Well, on this gloomy rainy monday, I woke up inspired by the memories of a magical city, London.
We cannot compare it in any way, shape or form to our special island, but today, the skies look alike...
We cannot compare it in any way, shape or form to our special island, but today, the skies look alike...
London is made up of two ancient
cities which are now joined together.
They are:
• the City of London, know simply as 'the City' which is
the business and financial heart of the United Kingdom. It is also known as the
Square Mile (2.59 sq km/1 sq mi). It was the original Roman settlement
(ancient Londinium), making it the oldest part of London and already 1,000
years old when the Tower of London was built.
• the City of Westminster, where Parliament and most of the
government offices are located. Also Buckingham Palace, the official London
residence of the Queen and the Royal family are located there too.
Together they all make up a region known as Greater London.
-Now for the fun part, pictures and places to visit...
When you arrive to London, if you are travelling Int'l, you arrive at Heathrow airport.
When you arrive domestic, you arrive to Gatwick ( our case).
From there you take a 20 minute trainride with your heavy luggage ( lovely), on the Gatwick Express,
and arrive to the beautiful station of London Victoria.
I was mesmerized at all that civilization and automation in everything ( so modern).
I had been to London as a teenager, but hey, all I did was party and didn't appreciate
and enjoy the city, breathe in its educated, prim and proper, well mannered air...
Yes, everyone is educated and has manors.
I would walk in the sidewalks and people would stop to let me go through,
specially the gentlemen, and they would call me Madam...so fine!
I was mesmerized at all that civilization and automation in everything ( so modern).
I had been to London as a teenager, but hey, all I did was party and didn't appreciate
and enjoy the city, breathe in its educated, prim and proper, well mannered air...
Yes, everyone is educated and has manors.
I would walk in the sidewalks and people would stop to let me go through,
specially the gentlemen, and they would call me Madam...so fine!
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| Arrival at London Victoria Station |
I was ecstatic! It was the Summer of The Olympics, 2012, so actually it was a beautiful time of the year, where the excitement of the British was flaring in every corner.
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| London Victoria Station |
Our first lesson when we arrived was the Look Left/ Look Right symbol on the streets. They are painted very clearly, but I come from an island where people drive on a normal direction, not on the left side. That was so awkward, so the crossing and the walking in London is pretty complex the first, I'd say...2 days. We'd cross the street like if we were in a regular city, looking the wrong way. So my brother-in-law, who was living there at the time, sat us down, very serious, and gave us a 'Walking in London 101' to avoid getting killed, seriously.
Here he is driving on the left side, hence driving on the opposite side of the regular roads...
The basics are this:
When you are going to cross, make sure you are crossing where you have these signs or else, you run a
very high risk of having an accident, and as the sign says, LOOK LEFT OR LOOK RIGHT.
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| LOOK LEFT/ LOOK RIGHT |
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| Stoplight Button |
Another thing, in the stoplights, most of them, in my experience, you have these boxes, and if you want to cross to the other side of the street, usually in twisted intersections ( God, so complex and weird), you MUST press this button, or else the light will stay green and cars will probably not stop.
After our lesson, off we went to hang out and walk around one of the most majestic cities in this world...(in my humble opinion)
As you may understand the diet flew off, and went down the toilet.
The streets and the city were so clean and tidy
On the Tower Bridge, here is a view of The London Eye and The Big Ben, on the Thames River
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| Waterloo Hospital for Children |
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| Residential area in Tower Bridge |
A view of the Gherkin from the Tower Bridge area
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| The famous Duble Decker Bus, on Fleet Street |
Here I have some collages of places we went, awesomeness is how I can summarize this experience.
-The Tower Bridge a.k.a known as The London Bridge, is astoundingly impressive.
-The gardens of Buckingham are manicured to perfection.
-This is one of the entrances to Buckingham Palace, so opulent and shiny...
-The London Eye is like a carousel you get on and see the whole city from up above, my husband has vertigo so we didn't do that...bohoo.
So, let's continue...
-One of my dreams was to see The Gherkin building, gorgeous.
-Walking around The Tower Bridge area, behind me is a pub, pubs everywhere, ppl love to drink and chat with strangers, fascinating! Everyone wants to sit with you and they are just so friendly, nice and educated...
-The beautiful London Bridge a.k.a the Tower Bridge, an amazing construction over the Thames River
-And the BIG BEN...
Ok, now...A Must for every visitor, is a stop at Harrod's, London's famous Department store in Knightbridge, even if it's just to purchase some tea or chocolate.
You can see what I'm talking about in this link...TO DIE FOR.
We enjoyed the Food Halls with all the delicacies, pastries and one of its beautiful little restaurants, Gavin Demoiselle
So...after striding and walking endlessly, Getting lost in the Tube, taking the Rush Hour, and just enjoying the London life...
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| The Tube |
Yeah that's my husband, with a grin on his face, we got lost in there quite a few times, indeed...
Anyways...The time came for a night out, so first we went to Hakkasan for some dinner and cocktails, what a beautiful restaurant, so trendy and chic, delicious food, drinks and company...
And then we went up to 'The Attic' at Pan Peninsula on the Canary Wharf, 48th floor, here is the view:
This is the view of one of the Pavillions for the Olympics
The next day, of course, my husband is non-stop...Tourist time!
A fun day filled of museums and history.
We visited the London Tower, Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more
commonly known as the Tower of London, a historic castle on the north bank
of the River Thames in central London, England
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| The Tower of London |
Some touring along the Westminster Abbey and The National History Museum Of London....
And to end with our virtual journey, do not forget Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar square, and the MUST picture of the Red telephone booth...
Last but not least, some places I highly recommend for dining and hanging out, check out the links
If you need a good supermarket/pharmacy kind of a Target/ CVS place
Happy Travels,
T.
P.S. Please excuse me for the centering of some paragraphs and fonts, which can make it uncomfortable to read, I am getting familiarized with the blog site, and practicing. It will get better, hopefully.
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