WESTMINSTER WALK - London 2015 - page 159

Horse Guards: Free to see Changing of the Guard Mon-Sat at 11:00, Sun at 10:00, dis-
mounting ceremony daily at 16:00.
Audio Tour: You can download this chapter as a free Rick Steves audio tour (see here ) .
WCs: You'll find several WCs along this walk: at Westminster Pier (50p), at the inter-
section of Bridge Street and Whitehall (underground, 50p), and at Trafalgar Square
(free WCs located in square, at National Gallery, and downstairs at St. Martin-in-the-
Fields).
Eateries: See here for a list of recommended eateries near Trafalgar Square, and here for
recommendations near Westminster Abbey.
The Walk Begins
(See “Westminster Walk” map, here .)
• Start halfway across Westminster Bridge.
On Westminster Bridge
Views of Big Ben and Parliament
• First look upstream, toward the Parliament.
Ding dong ding dong. Dong ding ding dong. Yes, indeed, you are in London. Big Ben is
actually “not the clock, not the tower, but the bell that tolls the hour.” However, since the
13-ton bell is not visible, everyone just calls the whole works Big Ben. Named for a fat
bureaucrat, Ben is scarcely older than my great-grandmother, but it has quickly become
the city's symbol. The tower—officially named the “Elizabeth Tower” in honor of Queen
Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee—is 315 feet high. The clock faces are 23 feet across, and
the 13-foot-long minute hand sweeps the length of your body every five minutes. For fun,
call home from near Big Ben at about three minutes before the hour to let your loved one
hear the bell ring.