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Admiralty Arch, London | BCBusinessThe Admiralty Arch in London, U.K. Back: The BCBusiness Guide to World Travel
The city’s finery is ?on display as it ?prepares for this summer’s Olympics. I am “Borising it,” apparently. Those Brits: with their penchant for nicknames, they’ve even wittily rechristened such a mundane act as riding a rented bicycle. This time it’s a nod to London’s foppish mayor, Boris Johnson, who recently brought in 6,000 of the now-dubbed “Boris Bikes,” hopped on by tourists and residents alike.?
I am “Borising it,” apparently. Those Brits: with their penchant for nicknames, they’ve even wittily rechristened such a mundane act as riding a rented bicycle. This time it’s a nod to London’s foppish mayor, Boris Johnson, who recently brought in 6,000 of the now-dubbed “Boris Bikes,” hopped on by tourists and residents alike.
Nothing could be less mundane, however, about the regal splendour in which I am turning Boris into a verb. Lapping up a part of the English capital that’s already on ceremony for this summer’s Olympics, I have mermen and hippogriffs for company. I’m hanging at the Queen Victoria Memorial, the buffed-up bronze showcase near Buckingham Palace, a short ride from Victoria station. Nearby, tourists cling limpet-like to the stately pile’s railings to snap the balcony where William and Kate kissed not once but twice.
It’s all very nice, but rolled out in front is where the real mettle of the Games will be shown: The Mall, the red-carpet-covered boulevard where both the marathon and the cycle road races finish. Forget the frisson the XXX Olympiad will bring to this kilometre-long stretch. Even on this dull, chilly day, surveying the six-lane parade route’s speedy traffic, sturdy promenade trees and vertiginous flagpoles with crowns atop stirs up the faster, stronger, higher motto.
Best bed A chlorine-free pool with music piped underwater, 350 pieces of art, and Moët champagne-and-a-movie nights. You’ll struggle to reach your bed at the luxurious One Aldwych Hotel.
Best meal Missed the invite for the royal wedding? Indulge in a diet-free slice of its famous chocolate cake along with scones, sandwiches and a very English cuppa at the $350-million renovated Savoy Hotel.
Can’t miss The area’s royal and military history is revealed at The Household Cavalry Museum with its Fabergé silverware and working stable block, and the Churchill Museum that pays homage to the wartime leader.
Spotting other obvious sightseeing Borises, we chinwag on the sidewalk by the neighbouring St James’s Park. “They certainly have their icons in place,” exclaims one American visiting from Florida. “The history combined with the high-tech of the sports will be neat. London surprises me every time I’m here.”
The area’s century-old nautical history is indeed writ large: ship masts and dolphins adorn the original lampposts lining the road, which is punctuated (some 10 lazy minutes later) by Admiralty Arch, the nation’s former naval HQ. Through its five arches, the distinctive Portland stone landmark was designed as a filter for crowds pouring into the majestic zip code from Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and the rest of the commercial capital just beyond.
Testament, of course, to its empire heyday, the arch is now a victim of Austerity Britain and up for sale by the government for $120 million. For that price, it’ll also throw in a nose: near the statue of Captain James Cook, a sculpture of a human-size proboscis protrudes from one of the arches. Installed – with no fanfare – by artist Rick Buckley as a comment on Britain’s Big Brother society in the ’90s, it initially spawned an urban myth that the Household Cavalry, the regiments of Princes William and Harry, rubbed it as they rode by on their horses in respect of one of their leaders, the 19th-century Duke of Wellington and his distinguished nose.
While the naval prestige has long vanished from The Mall (the name is derived from pall mall, a mallet-and-ball game), the sound of those cavalry horses is still a loud reminder of the glory years. I wheel down to Horse Guards Parade – overlooked by the ancient white- and red-bricked, chandeliered offices – and join some 200 people watching them change the daily guard at the upcoming site of one of the hottest Olympic tickets: beach volleyball.
It’s hard to imagine such a stripped-down event today: the mounted guardsmen who protect Buckingham Palace are dressed up in their plumed helmets, thigh-high boots and cavernous capes. Come the bikinis and 3,000 tonnes of sand in July, there will be an altogether different type of pageantry on display – and, presumably, a new verb to describe it.