown in Europe before.

No sooner have the paintings of Jodhpur left the British Museum than another show of maharaja treasures go on display in London, this time at the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) featuring jewelry, thrones, saris and even motor cars.

At the London Eye, a new 4-D pre-flight video presentation gives added value and new dimension to the tourist’s bird’s eye view of familiar London landmarks. Likewise, creative video presentations bring the past to life in other tourist spots.

Invitation to a beheading

At the Tower of London, short, grainy black-and-white films projected upon rough castle walls help tell each tower’s history in eerie scene-after-scene, in dramatic contrast to the full-color video of the magnificent crown jewels on display at another tower nearby.

On the grounds, in the afternoons on your way to the Bloody Tower, you might chance upon a lovely young lady dressed in pre-Elizabethan costume. She is the tragic “Anne Boleyn of a thousand days” who was imprisoned at the infamous Tower of London and then beheaded when Henry VIII decided to replace her with a new wife. Unlike the original Anne Boleyn, her modern-day counterpart gets a chance to keep her head. That is, if the “jury” of tourists and onlookers watching the mock trial conducted every afternoon declares her innocent of the crime of which she stands accused, and sets her free. On the day we visited, the crowds weren’t so kind. They affirmed the judgement of Henry’s court and sent Anne to the Tower under escort to meet her doom.

More drama goes on at the West End, home of English theater, where “Les Miserables” continues to draw large audiences, the longest running show in modern history. Across the Millenium Bridge from St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Bard’s “As You Like It” runs until the end of October at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. But tickets for performances at this reconstructed and authentic Shakespearean setting are hard to come by. There is little hope for the tourist, accidental or not, to catch the show this season.

However, public squares and “Tube” stations (London’s Underground) offer plenty of free and lively entertainment. The sound of music, from classic to rock, rap and reggae, is everywhere. This summer, the ranks of buskers and street performers have been swelled by the number of Michael Jackson look-alikes and dance-alikes, zombie-dancing to “Thriller.”

At Covent Garden, that stylish market for the young and trendy, a giant and bespectacled “invisible man” holds court seated in an oversized chair, nonchalantly “smoking” a cigar. Nearby, a man’s disembodied head in a cardboard box, dressed as the Lion King and visible only from the neck up, is talking a mean streak, addressing a large audience of children and adults.

What? Rickshaws in London? You’ve got to be kidding! Or so I thought, the first time I spotted one. But hey, it’s true. They are all over the place. Pedal-powered bicycles weaving in and out of West End traffic driven by agile young, middle-aged, even oldish men of different political stripes, color and race, including Asian. The short ride from Covent Garden to say, Chinatown, will set you back around £8.

Speaking of Chinatown, take a break from sightseeing and shopping and grab a bite at one of the restaurants, a great leveler, where food speaks a universal language. English and Cantonese, by the way, are also spoken there, along with dozens of other languages. Or, take a London bus, any London bus heading in any direction, or the Tube. Listen closely and hear the cacophony of a thousand and one tongues spoken there, including—you guessed it!—Tagalog.

‘Hop’ buses

For the cheapest and most convenient way to see most of daytime London, take one of those “Hop-on, hop-off” tourist buses. Two companies provide the service and tickets can be purchased on the spot at any of the designated stops along the route which covers the major sights around the city, including St Paul’s Cathedral, London Bridge, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and the House of Parliament, Harrods, Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace and many other points of interest.

As the name suggests, hop on and off at any point along the way, or stay put on the bus until you’ve gone once around the route, then on your second swing around, get off at any point/s of interest you wish to explore. You could even interrupt your journey to take a brief harbor tour at no extra cost.

With the economic downturn, London today is very much a buyer’s market, not only in terms of real estate, but also in terms of more modest purchases, like consumer goods and foodstuff. In many cases, prices are cheaper even than at the former British crown colony of Hong Kong, until recently acknowledged as the “shopping capital of the world.” Crowds continue to jostle one another at London’s most celebrated store, Harrods, where—packed with shoppers and people just looking and soaking in the ambiance—shopping has become a real chore these days. My personal preference is for the more egalitarian and less predictable Oxford Street, where prices are less intimidating and shopping sometimes comes with unexpected delights, including encounters of a different kind with scantily-dressed “fairies” in flimsy finery cavorting in gray, 18-degree summer chill. Where else might one run into a “Yul Brynner” wannabe clad as the king in “Anna and the King of Siam?” We Filipinos say “only in da Philippines;” well, try changing that to “only in London.” Where else might you find such free spirits, such insouciance, and such stiff upper lip nonchalance?

And then there’s that must-have Salt Beef lunch or snack at Selfridges. Slices of corned beef and/or ox tongue, incredibly tender and moist and tasty, served with slices of bread and gherkins. Yummy! And for those with a taste for the exotic, a dedicated shelf near the Food Hall of the same store offers such delicacies as Scorpion Vodka, Pickled Farm-Raised Scorpions, detoxified and ready to cook, as well as BBQ Worm Crisps, all farm-raised specially for human consumption. Or, if you prefer, Chocolate Covered Ants, Thai Green Curry Crickets and Aphrodisiac Pearl Dust; and the less exotic 24 Karat Gold Lollipop and Civet Coffee (as found also in the Philippines).

As we motored to Bath one morning, a UK pop group wailed over the radio, “London traffic going nowhere, going nowhere, going nowhere.” I wondered how they might eulogize the Manila traffic and driving manners! Indeed, London traffic isn’t all that bad once you make it past the city center and suburbs, and get on to the appropriate motorway. Road courtesy and discipline are generally scrupulously observed, and motorways are exceptionally good, carefully maintained, with clear signage and easy-to-follow directions. Visually, the English countryside must be among the most beautiful in the world. The panorama unfolds, between obscuring hedges, in stretches of plains alternating with undulating landscapes in a patchwork of greens and the occasional pale gold where the field has been harvested, crowned in spots with clusters of trees, and spread with scatterings of bales of hay. If you’re one of those who wait to get to your destination before taking notice of your surroundings, you have missed half the fun. In Britain, your holiday sightseeing starts where your drive, or train ride, begins.