Dealing with tourism boards is sometimes a funny business for a travel writer.
Most of us who’ve been doing this job for years often attend mass meetings where we chat one-on-one with destination marketing organization types, such as Tourism Toronto or Visit Britain. Inevitably, at some point, I ask PR people what’s new.
But I’ve discovered – slowly, for the fact is I’m not that bright – that it’s often the wrong question because the person I’m talking to automatically starts focussing on a new hotel or attraction. Which means they ignore the things that people have been visiting their destination to see for decades, or even centuries.
For example, I don’t recall the last time anyone from France tourism mentioned the tremendous river cruises you can take on the Seine River in Paris. Or talked about the wonderful atmosphere on Rue Mouffetard in the Left Bank. Sydney representatives, I suspect, rarely talk about the Opera House. I think we all sometimes take things for granted, but it happens a lot in the travel and tourism biz.
So, it was nice on my recent two-day visit to London to check out both Covent Garden and the British Museum, two venerable spots that jaded travel writers might gloss over in their search for new baubles but that travellers from around the world still flock to in massive numbers. I toured the British Museum on my first-ever trip abroad in 1979, but I hadn’t been back in any of four or five visits I’ve had to London as a full-time travel writer, a gig I took up in 2008. And I’d somehow NEVER been to Covent Garden.
The Weston Gallery inside the British Museum in London. JIM BYERS PHOTO
The British Museum, of course, is one of the world’s great attractions; a repository of everything from ancient Greek and Roman statues to Easter Island statues, and, of course, the famous Rosetta Stone.
The Weston Gallery inside is stunning, with lovely, soaring architecture and plenty of natural light. The Weston family, of course, is famous in Canada as the owners of Loblaws. Given the recent price-fixing scandal among Canadian grocers, I jokingly called it the Gallery Wonder Bread Built.
I found the Roman and Greek areas amazing, with bits from the Parthenon and dozens of statues and marble busts. I also enjoyed the modern art and the beautiful books on display in the massive library.
Covent Garden is a bit twee for my taste, but it’s a lovely spot with brick paving stones and sprightly flower displays. You’ll find a number of cool shops and stalls selling homemade soaps, forks turned into bracelets, colourful scarves and much more. There also are lively restaurants and cafes, and there’s a tube station next door for folks taking public transit.
Flowers on display outside Covent Garden. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Of course, I also wanted to see some things I hadn’t before. With 1969 being the 50th anniversary of Abbey Road and with a certain correspondent of yours being a huge Beatles fan who was 13 when the album came out and who spent many a night huddled around a glowing black light with day-glo posters on the wall and sweet incense wafting through the air as the ethereal vocals of “Sun King” wafted through the speakers, I opted to take a Beatles-themed tour of London called “In My Life” with London Walks.
We started at Marylebone Station in London, where they filmed the opening scenes for “A Hard Days’ Night,” which is probably my favourite movie of all time. “Annie Hall” is right up there, but “A Hard Days’ Night” always takes me back to those early days of Beatlemania, of bold + bright music combined with sassy, exotic personalities with long hair and funky British accents.
Our guide, Richard Porter, pointed out the church where Paul married Linda McCartney. He showed us a great photo of the famous Beatle and his soon-to-be-wife entering through the back door, skirting past a series of trash cans so they could avoid the fans gathered out front. He also pointed out the corner home in Montagu Square where John Lennon and Ringo Starr once lived.
Yours truly, outside of a London home where John Lennon once lived. BARBARA LONERGAN-BYERS PHOTO
It seems they rented the place or gave it over to Jimi Hendrix at one point, who lived there with his girlfriend but got kicked out for causing too much of a ruckus.
The famous album cover for John and Yoko’s “Two Virgins” was shot here, featuring the two of them stark naked in a full-frontal shot. The record company, understandably, went bananas.
Not far away is the home of Paul’s one-time girlfriend, Jane Asher. Porter shows us the door to the basement, where Paul and John huddled one day to write “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” It’s a song that’s not even in my top 100 for the Beatles, but I admit I got goosebumps looking at that door and dreaming of two moptop youngsters changing history with the stroke of a couple of pens and strumming of a couple guitars.
Paul also wrote “Yesterday” at the Asher home, a song that’s possibly the most covered in pop music history.
After a short ride on the tube, we finish our tour at venerable Abbey Road Studios, which used to be called EMI studios but underwent a smart name change a few years back to take advantage of the name.
Porter tells us the Abbey Road album at one time was going to be called Everest, and there was talk of the Beatles climbing high into the Himalayas for the album cover. Lucky for them, and for London, they simply walked outside and had their photos taken by a man on a ladder on a quiet Sunday.
“In My Life” Beatles Tour Guide Richard Porter outside Abbey Road Studios. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Today, dozens of fans queue up everyday to stroll across the road and have their pictures taken. Traffic can get snarled rather badly, and there’s a reasonably constant din of honking horns and muted curses from drivers trying to get to the local pub or grocery store.
Porter tells us some folks like to lie down in the road for their photo, while others have been known to take their clothes off for a John and Yoko-style tribute.
Beatles lovers have been scrawling messages on the walls outside the studio for decades. It’s gotten so bad that they’ve taken to recoating the walls in white every six weeks so that a fresh set of messages can be scribbled out with black, red, and blue markers.
Porter has a good sense of humour and has written a book about Beatles’ sites in London, so he’s a solid authority on the Fab Four.
London’s “Little Venice” neighbourhood. JIM BYERS PHOTO
I’d never heard of London’s “Little Venice” area until a few weeks ago. It’s only a short walk from Abbey Road, so my wife and I took a stroll on a fine November day (about 13 Celsius and hardly a cloud in the sky). There’s a narrow canal that’s lined with dozens and dozens of boats, with colourful displays of flowers or garden gnomes and other personal touches. One of them has been turned into a puppet theatre, while a second one sports an art gallery.
The Athenaeum is a long-time London standby in Mayfair, a sleek and sophisticated place to stay. They’ve redone the lobby and disposed (sadly) of the old whisky bar. It’s brighter and sunnier than I remember it, so that’s not a bad change.
Their on-site restaurant, Galvin, also is bright and shiny, with excellent service and a nice variety of dishes. I wasn’t wild about the pasta with seafood, but the pumpkin soup was rich and tasty, with layers of cheese and woodsy, flavourful mushrooms. The grilled vegetables with seeds and nuts were perfectly charred and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds for a touch of sweetness. It might be the best veggie dish I’ve ever had. They also serve a very nice lemon tart for dessert.
A rooom at the posh Athenaeum Hotel and Residences in London. PHOTO COURTESY ATHENAEUM HOTEL AND RESIDENCES
Located at the back of the hotel, the hotel bar is a nice spot for a sophisticated cocktail. Among the offerings are cocktails aged in clay pots for a smooth, mellow flavour. I had the clay pot-aged Manhattan, which I quite enjoyed. Other cocktails are named after various lines on the London Underground. My wife sipped on a Circle Line, with Limoncello, Tarquin’s Pastis, and vanilla syrup topped with Prosecco.
The real treat at the Athenaeum is the new executive lounge on the 10th floor, called the View. It’s a very cool space, with photos of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and other celebrities. You’ll also find art books and games, including Monopoly.
It was dark when I had a tour but the views of Green Park and central London look to be terrific.
