This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
How does one travel to Europe without experiencing the exhaustion caused by crossing seven time zones?
According to Lynne Waller Scanlon, author of a book The Cure for Jet Lag, you avoid jet lag by preparing for travel early. Three days before departure, begin cutting out caffeine, and eat high protein breakfasts and lunches but high carb dinners. These dinners will make you feel tired, so go to bed early. Then get up earlier and earlier each day, adjusting for the time difference a little at a time.
For my husband’s and my trip to Europe, we followed this regimen. On the day of our flight, we got up at 3:00 a.m., which was 10:00 a.m. in our destination city of London. We ate an extremely early breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and by the time we boarded the plane, we were exhausted and ready for sleep. We politely refused all offers of meals, snacks, beverages, and entertainment in favor of sleep. We closed our eyes for the entire flight, and the people sitting around us said we were “dead to the world” for at least six hours. We arrived at 10 in the morning at Heathrow International Airport. Instead of being exhausted and ready to crawl into bed hours before hotel check-in, we were ready to explore the United Kingdom’s capital city.
We only saw Buckingham Palace from the outside, but we knew the queen wasn’t home anyway. How did we know? The flag flying over the palace was the Union Flag, with its red and white diagonal lines crossing over a field of blue, indicating the queen was out and about. If it had been the Royal Standard, with its four blue, gold, and red quadrants, it would have indicated the queen was home. Maybe then she would have invited us in for tea…?
After a quick photo opp in front of the gate, we left Buckingham Palace for Piccadilly Circus, one of the most famous road intersections in the world. We found ourselves where five roads intersect, in the heart of London’s shopping and entertainment district, and at the foot of the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain and its famous statue of Anteros, god of selfless love. The fountain was erected in honor of the philanthropic works of the seventh earl of Shaftesbury.
It was in this economic center of London that we posed with a cardboard cutout of Harry and Meghan, ate exquisite fish and chips, and purchased half-priced tickets for a live production of School of Rock.
In this production, several London children and teens almost completely ditched their British accents for American ones and played rock and roll with a lead that rivaled Jack Black. And yes, they were actually playing those instruments. It was fun to watch the pit orchestra, who began the production playing their hearts out, leaning over the railing and listening to these fine young musicians rock the place – that is once, according to the storyline, they “been taught” to play.
Westminster Abbey, a must-see in London, was even bigger and more beautiful than I imagined. Photography could not do justice to the flying buttresses and sweeping architecture of the grand sanctuary.
The nearby parliament building was just as intimidating, but sadly, Big Ben was completely covered with construction apparatus, as it is being renovated for the first time in 31 years. The mechanics of the clock need to be maintained to ensure it would continue to keep time, and my differently-abled friends will be happy to know that they are installing a lift (in America, we call that an elevator — why we Americans replaced a perfectly good one syllable word with a four syllable word, I’ll never know). A word of advice, though: If Big Ben is a must-see for you, wait until 2021 for your trip.
Surprisingly, a major highlight of our trip was the road less traveled: The Roman Road, to be exact. From 43 CE to the fifth century, London was occupied by the Roman Empire. Londinium, as it was called, was equipped with a city wall and a fort. Even in the midst of this beautiful, modern city, ruins of this wall and fort still remain.
If you ever get to London take a 1.75 mile tour called the Roman Wall Walk. You’ll not only see some of prominent modern architecture of London, but you’ll experience first hand the makings of history. And if you add a little more distance, you can check out the River Thames, Tower Bridge, Tower Millennium Pier, and the Globe Theatre. End your walk cooling off in the sanctuary of the Southwark Cathedral, the oldest church building in London.
We sat in the sanctuary imagining its over 1,400 years of history and pretending we were worshipping with William Shakespeare himself, who would have merely had to step across the street from the Globe Theatre to join us. A scenic stained glass window depicts some of the characters from his plays and a statue of the famous playwright reclines below it.
If seeing London is on your bucket list, plan on spending plenty of time to take it all in, since this article barely scratched the surface. And to make the best of it, follow Scanlon’s advice to avoid jet lag. Then you can spend your time seeing the sights instead of languishing uselessly in your hotel room. Because English is their official language, London is a great place to visit if you're new to traveling abroad. However, my husband and I kept having to repeat the mantra "right bites" to remember to look right instead of left when crossing the street. They drive differently there, and we didn't want to be flattened!
.jpg;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)
