Travel THE STERLING BRITISH

I remember a British advertisement I once saw which struck me with its velvet wording: “Tread softly past the long long sleep of kings.” Westminster Abbey’s royal tombs were pictured in muted halftone, and you could almost hear Big Ben’s basso gong.That ad captured the mood of London well, for Westminster Abbey puts things tidily in order. The great Abbey is the centerpiece of official, royal, and historic London, Gothic witness to the crowning and passing of England’s kings and queens. It’s a perfect place to begin exploring London. In this year of Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, it’s especially significant.

The Abbey soars as only a Gothic masterpiece can; slender stone columns support seemingly weightless arches and vaulted ceilings. Underfoot in the aisles are the crypts of explorers, political greats, scientists, artists, the revered, often the infamous. Everywhere you look there’s a memorial to someone – to Shakespeare, to his pal “O rare Ben Jonson”, to Milton, Browning, even to Jenny Lind. Elizabeth I is interred in a chapel here, and so is star-crossed Mary Queen of Scots, whom Elizabeth had beheaded. There’s always a passel of young art students with permits taking rubbings of brass tomb plates. (The rubbings sell at good prices).

Across Parliament Square from the Abbey, the Houses of Parliament sit sedately on the banks of the Thames River. It’s a treat to hear debates at the Strangers’ Galleries in the House of Commons or the House of Lords. (Mondays-Thursdays after 4 p.m., earlier on Fridays.) Get a pass from the American Embassy to avoid the long queues. The peers of England pull no punches in open debate, and their banter in Parliament is often pungently witty, sarcastic, brimming with innuendo. The English tend to read widely, and they have a refined feel for the subtlety of the language.

But let’s start walking: Following Mill-bank south from Westminster Abbey, it’s only a few blocks to the Tate Gallery. Here you can update yourself to the current photographic realists and the avant-garde, but it is English painters who get their special due at the Tate. J.M.W. Turner, who was so modern in the early 19th century that he was almost abstract, is the best represented artist. And there are enough Hogarths, Gainsboroughs and Reynoldses to balance things out.

On Whitehall, heading north from Westminster Abbey, the Changing of the Queen’s Life Guard is a daily pageant at the Horse Guards Building. (11 a.m. during the week, 10 on Sundays.) The mounted guards wear gleaming silver helmets with red and white plumes, and red and blue tunics braided with gold, and their black stallions are curried to a patent leather sheen. The ceremony lasts 20 minutes. Tiny Downing Street juts off Whitehall adjacent to the Horse Guards Building; #10, where the Prime Minister lives, has the world’s most photographed doorway.

At the Horse Guards Building you’re almost at the Mall, the straight tree-lined boulevard between Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. The Changing of the Guards at the palace is a must for visitors at about 11:30 a.m. when weather permits. Get there early to be sure that you can see the goings on.

In his Grand Tour A to Z book, my good friend Bob Kane wrote, “I often wish that my first destination on my first trip to London had been the National Portrait Gallery.” Bob believes heartily that visitors should put faces on England’s kings, queens, royal mistresses, politicians, writers, poets and musicians. I agree – for when you’re walking on their soil in the streets they once knew, knowing what these people looked like adds depth to being there.

Traditionally the two most deluxe hotels in London have been the Dorchester and the Savoy. At the Dorchester on fashionable Park Lane, rooms are warmly inviting, beautifully kept, light and airy, many overlooking Hyde Park. But the Savoy, on the Strand, disappoints me. Some rooms are beautiful, others downright seedy, and service runs a bumpy gamut between haute and hauteur. After several both good and bad experiences at the Savoy, I recommend the skyscraper London Hilton – freshly minted, handsome in service and decor, and on Park Lane. Another dowager hotel I like is the medium-priced Kensington Palace located prettily in the DeVere Gardens near old Kensington mansions, where more than a few foreign ambassadors keep house.

There’s plenty to crow about among London’s eateries, a sumptuous spread of continental and ethnic places, pubs with hearty fare, snack bars in the Wimpy class. The Savoy Hotel Grill gets top billing for its classic continental menu and high prices in an atmosphere that echoes the past. You must have reservations to enter Simpson’s-on-the-Strand; its sentimental Victorian sanctum is always crowded, although you may get a crick in your neck from the draughty windows. Even liberated American women may not eat on Simpson’s ground floor at lunchtime, but at dinner it’s allowed. Be sure to try the joints (English for roasts). Succulent beef, duck, or saddle or mutton are carved generously at table.

Shepherd Market in Mayfair has a jumble of pubs, inns, dimity-curtained tea rooms, food stalls, and restaurants worth taking in. Low-priced Tiddy Dols Eating House is one (could you ever forget the name?), where prawns and fisherman’s pie and much more are served in cellared crannies from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. Gaylord’s, which serves Indian food, has been a consistent favorite in the ethnic restaurant category.

The City – London’s oldest district, its financial hub, site of the Bank of England and Lloyd’s of London – is pub row during lunch. George & Vulture, 3 Castle Court, is Dickensian, to say the least, serving chops. Dover sole, and tarts for dessert. There’s evidence that the original tavern on the site dated back to 1175. The memorable Cheshire Cheese (opened in 1667) at 145 Fleet Street ladles out steaks and kidney pudding on Wedgwood plates. You may get a second helping of beef joints with horseradish “should the carver favor you.” Be at the Cheshire Cheese by 11:30 a.m. at the latest if you hope to get a table. Charlie Brown’s, the world-renowned sailor’s pub on the docks, serves warm beer, but the salty clientele is more interesting than the food.

Since the pound sterling has dipped in value, the price is right for shopping in London. And England’s marvelously crafted goods are tempting.

No place is more elegantly British than Fortnum & Mason, a fancy grocer during the 18th century. Groceries still are fancy at the store, and it’s fun to buy tins of tea and porcelain jars of Dijon mustard from the gentlemen attendants in morning coats and striped trousers. Go to the upper floors for clothing, superb leather accessories, umbrellas and such. Harrod’s department store is tops for English china. You may have stationery tastefully engraved at Frank Smythson Ltd. on New Bond Street, where the die (or plate) will be kept on file for future orders. Designers Hartnell and Hardy Amies have well deserved top reputations for women’s clothes, and there’s no equal to Burberry’s for men’s rainwear and topcoats. Hawes and Curtis is a favorite of mine for handmade shirts.

On any given night more than 50 London theaters have plays, musicals and English musical comedy reviews on their boards. Newest is the sparkling National Theatre complex (actually three theaters under the same roof on the South Bank of the Thames near Waterloo Station). In recent months, classics like Jonson’s Volpone, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, and Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World have been presented here. Get a copy of the weekly What’s on in London for a complete listing of plays, movies and nightlife.

Topping all this throughout 1977 is the Queen’s Jubilee. There’s a dazzling schedule of events: concerts, tournaments, festivals, parades, pomp and circumstance. A large production called “British Genius” in Battersea Park extolls the country’s cultural and scientific breakthroughs. Glass and china manufacturers have been permitted to depict the Queen, the royal crown and coat of arms on beautifully wrought Jubilee products; these special souvenirs will be on sale only during the Jubilee. A newly minted Silver Jubilee Crown (coin) makes a nice bargain souvenir at only 45￠.

Basically, that’s London. Timeless. Fabled in the tales of Dickens. Home to fictional Sherlock Holmes and 007. A city tuned to the fine arts of living – for its people, and for visitors from everywhere.