London
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2008
1
7
27
Trip End
Aug 29, 2008
London,
England,
United Kingdom
Monday, July 7, 2008
So I have just spent the last 6 days touring around London...
Monday, July 7:
Today I took the train from Huntingdon to Central London. The train has become familiar to me and the ride was pretty fast. I could not; however, have prepared myself for what I would walk into on the other end. London King's Cross was unbelievable busy and you just have to keep walking or you will get trampled! I found myself outside after some walking with the crowd and then didn't know what to do. I had instructions from Erica but had no clue where the "tube" was... I found a information booth and gots some instructions. I wandered around a bit but then it started pissing down rain... welcome to London! I found my was to the tube and got on the right line the first try! Erica, her boyfriend Chris and I had some dinner and walked along the River Thames for while.
Tuesday, July 8:
I decided not to venture into Central London today, as I wasn't quite ready to handle it! Instead I took the bus to Hampton Court Palace which was near Erica's flat. It was huge. The gardens themselves were something I had never seen before. City blocks of rows of flowers and perfectly groomed trees. The state rooms were also interesting as they are decorated as they would have been a few hundred years ago. After the palace, I headed over to a National Trust property called the Ham House. I had to take a foot ferry across the river, never done that before! The house and gardens were beautifully restored to their original state. The coolest part was the old piano and other items from the 16th century. The keyboard only had about 4 octaves. Erica and I then went on a River cruise for about an hour. Quite different from the Edmonton Queen. The houses and boats are right on the edge of the river and most of them are stunning and old.
Wednesday, July 9
So today was a very very wet day. Right from the time I walked out the door to the bus stop it did not stop raining. My pants were soaked most of the day. I went into Central London in hopes that it would ease up a bit... no such luck. I still sat on the top of the hop on/hop off bus to try and see the sights. I got off at St. Paul's Cathedral. Words cannot describe this Cathedral. Unfortunately most of these churches and palaces don't let you take pictures... a ploy to make you buy the tour book I think :) I stayed there for a couple hours and did the audio tour. I should have stayed and climbed up to the Whispering Gallery but I had planned on going to other places too today. I got back on the bus and headed to the Tower of London. I didn't find this as exhilarating as the Cathedral and probably wouldn't go back. I did however get a great view of the Tower Bridge from the Tower! I set out to continue on the tour at 2:30pm but there were no buses so I got even more wet. I ended up on the tour bus for 2 more hours just to get back in time to catch the tube, train and bus back to Erica's. A very WET day but I really liked seeing the Cathedral.
Thursday, July 10:
Today was a much drier day which was encouraging because yesterday I was not so fond of London. I went on a walking tour to the changing of the guard and Buckingham Palace. Our guide was very good and took us to the places where they start the march which in the end you get to see more. It is unbelievable how many people were there to watch it. The crowd was about 10-15 people deep. Kind of over the top for a queen who wasn't even at the Palace! It was neat to see though! I didn't want to pay another £20 for the bus considering the experience yesterday so I decided to walk most of the route. I went up to Oxford street which is the main shopping street and finally found a store that sold Lilliput Lane houses. Everyone can rest easy now, it has been purchased and is on its way to Edmonton. After that I walked over to Big Ben and parliament and went into Westminster Abbey. It was not as magnificant as St. Paul's but very beautiful. I saw the graves of Charles Dickens and Jane Austin. I then hung out in Tafalger Square literally in the centre of London. There were lots of people around and I just people watched.
Erica, Gillian, and Ali (Erica's friend) met me at the London Eye and we went on it! We really lucked out and it was for the most part clear and we could see a lot of London. It is crazy how many trains are going through the city. It looks like a toy train set.
Friday, July 11:
Today I left Erica's and went on a bus tour. Erica was kind enough to take me right to the station. The coach went to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford. We didn't have a lot of time at any of the places, but I got to see a lot of the country side. Windsor Castle was another castle but the Queen's state apartments were open for viewing. I got to see the reception rooms and where Sir Elton John was nighted (not sure the correct term or spelling for that matter). There was a small changing of the guard but still a full band and march for two guards to be changed. Stonehenge was interested and has been there for over 5,000 years. It is crazy because the rocks that are there were brought from a far distance and weigh tonnes. It started to rain again when we arrived in Oxford but we got to see the hall that Harry Potter was filmed in. I was to meet Rachel at the station at 7 but we seemed to have missed each other and we were both waiting in different places for each other. I tried to call Robin but £0.40 gets you about 10 seconds so that was the end of that and I pulled out my cell... I may have an expensive 2 minute conversation on my bill! We found each other and made it to her flat to chat about travelling and of course KPMG.
Saturday, July 12:
Today my official travelling started (no more family to give me directions and no more English!!). Rachel and I walked around Canary Warff and went to the Museum on the river, had some lunch, and made a very expensive CD of pictures. She took me to the train station which is bigger than the Edmonton airport and I caught my eurostar train to Paris. It went from London under the English Channel and to Paris in just over 2 hours. I'm now in Paris and have found my way to my hostel despite all of the French signs in the Metro station. Hopefully now there will be a bit less rain... it's supposed to be 22 tomorrow.
