Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Strand
This busy boulevard, home to theaters and retail stores, was formerly a high-class riverside
promenade, back before the Thames was tamed with retaining walls in the 19th century.
The venerable
Charing Cross Station
still has a terminus hotel (a standard part of
station design in the early days of rail travel) and remains a busy transportation hub.
The station is named for the
Charing Cross monument,
which stands quietly out of
place amid all the commotion in front of the station. This monument is a Victorian Age re-
placement of the original, medieval “Eleanor Cross.” When Queen Eleanor died in 1290,
her body was carried from Nottingham to Westminster Abbey. King Edward I had a me-
morial “Eleanor Cross” built at each of the 12 places his wife's funeral procession spent
the night during that long, sad trek. Charing Cross marks the final overnight stop.
A few blocks up the Strand on the left is Southampton Street, which leads to
Covent
Ahead on the right is the drive-up entrance to the
Savoy Hotel
and
Savoy Theatre.
The hotel sparkles after a recent
£
100 million renovation. Its shiny gold knight represents
the Earl of Savoy, who built the original riverside palace here in 1245. This is one of
