The London you don't often see

As I trundled along Fleet Street I saw a sign saying "This way to Temple Church" with an arrow pointing through an open black, wooden gate. I wandered through. The traffic noise faded to a faint hum. No vehicles here. I was in a different world.

I followed the pedestrian street lined with 19^th Century style lamps attached to the buildings’ walls. At the bottom was what at first appeared to be a small chapel. As I walked around the outside, it became a large church on the edge of a Georgian paved square. From here was an arch leading to another square. And from there, another arch. This one took me to a narrow cobbled road with a few parked cars, but otherwise no traffic and another square opposite.

When I looked right, the road lead back to Fleet Street. To the left, it lead down, through another arch, to the river. There was a constant and thin stream of pedestrians walking through with pupose. Clearly a popular route.

I followed the road down. Off to one side there was another arch leading to a square with a manicured garden in the middle. In it was a series of benches. A peaceful haven in the middle of the city. I used to work just up the road from here. How had I never found it before?

Back on the private road, I continued downhill. Through the final arch I found myself on Victoria Embankment. In one direction I could see The London Eye dwarfing Westminster Palace which, because of the way the river curved, looked to be next to it instead of opposite. In the other direction was The Shard framed by the trees. It’s glass walls glinted in the sunlight that had appeared after the rain.

The Embankment was even more clogged up with traffic than Fleet Street. I turned round and returned to the quiet of Middle Temple Lane.