My niece works for a railway company and as part of her staff benefit, friends and family can travel with her at a heavily discounted price. Bearing in mind transport prices are quite expensive in UK, and I'm not one to pass on good offers, I tagged along with her when she went to London recently. Her manager even allowed us to travel first class!!
Lunch
We got into London around lunch time and headed over to an area called Elephant and Castle to a community market for lunch. This area isn't one of the best in London and used to have quite high crime rates. Like many inner cities, there's been a lot of urban regeneration, and due to its proximity to the City of London, things are happening here, but I think it's still got some way to go. Lunch was located in an old paper factory warehouse and claims to be " London’s First Sustainable Community Market". It has about 40 food stalls with cuisines from all corners of the world. Being a week day, it wasn't too busy, I think during weekend and the evenings the atmosphere would be much livelier.
Walk around central London
After lunch I wanted to go to a museum at Bloomberg's European headquarters in the city of London . It was about 2 km away so I decided to walk because I love walking around London. There's always something interesting to see on the way, be it plants growing out of graffiti walls under a railway bridge, or a mish mash of modern skyscrapers alongside one of the many centuries old London bridges. Or even better still, black cabs and red buses, both iconic of London.
London Mithraeum
If you're interested in Roman archeology and history, the London Mithraeum is definitely worth a visit. At around AD50, the Romans built the capital of Roman Britain, Londinium and they were here for over four centuries till the fall of the Roman empire. Londinium, as you may have guessed, is the present day London. When London was rebuilt after the second world war, archaeologists discovered some ruins and artefacts underground. It turned out this was a mithraeum, an underground temple dedicated to the god of Mithra, and where the secret Mithras Cult would meet. This was an all male cult and they would meet in these
underground temples performing their secret rituals and doing whatever weird things cults would do behind closed doors.
The temple ruins were bang in the city of London and they were moved away and rebuilt on ground level so the site could be redeveloped. When Bloomberg decided to build their European headquarters on the site in 2012, they moved the Mithraeum ruins back to its original location, 7 meters below ground and turned it into a museum.
The most amazing thing for me, is that during 2005 to 2016 I was actually working in the city of London. My office was 5 minutes away from the site, but I never knew about all this history!! That just shows how ignorant I am of London's history how rich London's history is.
The London Mithraeum does what they call an immersive exhibition. Visitors enter a dark room and can just about see the ruins in the center. We all waited patiently not knowing what to expect. Suddenly a very faint light is lit up and there is some smoke (dry ice probably). We hear a lot of chatter but it wasn't English, I think it maybe Latin, and they're trying to recreate a cult meeting happening back in the Roman days. It was all very mysterious. I was half expecting to see holograms of cult members but I imagine they wanted visitors to feel the atmosphere
and imagine it, instead of forcing an image in them and spoil the experience.
I'm not sure how long the chatter went on for. Maybe 5 minutes I think because the whole session only lasted 15 minutes. Afterwards they lit up the room and we could walk around and see the ruins properly. It's really fascinating to think that all this in front of my eyes existed nearly two thousand years ago.
Tube to Battersea
My next stop was to the other side of London to the Battersea Power Station which I blogged about here. It was a bit too far to walk, plus I enjoy our tube, even though it's old, has no air conditioning and not very reliable sometimes. It's just very London, and that's what I love about it.
Dinner at Chinatown
And finally, my last stop in London before catching the train home, dinner. Chinatown in London does some of the best Chinese food, but there's also a lot of tourist traps. This time I went to a place called The Eight, it had some very good reviews from my local Chinese groups. The reviews were spot on rounding off my half day in London on a high.
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I wish one day I will also get a chance to go to London and I would love to stand in middle of all these 40 stalls and I will capture many photos first and after that I will eat.
Walking in an historical city is really a mind refreshing thing because we observe and see so mAny things which we can might ignore when we travel because in car or in any bus we simply see the glimpse of things/buildings which are around. So walking is always my option to explore like you.
Surprisingly I was not aware that London is modified name from londinium. Interesting
Walking is nice when the weather is good and we don't get much of that in UK. I was lucky and got there on a good day
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Nearly two thousand years ago? My eyes almost left its socket. The artifacts are priceless and the images shown are so bright and captivating and feels like I was there on the travel.
Also, that railway company is hard to come by here. And, I am glad you tagged along.
The Romans go back a long time and left their mark on many modern day societies
They sure left their mark. Thanks for the lesson given.
This is the second post I've read today where the author took us on a journey with them to a place I've always wanted to visit. London is on my bucket list, having only made it as far as Gatwick Airport in Jan 2018.
It's good to see that Bloomberg moved the site back to its original location, as I'd never heard of it, but will plan to stop by if I ever make it over to "Blighty" again.
I have a different opinion of ruins, and know that most people in the field believe they should just crumble away over the centuries like a... ruin.
However, I would rebuild the Acropolis, for instance. As well as the many old Castles, Towers, and other such places so that we always have them with us. I'd be curious to know what you think about it. Thanks for sharing your trip with us! :)
Gatwick is so near yet so far, just half an hour away by train into London. Were you transitting through Gatwick?
I think preserving historical artefacts/buildings/stuff in general is important because once it's gone, it's gone forever. However, it should be done to ensure it retains its authenticity and originality, and not by adding bits that people 'think' might be correct or looks nice.
Hopefully you get to make it across the pond sometime
I was passing through to study in Germany. I made the mistake of only booking 23 hours in Birmingham on the way there (and slept in the most comfortable bed in my life at a hotel next to the train station). Didn't run into very many native English people in Birmingham. I'm guessing that's more of a melting pot city?
They have the BEST ACCENTS IN THE WORLD in the UK, and everythings cheaper there too! I'd love to live there permanently some day. So much culture and history. It's my favorite part of the world. And we ADORE the royal family over here in the US. If the Brits ever get tired of the monarchy, just send them to America, we'll gladly take them.
On the way back to the states, I decided to go through Gatwick as I'd neglected to try the UK famous fish and chips. My plane leaving Germany was late, and I arrived 5 minutes to 8PM when the last place closed that served the dish. Now I have an excuse to go back! :)
Sounds like there's plenty of reasons to come back and visit, hope you do sometimes, loads to do and see and enough to eat - we don't have the best food in the world, not gonna lie about that one
Btw, we did "send" two of our Royals over to you guys. Sorry you have to put up with them 😁
We had a meetup in that food place a few years back. I think a fair few people turned up, but a lot of them are not active on Hive, unfortunately.
I've heard of the Mithraeum, but not been yet. Will have to check it out some time.
I remember there were monthly meetups a few years ago, and I think the last one might have been when I came back in Feb 2020.
It's unfortunate that people aren't active anymore but hopefully things will gradually pick up again.
The Mithraeum is worth going if you have half an hour spare when you're in in the city, but I wouldn't go into London just for it
I have been completely surprised by the ancient cult, it really seems very interesting to me.
In the images of the museum I see how there are some plates and vessels, which I suppose they used in their cult, perhaps to prepare meals, embalm people or what? It's all so interesting.
But even more interesting is that exhibition you tell us about in which they recreate the cult, living that experience must be completely amazing.
The truth is that London looks like a very charming city full of many secrets.
My question is: how did you find out about that interesting exhibition/recreation of the cult?. Let me explain, someone told you about it, did you find out about it through some advertising or was it simply advertising?.
I am curious about this cult, this seems very interesting to me!.
I found out about the Mithraeum when I googled on the internet looking for some not so common things to do in London. One day I hope everyone can do that, but on Hive, and check out Pinmapple for travel inspirations. In fact that's what I normally do when I go away, I see where my fellow Hivers have been. But since I'm from UK and lived near London for a long time, you had to turn to internet.
It is a good idea, and not only to travel but to create a range of possibilities using the community as inspiration, such as creating stories, making art, drawings, designs, etc. that are based on Pinmapple content. I see it as an interesting idea.
Even for those of us who cannot travel for different reasons, it is undoubtedly an idea to take into account. Thank you for your response, I will surely investigate more about the Mithraeum =)
Interesting point about tourist traps in Chinatown. I used to go there a lot many years ago, and if there was too many white people in a restaurant I would leave🤣
I remember in my first year as a Chemical Engineer we had a tieup with a Chinese company and they sent 6 engineers to Newbury where I was working for 3 months.
Yours truly was their chaperone and tour guide complete with minibus. We had a blast and I was forever shuttling them into London and Chinatown. They knew their food though, if not much English.
Looking at the customer base is always a good move. I always avoid restaurants that have loads of tourists and menus in multiple languages. The best places normally have no English menu, the staff don't speak English and just has locals. I just check out what the next tables are eating and order the same. It rarely goes wrong and it's a fun way to have a surprise meal
Same here in Pakistan if a person works in a government institution then his family is given free tickets etc. the way we are seeing all these other places very much beautiful.
That's very good of the government, 😊 guess a civil servant job is well sought after by people
Yeah.
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The Roman temple sounds pretty cool. I'd love to see that. I'll add it to the list for the next time we are down!
There's so much history in the square mile, it's really fascinating, just walk around the back alley's you'll bound to find something
Hmm! you do a lot of eating on your travels lol
Aways good to see places off the usual tourist route, and on the cheap too!!
Eating is definitely a big part of traveling. When I was working out in Hong Kong I'd see Brits coming over for holiday and eat fish and chips in the pubs all the time. I thought, what the heck!!! You fly halfway round the world and you don't try the local food!!??
Cheap or even better, free places are my thing 😉
Can’t beat
I am one of those with a selective diet! Some say fussy eater but that is just rude!
Give me a macadees or a pizza and I’m a happy bunny. Lol
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I'm adding that to my list as well as Battersea, if I have time when I come home for Christmas.
Your statement about the underground absolutely sums up London. Would hate to live and work there but there's no where better to visit.
Tbh, if you checked my last post about the Battersea Power Station, it's ok, but not an awful lot to see coz they just converted the massive shell into a big shopping centre. There's a part where you can ride a capsule to go up one of the chimneys, but I think it's not cheap and I'm not sure how long it lasts.
I'll get the mince pies ready. The supermarkets are starting to sell Christmas stuff already
Wow, this is great! You can travel everywhere at a discount. Sometimes in first class. This museum looks great and it was a good idea to move it to its original location. I wish they would have dubbed the cult speeches in English so you could tell us what they were about.
I have to travel with my niece on her days off to get the discount, not sure she'd want me to tag along all the time!!!
The museum was something different, and they probably left the chatter in Latin to make it more authentic. In fact, they could be talking in Turkish and I wouldn't know!!! 😀
Maybe they were speaking Turkish, yes haha. That would be weird.
If she loves you, she won't have a problem with you traveling with her 😀
Pretty sure she doesn't love me that much to hang around with me on her days off all the time 😉
Wow.. I've been to London for such brief time and I felt like I've never heard any of these places in your post like London Mithraeum. How could I miss it!? I'll have to mark it down now. Thank you for sharing :))
You're welcome. London has a lot of rich history, and generally, they're preserved very well so loads to see and do if you come.
Romans had that massive influence for sure. And even if they were stopped on Anglosaxons land they had left some amazing things behind.
Yeah, I think if you go to many European countries you'll see traces of what they've left behind
You are very ungrateful. I always read all the posts, manually praise all the posts I like. There's nothing fake here. If I have to read everything before commenting on your dear post. Or do you think I'm going to comment on something that doesn't make sense or isn't related to the subject? But okay, I won't argue about such a trivial matter. I'll stop using AI to help me translate my thoughts more quickly. And I'll go back to writing simpler comments since you prefer it that way.
AI doesn't translate your thoughts.
AI summarises a posts which you then use as a comment. You didn't write the comment.
I just prefer people to be genuine and original, and not fake and cut corners. Use a translator to read posts if English isn't your first language, but don't get AI to write your content. If you can't be bothered to do your own work, why bother at all?
Sorry, this is the only time I used this method. I took advantage of my son sleeping to interact a little. I'm going back to the traditional and totally original way. Sorry for any inconvenience. I'm your fan.
Please, @livinguktaiwan, don't mute me in the community. I've been posting in this community since I started on Hive. Sorry for any inconvenience, I promise it won't happen again.