London: Walking the Mall

When the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself you just have to take it. Right?

Such an opportunity arose and we took it.

To start at the beginning… It was early May and London was busily getting ready for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Flags everywhere. Taxis, buildings, streets… everything was being readied for the great event.

We wandered down towards the beginning of the mall (rhymes with Al, not all) to see what was happening there. Looking up that long stretch of road towards Buckingham Palace is iconic and I never tire of it.

It took a few minutes to register what was different about the scene. Palace…check. Long boulevard…check. Pretty trees…check. Very few people, but that would not be that unusual at this time of day. Vehicles…vehicles? Where were the vehicles?

The Mall was devoid of all vehicular traffic!

Metal barriers lined the edges of the street. Barriers at our end (and we later discovered, also at the Palace end) stopped vehicles from entering. A few cyclists were going up the Mall. One official maintenance truck was part way down the Mall. It was like a pedestrian mall, minus the people.

Could we? Should we?

Hint: Click on any photo to enlarge it.

Stepping off the sidewalk and into the middle of the road we had a clear view of the Palace way at the other end. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Let’s walk the Mall…literally right up the middle of the Mall.

And that is what we did. Not many London tourists get this opportunity, do they.

I could count on two hands the number of people who were doing the same thing. One that stands out for me was the  Japanese tourist walking from the Palace end with his video camera rolling. Somewhere in Japan we are immortalized on a video!

The Palace gradually was closer and closer. Wanting this experience to last as long as possible I walked very slowly and savored each moment. Wouldn’t you?

 How to Get to The Mall

• Fly to London, England
• Take tube getting off at Green Park (8 min walk to Palace end of The Mall) or Victoria Station (6 min walk to Palace end of The Mall)
• To start at other end of The Mall take tube and get off at Charing Cross station
• I really like this web sites guide to London Tube

See more of England with us…click here.

See the world with us…click here.

Happy travels!