From St Paul’s to Shakespeare: The London Days Before I Started Walking
London gave me cathedrals, crypts, theater, ribs, pasta, perfume, Frida Kahlo, and one play I could not convince myself to finish.
I arrived after a bare-bones flight from New York and stayed across from St Paul’s Cathedral. During the days that followed, I moved through the city by following whatever interested me most: art, food, history, friends, and live performance.
The trip never became a tidy checklist.
That made it better.
Friendship Shaped the City
Salama joined me for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and BrewDog.
Chidi accompanied me to the Sephora pop-up.
Ngozi met me for lunch at Capricci, a small Italian restaurant and deli tucked behind Tate Modern in NEO Bankside. I ordered tagliatelle Bolognese with a generous dusting of grated cheese and a bottle of Galvanina organic lemonade. The pasta tasted good, although the sauce carried less flavor than the Bolognese I usually prefer.
The wide ribbons of pasta still hit the spot.
More importantly, lunch gave us time to catch up.
Travel often gets described through monuments and attractions, but friends determine how a city feels. A familiar face can turn an ordinary meal into one of the most meaningful parts of a trip.
London Through Art and Performance
I toured Shakespeare’s Globe and learned how suspicion once pushed actors and theaters beyond respectable city boundaries.
Later, I sat inside the reconstructed theater and admired its acoustics, design, shade, and intimacy.
The performance itself lost me.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream leaned into contemporary costuming and music in ways that never pulled me into the story. I left early, but the building made me want to return for a tragedy.
At Tate Modern, Frida Kahlo held me much longer.
The exhibition showed her through photographs, medical objects, later artists, and the global culture that commercialized her image. Her painted cast reminded me that creativity can survive inside tremendous suffering.
London Through Food
My meals ranged from inexpensive children’s portions to dry-rub ribs.
One evening, I ordered a children’s meal from Franco Manca: an eight-inch ham pizza, chocolate gelato, and lemonade for around £8.
The pizza was large enough to become breakfast the next morning with the instant coffee I carried.
I loved that many restaurants offered children’s meals substantial enough for an adult traveler who wanted a smaller portion and lower price.
Budget travel often depends on noticing options that other people overlook.
Readers planning their own city experiences can browse Viator’s DG Speaks London options or GetYourGuide activities while building an itinerary.
Beauty and Discomfort at St Paul’s
St Paul’s Cathedral became one of the most emotionally complicated visits.
The mosaics looked dazzling. Tomb sculptures in the crypt helped me imagine people from the past, while the darkness made me grateful I visited during the day.
Then Alabama’s diagonal cross appeared in the American Memorial Chapel and triggered an immediate association with Confederate imagery.
The cathedral forced beauty, worship, empire, and racial discomfort into the same experience.
Preparing to Leave the City on Foot
Eventually, I had to stop sightseeing and prepare for the walk.
London had filled my days, but Canterbury created the direction beneath them.
I organized my backpack, checked what I truly needed, and prepared to move at a completely different pace.
The next morning, I met Katie at Southwark Cathedral, received a recreated pilgrim pendant, ate a blueberry-lemon doughnut, drank a breakfast beer, and started walking.
My London visit ended where another story began.
