by Erin Palmer

Created on: December 15, 2008

When visiting London, there are an overwhelming amount of tourist attractions and famous monuments to check off of your list. Sometimes a daunting task, even for the well-traveled, the visit may require the help of a professional or two. I highly recommend booking a tour with one of the official Blue Badge tourist guides, even if you aren't that into guided tours. I'm not at all, but these guides were exceptional. The knowledge they retain and pass on to their tourists is incredible, as there is a highly rigorous training program that all guides must pass to become officially registered by the Institute of Tourist Guiding. We covered a small physical area of London but I feel like I came away from it with a wealth of details I never would have gotten from a guide book or on my own.

The route was based in the Kensington area, one of the more affluent neighborhoods in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and started at the Royal Albert Hall, opened by Queen Victoria in 1871. We learned about the history of the hall, the architecture (which caused serious acoustical problems until 1969), and the present-day significance.

Next on the tour, at the entrance of Hyde Park (one of the largest green spaces in London) and Kensington Gardens, was the Albert Memorial-an impressive monument that was once painted black during World War II so as not to attract bomber planes. We spent about 15 full minutes examining the pieces of the monument and learning significance of each (the four corner statues represents a continent and/or area of the world) and then trudged through the rain with our always-cheerful guide down the paths of the park.

After seeing the famous Kensington Palace, which had memorial photos and messages attached to its gates due to the anniversary of Princess Diana's death having just passed, we learned that some of the wealthiest and most powerful men lived on the adjoining road, and that no photographs were allowed. The guide informed us that one of the most recent acts of terrorism in the UK occurred on that very street by a seemingly innocent young woman who placed a bomb in one of the cars on the street. Since then, there has been a strong police presence at all times.

We ended our tour exploring the side streets of Kensington, seeing T.S. Eliot's home, and discovering how close to our original destination we were. The guides were so amazing and I would take another more specialized tour in a second if I ever return to London.

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