Along the Thames

Walking along the Thames was where I felt the most like I was in London.

This is a plaque on Westminster Bridge that is inscribed with the poem by Wordsworth, appropriately titled "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge":

    EARTH has not anything to show more fair:
          Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
          A sight so touching in its majesty:
          This City now doth, like a garment, wear
          The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
          Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
          Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
          All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
          Never did sun more beautifully steep
          In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;            
          Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
          The river glideth at his own sweet will:
          Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
          And all that mighty heart is lying still!

Well Wordsworth, I can't say I know exactly what you're talking about, because every time I was on Westminster Bridge it was teeming with people, and the city was alive and bustling. 

But pausing every so often and gazing at some of my favorite sites along the Thames, I think I can see what you mean.