Stitching the Globe Episode 1
In the first episode of Stitching the Globe, we kick things off in the grand ole’ city of London. Follow me as we explore Great Britain’s capital in search of the perfect quilt photo! We’ll learn about Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye.
Join me as we stitch the first ‘block’ of the world’s grandest quilt… in London!
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London, England. The Royal seat of the United Kingdom. One of the most recognizable cities in the world. Every tourist worth their salt will tell you, you need a minimum of THREE days to visit London. Well…
I’m not different. You need a minimum of THREE days to visit London.
But, what if you only have ONE day to travel London, alone, AND find the perfect Quilt Photo?
Show Notes
- How to Travel London in 1 day
- Is the London Eye worth it?
- 6 Degrees of Buckingham Palace
- The Tower Bridge!!
- Liberty of London (Scroll down)
Links from the episode
- Hop on Hop Off Bus
- Royal Courts of Justice – You can take a tour!
- The London Eye tickets and prices
- History of Buckingham Palace
- Royal Collection Trust photos
Bonus: Six degrees of Buckingham house!
Keep scrolling for more info about Liberty of london my trip around the city!
How to get around london in one day
With only one day to spend in any major city, the first thing I do is look at the Hop on Hop off bus tours. Some places call them the “Big Bus” tours. But, they have these tour buses operating in most major tourist cities around the world.
The Hop on/Hop off buses are perfect for several reasons:
- You pay one price for all day and you can literally hop on and hop off any time
- They stop at all the major attractions in the city so you can easily choose which places you want to see.
- On board you can ‘plug in’ to the audio portion and listen to the tour guide give fun information about all the places you’re seeing!
- It’s more convenient than the city bus
- You don’t have to worry about paying for parking
- And… it’s WAY cheaper than taking a cab/taxi everywhere.
Not to mention, what better way to get an idea of where to take the perfect Quilt photo!?
London Eye
In the great Quilt Photo search, I decided to take a ride on the London Eye. After all, you really do get a ‘birds eye view’ of the ENTIRE city! It’s kind of spectacular.
I’ve heard some back and forth about the London Eye and how “touristy” it is. Well, sure. All major tourist cities have the proverbial “tourist traps”. And London is no different. But, after weighing all the pros and cons, and riding the big wheel myself…
I highly recommend you take a ride on the London Eye. Hey, that rhymes!
1. Purchase your ticket online. This reserves your spot and SAVES YOU MONEY. The online tickets are less expensive than if you picked them up in person.
2. Grab one of the Multi-Attraction tickets. This saves you even more money and you get to experience things like Madame Tussauds, the SEA LIFE London, or even a river cruise!
3. DON’T get the ‘fast track’ ticket. First, it’s much more expensive. Plus, I visited in the peak of tourist season and the standard line moves pretty quickly. Each ticket has a reserved time slot so you know exactly when to arrive.
4. Pose for the camera! There are 2 reasons I say this. First, as you board the London Eye, they will take your picture in front on a generic screen. Second, as you make your decent back down a voice overhead will ask you to stand in the photo spaces to have your photo taken on the carriage with the city behind you. It’s a pretty great idea! Finally, at the end of your trip around, you can purchase your photo as you exit the gift shop. Everyone has a gift shop. 😉
Again, as this WAS the great hunt for the perfect quilt photo… I couldn’t help myself. #cheeky
Liberty of London
While I was unable to visit Liberty of London in person due to time constraints (and the fact it is located on the opposite side of the city from where I was), I was still able to learn a ton about this incredible historic landmark. And why it should definitely be at the top of your ‘to do’ list.
- Founded in 1875 by Arthur Lasenby Liberty.
- The store opened with 3 employees, selling only fabric, ornaments and Japanese artifacts
- The store was so successful, they repaid the loan in just 180 months!
- However, the famed building on Marlborough street opened in 1924.
- Throughout the store there are shields that represent all of King Henry VIII’s wives, William Shakespeare, and more.
- The weathervane on top of the building is a model of the Mayflower, the ship that first brought Pilgrims to America. It is more than 4 feet high and weighs 112 pounds!
- For their 140th anniversary, Liberty created a new fabric pattern called “Mayflower”.
- Produced since 1878, “Liberty art fabrics” helped shape the store image and create demand around the world for their fabric and clothing. I know we quilters are in LOVE!
- Oscar Wilde took a tour of America in 1882 with a trunk full of Liberty clothing. This created the demand for Liberty clothing (and fabric!) here in the United States.
- Liberty’s fabrics and style has effected fashions around the world. So much that the Art Neaveau period in Italy is called “Liberty Style”.
- The Liberty of London store is now an official Heritage Historical site.
With it’s awe inspiring Tudor style architecture, hidden decorative gems, luscious fabrics and collections from around the world… I’ve already begun planning my next trip back to London JUST to spend a week exploring Liberty of London.
6 Degrees of Buckingham Palace
Did you ever play that game, “Six Degrees of Separation?” It’s where you connect yourself with something else (anything) in six steps or less. Well, when I started doing research on Buckingham Palace, I realized we have an interesting connection!
- 1761, “Buckingham House” was purchased by George III as a gift for his wife Queen Charlotte and became known as “The Queen’s House”.
- 1768, The city of Charlotte, North Carolina was founded (named for Queen Charlotte) and dubbed “The Queen’s City”. They even named the surrounding county “Mecklenburg” after Charlotte’s birthplace in Germany.
- May 31, 1775, the Mecklenburg Resolves declared the “authority of the King or Parliament” to be “null and void”. Charlotte, NC declare its independence from the United Kingdom.
- July 4, 1776, the official ‘Declaration of Independence’ was ratified and the United States became a sovereign nation.
- July, 2012, a simple American arrives in Charlotte, North Carolina chasing an American dream.
- August, 2023, that same simple American, from Charlotte, North Carolina (the Queen’s City) stands at the gate of Buckingham Palace (the Queen’s House) marking her American dream a reality.
Talk about “Stitching the Globe!” 😀
Unfortunately, with SO MANY people visiting Buckingham Palace that day, getting a quilt photo was darn near impossible. I did get a lot of great shots of the Palace and the Buckingham Fountain out front, so the visit was still a success.
Did you know Buckingham Palace gets over 500,000 visitors ever year!? Fun fact: If the Royal Standard flag is flying, the King is in residence. However, if the Union Jack is flying above Buckingham Palace, he’s not at home.
Want to visit London and see the places from the show? YOU CAN! Click HERE to check out our Quilt Tours to the UK and more!
London Tower Bridge
The Tower Bridge!! Not to be confused with the “London Bridge” = totally different bridge. What a perfect spot for a quilt photo! It’s iconic. It’s HUGE. And it certainly screams “London”.
The famous Tower Bridge was first opened on June 30, 1894 to great fanfare. At the time, it was the grandest and most sophisticated bascule bridge in existence. Originally, the draw bridge portion was controlled by steam powered engines to raise and lower the deck. Today, they are powered by oil and electricity.
A fascinating fact I learned, do you see those upper level crossings at the top of the bridge? Those were walkways so pedestrians could still cross the bridge while the deck opened. They were closed in 1910 due to lack of use. However, they were reopened in 1982 as a guest attraction. Can you just imaging the views from up there?
Contrary to it’s counter part, the “London Bridge”, the Tower Bridge has never fallen. However, it did suffer some damage during the Second World War and had to undergo some reconstruction.
And finally, my favorite fun fact about the Tower Bridge, those beautiful red, white and blue colors painted across the spans and walkways? They were added in 1977 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee. Don’t they remind you of a few quilt patterns?
Click HERE to check out more episodes of Rona the Ribbiter, the Traveling Quilter!
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Your London video tour was well done! I counted 9 Big Bens.
Thank you so much!
This was really interesting. Thank you. I think I saw Big Ben 13 times. Have a great day.
I’m glad you liked it!
I saw nine Big Bens, and you know the monarch (queen OR king) is in residence at Buckingham Palace becuase the flag of the kingdom will be flying when they are there!
Great answer! But you’re half correct. There is always a flag flying above Buckingham Palace. When the sovereign is home, they fly the Royal Standard flag. When the sovereign is away, they fly Union Jack. 🙂