Today David and I DID the City. We walked until we couldn't walk any more, he gave me the low down and a quick experience on virtually every form of London public transport, and we happy snapped many of the famous sites. For a detailed description of the day, expand the post, read my full report, and check out some of the pictures...
Full Report
Today was a lovely day - Not too cold and with no rain. I wore a scarf and a jacket, but only had a t-shirt and jeans underneath. We waited until 10:30 before leaving, so as to miss the morning rush hour and qualify for cheaper fares. Starting at Earlsfield Station, we bought Travel Cards (I now have a 7 day pass for £26) and headed up to the platform. We caught the train from Earlsfield to Waterloo, where we started our tour of The City. The train ride was remarkably quiet and the view was mostly of lots of brick houses, interspersed with warehouses, old mansions and churches.
On arriving at Waterloo, Dave gave me a quick explanation of how the station works and collected a map of the train and tube system from the information stand for me. Then we walked out from the station towards the Thames, where we passed the London Eye. We decided not to waste time and money in queues today, but rather kept up a fast pace to see as much as possible. Next to the London Eye we passed the County Hall where apparently there is an Aquarium (very funny looking building for an Aquarium) and an exhibition of Salvatore Dali. We considered going to see the exhibition, but once again time and money dissuaded us.
We then crossed Westminster Bridge and checked out the Houses of Parliament. Since 9/11 and 7/7, all the major landmarks have been surrounded by big black fences and obstacles to prevent suicide bombers driving into them. This killed the atmosphere a little, but it was still possible to glimpse the statues and architechture within. Parliament Square in front of the Houses of Parliament was interesting, as there were a range of protesters (not many people, but lots of posters) shouting slogans. The biggest crowd were gathered to protest against the proposed ID cards for the UK. Apparently these are going to be very ewxpensive and people feel they are a violation of their rights. The plan is to include biometric identification data.... Scary... BIg Brother will always be watching... It's like the Minority Report movie...
Most of the day we followed the new Eyewitness London guidebook which I bought from Amazon. It has really cool pictures and maps so it's easy to figure out where you are and where to go to see the next interesting site. We looked like total tourists, but who cares... So did everybody else! It was really cool to hear all the foreign languages and to try and guess nationalities. It's great how everybody has a different clothing style!
Past the Houses of Parliament we stopped to see the Jewel Tower which dates from 1365 and is where the kings used to keep their treasures. Then it was on to Westminster Abbey. One would think that you could enter a church for free, but this was not the case and the queues to pay and pass through the metal detector were a little off putting. I will go later in the week. We had a quick look into the St Mary's Chapel next door, which has some beautiful stained glass windows, some dating from the time of Henry VIII. Unfortunately some windows had obviously been destroyed and were replaced by modern glass works.
On from Westminster we headed up Birdcage Walk toward Buckingham Palace. Instead of walking along the road, we turned into St James' Park, and walked along next to the water, looking at the runners, ducks, geese, gulls and squirrels.
Buckinham Palace was big and imposing and overrun with tourists posing for photos, but otherwise I think I prefer the architechture of the older famous buildings...
Post Palace, we made the long walk down the Mall. Here were saw lots of runners dressed in shorts and t-shirts... A great contrast to the rest of the people who were bundled up in coats and scarves!! The walk down the Mall was pretty but it seemed to go on forever... especially for our sore feet and empty stomaches.
Finally we reached Trafalgar Square, where I took a few quick pics before we dashed for the nearest McDonalds to get some food. It had to be Mickey Dee's, because it was the only one with a restroom (and by this time, David was desperate)... Lunch was expensive, but tasty... Unfortunately the short break did not help to strengthen my feet for walking. I struggled on though, as there were still lots of sights to see.
We jumped on a bus, which took us to St Pauls and the City. St Pauls was impressive and it made me think of the bird lady in Mary Poppins, with all the Saints and Apostles loking down as she sold her wares. It was funny seeing the mix of smart business people and scruffy skateboarders alongside each other on the streets, and in between (everywhere) were lots of foreign tourists speaking a mulitude of tongues!
From St Pauls we walked back towards the Thames, we crossed the Millenium Bridge and walked up towards Tower Bridge. This was all very scenic, and we passed through some little passages where we found the Clink prison, the remains of Winchester Palace, the replica Golden Hinde and Southwarke Cathedral. ALongside the river was the HMS Belfast, the real London Bridge, and the Galleria. We glimpsed the Tower of London from over the water, but by this stage we were well and truely tired, and decided to head for home. Heading to the closest station, we caught the tube to Waterloo, and headed back to the train to Earlsfield... But to fully educate me, Dave made me get off at Clapham Junction and we caught a few buses to get back home. Totally exhausting!!
Today was a lovely day - Not too cold and with no rain. I wore a scarf and a jacket, but only had a t-shirt and jeans underneath. We waited until 10:30 before leaving, so as to miss the morning rush hour and qualify for cheaper fares. Starting at Earlsfield Station, we bought Travel Cards (I now have a 7 day pass for £26) and headed up to the platform. We caught the train from Earlsfield to Waterloo, where we started our tour of The City. The train ride was remarkably quiet and the view was mostly of lots of brick houses, interspersed with warehouses, old mansions and churches.
On arriving at Waterloo, Dave gave me a quick explanation of how the station works and collected a map of the train and tube system from the information stand for me. Then we walked out from the station towards the Thames, where we passed the London Eye. We decided not to waste time and money in queues today, but rather kept up a fast pace to see as much as possible. Next to the London Eye we passed the County Hall where apparently there is an Aquarium (very funny looking building for an Aquarium) and an exhibition of Salvatore Dali. We considered going to see the exhibition, but once again time and money dissuaded us.
We then crossed Westminster Bridge and checked out the Houses of Parliament. Since 9/11 and 7/7, all the major landmarks have been surrounded by big black fences and obstacles to prevent suicide bombers driving into them. This killed the atmosphere a little, but it was still possible to glimpse the statues and architechture within. Parliament Square in front of the Houses of Parliament was interesting, as there were a range of protesters (not many people, but lots of posters) shouting slogans. The biggest crowd were gathered to protest against the proposed ID cards for the UK. Apparently these are going to be very ewxpensive and people feel they are a violation of their rights. The plan is to include biometric identification data.... Scary... BIg Brother will always be watching... It's like the Minority Report movie...
Most of the day we followed the new Eyewitness London guidebook which I bought from Amazon. It has really cool pictures and maps so it's easy to figure out where you are and where to go to see the next interesting site. We looked like total tourists, but who cares... So did everybody else! It was really cool to hear all the foreign languages and to try and guess nationalities. It's great how everybody has a different clothing style!
Past the Houses of Parliament we stopped to see the Jewel Tower which dates from 1365 and is where the kings used to keep their treasures. Then it was on to Westminster Abbey. One would think that you could enter a church for free, but this was not the case and the queues to pay and pass through the metal detector were a little off putting. I will go later in the week. We had a quick look into the St Mary's Chapel next door, which has some beautiful stained glass windows, some dating from the time of Henry VIII. Unfortunately some windows had obviously been destroyed and were replaced by modern glass works.
On from Westminster we headed up Birdcage Walk toward Buckingham Palace. Instead of walking along the road, we turned into St James' Park, and walked along next to the water, looking at the runners, ducks, geese, gulls and squirrels.
Buckinham Palace was big and imposing and overrun with tourists posing for photos, but otherwise I think I prefer the architechture of the older famous buildings...
Post Palace, we made the long walk down the Mall. Here were saw lots of runners dressed in shorts and t-shirts... A great contrast to the rest of the people who were bundled up in coats and scarves!! The walk down the Mall was pretty but it seemed to go on forever... especially for our sore feet and empty stomaches.
Finally we reached Trafalgar Square, where I took a few quick pics before we dashed for the nearest McDonalds to get some food. It had to be Mickey Dee's, because it was the only one with a restroom (and by this time, David was desperate)... Lunch was expensive, but tasty... Unfortunately the short break did not help to strengthen my feet for walking. I struggled on though, as there were still lots of sights to see.
We jumped on a bus, which took us to St Pauls and the City. St Pauls was impressive and it made me think of the bird lady in Mary Poppins, with all the Saints and Apostles loking down as she sold her wares. It was funny seeing the mix of smart business people and scruffy skateboarders alongside each other on the streets, and in between (everywhere) were lots of foreign tourists speaking a mulitude of tongues!
From St Pauls we walked back towards the Thames, we crossed the Millenium Bridge and walked up towards Tower Bridge. This was all very scenic, and we passed through some little passages where we found the Clink prison, the remains of Winchester Palace, the replica Golden Hinde and Southwarke Cathedral. ALongside the river was the HMS Belfast, the real London Bridge, and the Galleria. We glimpsed the Tower of London from over the water, but by this stage we were well and truely tired, and decided to head for home. Heading to the closest station, we caught the tube to Waterloo, and headed back to the train to Earlsfield... But to fully educate me, Dave made me get off at Clapham Junction and we caught a few buses to get back home. Totally exhausting!!
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