Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
then right, you'd try to take it all in, your eyes dazzled by the bone-white walls of this
man-made marble canyon.
Whitehall is now the most important street in Britain, lined with the ministries of fin-
ance, treasury, and so on. You may see limos and camera crews as important dignitaries
enter or exit. Political demonstrators wave signs and chant slogans—sometimes about is-
sues foreign to most Americans (Britain's former colonies still resent the empire's con-
tinuing influence), and sometimes about issues very familiar to us (the wars in the Middle
East and the troubled economy). Notice the security measures. Iron grates seal off the con-
crete ditches between the buildings and sidewalks for protection against explosives.
The black, ornamental arrowheads topping the iron fences were once colorfully
painted. In 1861, Queen Victoria ordered them all painted black when her beloved Prince
Albert (“the only one who called her Vickie”) died. Possibly the world's most determined
mourner, Victoria wore black for the standard two years of mourning—and then tacked on
• Continue down Whitehall. On your right is a colorful pub, the Red Lion. Across the street,
a 700-foot detour down King Charles Street leads to the Churchill War Rooms, the un-
derground bunker of 27 rooms that was the nerve center of Britain's campaign against
Hitler (see
here
for details). Farther along, you reach a tall, square, stone monument in
the middle of the boulevard.
