May, 2016 | VOLUME 1 | NUMBER 40 LAKEFRONTTIMES.COM | FREE

The Best of London 50 things to do in London There’s more to Elizabeth Tower than just Big Ben Photo taken at the Palace of Westminster of a day of Parliament opening. Cloud coverage shows a storm brewing in London.

Photo by: Guinevere Everidge The London Journey

2 LAKEFRONT TIMES MAY, 2016 lakefronttimes.com Which is more famous? Big Ben or the Tower?

The London Journey By: Guinevere Everidge

Most tourists and foreigners The great bell hung in New During World War II the light original great bell that read, actually think that “Big Ben” Palace Yard for a year where it for the clock was dimmed but “Sir Benjamin Hall MP Chief was the tower itself, but really was tested repeatedly, before the bell still rang. Commision of Works.” it is the bell inside the clock cracking in 1857. It was then The roof of the tower Sir Benjamin Hall was in tower. that a new bell was cast, the one sustained minimal damage but charge of the construction The tower, called “Elizabeth we know today as “Big Ben.” was still in working order. of the bell. He was no longer Tower” was renamed in 2012, in This time the bell was The tower is one of the most commisioner when the second honor of her Diamond Jubilee, weighed at 13.5 tons and took iconic landmarks of London bell was cast so therefore no better known as her 60th year 30 hours to hoist into its place and one of the top tourist inscription was made. on the throne. Originally it was at the top of the tower. On July destinations in London. It may also have something just The Clock Tower. 11, 1859, it rung for the first The nickname “Big Ben” to do with the local, boxing Elizabeth Tower is attached time. has several possible origins. heavyweight champion, Bejamin to Westminster Palace, home to “Big Ben” still rings on the Supposedly there was an Caunt, who was also nicknamed Parliament. This tower was not hour every hour of every day. inscription on the side of the Big Ben. the first to stand in its place. The note that it rings in is E. In 1834, a fire burned However, it is not the only bell Two ‘bobbies’ guarding the gate to the Elizabeth Tower. most of Westminster Palace in the tower. There are four Photo by: Guinevere Everidge including the forestanding quarter bells also hanging in the clock tower that was estimated tower. to have originated in the 13th Only two month later, a century. crack appeared in the side of Construction began on the the bell. It was silent for 4 years clock tower in 1843, nine years before someone came up with a after the fire, and was built from solution. the inside out. This involved removing and Due to many delays over the reconstructing the hammer years the clock was not installed inside “Big Ben.” The hammer until 1859 and did not even was cut in half and rotated so it work. The bell was the final hit a different spot than where touch to the tower and the last the crack is. addition. Big Ben’s predecessor, The great bell did not ring the great bell surely was that, during World War I in order to weighing in at 16 tons. It was avoid drawing attention to the cast in 1856. German fighters. lakefronttimes.com MAY, 2016 LAKEFRONT TIMES 3 50 Things To Do In London

1. See where the Queen does 17. Don’t forget the Tate Mod- 25. Be in two places at one when most of her work and sometimes ern and the Tate Britain where you stand on the lives at Buckingham Palace you can see Picasso and much Greenwich Mean Line 2. Be mesmerized when you see more. You can take the Tate boat 26. Meet some of your favorite a musical at West End to get from one museum to the celebrities at Madame Tussauds 3. Ride on the London Eye and other 26. Visit the world’s largest Lush see London from approximately 18. Walk across Abbey Road to Cosmetics in the Oxford Circus 44 stories high the studio where the Beatles 27. Hold you pinky out while 4. Get a glimpse of what it was recorded it all you drink some tea at a high tea like to be a prisoner or a king at 19. Grab a pint of local party the Tower of London London beers at Ye Old Chesire 28. See just how narrow shops 5. Take a selfie with one of the Pub where you can see where can get when you step into Twin- queen’s royal guard Charles Dickens wrote all the ings, London’s narrowest shop. 6. Maybe after you’ll stay for the classics 28. Go to a church service at St. changing of the guard 20. Solve some mysteries of your Paul’s Cathedral 7. Walk across any of the 33 own at the Sherlock Holmes 29. Play a game of cricket in bridges over the River Thames Museum Regents Park 8. Get lost in Harrods 21. Don’t forget Baker Street 30. See a soccer match at department store 22. Step into another country in Wembley stadium, maybe you’ll London doubledecker bus 9. Discover urban Chinatown and grab some chow run into David Beckham mountaineering when you walk mein 31. Take a traditional tour of 41. Ride around underground on across the O2 or millenium sta- 23. Learn your history and London on one of the iconic the confusing tube, just don’t get dium everyone else’s at the British doubledecker buses lost 10. Go back in time when you Museum 32. See all things vintage at the 42. Feel like Harry Potter at see one of Shakespeare’s plays at 24. Rent a bike and ride around V&A Museum King’s Cross Station’s Platform 9 the Globe Theater the city. Its the best way to see 33. Overcome your fear of and 3/4. 11. Take a walk through Hyde Trafalgar Square and the Strand heights crossing the glass 43. Take a day trip to where the Park and you should see the bottom floor to get to the other Queen really lives in Windsor, Princess Di Memorial along with side of Tower Bridge you can even drive past her Prince Albert’s Memorial. 34. Overcome your fear of falling private driveway. 12. Feel like a child again when when you cross London Bridge 44. Walk into any restaurant and you dance around the Peter Pan 35. See where the real political order fish and chips statue debates take place at the 45. Tell a stranger a secret at the 13. Find the tree that has the Houses of Parliament whispering wall in St. Paul’s wild parrots in Kensington 36. Pay to pee in one of Cathedral Gardens London’s infamous Water 46. Drink the most decadent hot 13. Look for William and Kate at Closets chocolate at Chin Chin’s Nitro Kensington Palace 37. Make a phone call home Labs in Camden Market 14. Ride the elevator to the top from a legendary red 47. Have a tea party with the of the Shard, London’s tallest phonebooth Mad Hatter in Camdentown tower. 38. Travel through time if you 48. Walk among the dinosaurs at 15. Spend a Saturday at any one can find a blue phonebooth the Natural History Museum of London’s markets, shopping, 39. Visit the Doctor Who 49. Visit one of the best graphic eating and meeting the locals Museum where you will find a design companies in the world, 16. Witness where the magic blue phonebooth Pentagram happens at the BBC 40. See a tennis match at 50. See the heart of London’s headquarters Guinevere Everidge taking a selfie Wimbledon Fashion Week at the Somerset with an unamused guard. House 4 LAKEFRONT TIMES MAY, 2016 lakefronttimes.com Photo taken at Hyde Park. Wild parrots are the last thng you would expect to see in London’s most popular park.

Photo by: Guinevere Everidge

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