Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Day 4 - London - The Cheshire Cheese
When trying to figure out what point of interest inspired or intruiged me the most, one of the places that stood out in my mind was the Cheshire Cheese pub. From the moment we stepped into the pub, it felt like the pub itself was almost suspended in time. It was dark, with creeking and crooked floor, and crooked beams, and twisted hallways and rooms that make you wonder where it all ends. The atmosphere seems so genuine that I could actually imagine writers, poets, politicians, etc... walking through the alleyway that leads there and stepping into the Cheshire Cheese for a pint with the other locals. With many of the places we've been, I'll know that there is such a rich history in where I am, but it doesn't seem real. On this trip, I have walked in the footsteps of Kings and Queens, but this pub seems so much more sincere. It blew my mind that I could casually step into a pub hidden away in an alley and have a drink in an establishment that has been serving beer for longer than our entire country has existed. The setting is ageless. When I was there, I felt as if I had stepped into the Prancing Pony Inn from Lord of the Rings, or I felt like I would bump into a character from a Charles Dickens novel. This is such an inspiring place to me because though it has such a rich history, it has not been tainted by tourism and commercialism, it is a small, classic, and genuine pub.
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3 comments:
Garrett,
I definitely agree that some of the older establishments where so much verbal discourse took place are some of the most mind-blowing. It is strange to think that some of the famous authors that we have been reading were actually drinking in the same places that we are. I also like your comment about comparing that to the USA, an establishment that took place after this pub was made! It really makes you step back and truly compare histories of nations, and see the vastly different backgrounds in which each nation came from and is founded upon.
I also got much of the same feelings when I was in the Cheshire Cheese. As a whole I think this city is so infected by tourists that it cheapens many of the places that we visited. In the Cheshire Cheese I did not get that feeling. I felt like I was really in old England when I sat there and a strange sence of calm came over me that I really couldn;t explain. It was almost like you could feel the ghosts of all these historical authors and politicians still there. Of all the places we went this is the one where I really got a sence of what the old days in this city were all about. Oh, and £1.86 for a pint? Can't beat that.
Garret, when I went into the Chesire cheese I ordered a pint and drank it down fast. Immediately, I went up for another. The bar tender laughed and said "what boy are you studying university?". I sincerely agreed. You noted on the age of the chesire cheese and how historical figures frequented this bar. It is funny, I wonder how many bar-tenders greeted them the same way the greeted me. I also wonder if they felt the same way I did in response...
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