An American Student in London On: Sightseeing in London

Picture London as a 2000 year old attic. The Romans started stacking bric-a-brac there when they moved in in 43 AD, like the London Stone on Cannon Street. The Angles, Saxons, etc. piled their stuff on top, like Westminster Abbey. The Normans put in some organizers, a Tower of London here and there, and the various royal families that followed all filled in whatever space was left. Enlightenment explorers were goddarned packrats the way they collected odds and ends. Industrialization was a major renovation, but by this point all the old junk was so entrenched that it seemed better to just work around it. The Germans thought they might move in, and used the Blitz as a yard sale, but in the end, the English decided they'd just as soon stay and held on to most of their stuff. The 21st Century seems mostly interested in temporary storage, like the soon to be demolished sporting goods store that now surrounds the London Stone. Like any good old attic, London's best discovered by rolling up your sleeves and diving in, exploring. It helps to know a little about what you're getting into though. This guide is not at all comprehensive, but it's meant to offer just a little tour of London's sightseeing highlights for American students, to clear off some of the dust as it were.

A good rule of thumb to start with is when in doubt, go for the most "London" sight you can think of. Old cathedrals are nice, and Westminster Abbey shouldn't be missed, but you could honestly check out an old ornate cathedral in any town of size in Europe. Westminster has the added bonus of its star-stocked crypt, packed to the gills with very English luminaries. You can very easily imagine the denizens of Poet's Corner down at the pub, arguing over a fat and blustery Samuel Johnson, and every so often making snide comments about that café across the street where Rimbaud and Baudelaire sit and look snooty.