London
Having 5 or 6 days for a holiday Troll and I decided to visit London and England's Wiltshire. I'm sorry to say that London itself disappointed us even though we enjoyed the holiday as a whole. London to honest wasn't what we'd expected. There was something missing in the atmosphere. Every time that I go to Paris I feel that the city is.. alive and vibrant, but London, it felt impersonal, as if didn't have a 'personality'.
We arrived at London's Waterloo Station at around 12pm and decided to quietly walk to our hostel in Piccadilly. Passing over the Westminster we came across the tower of 'Big Ben' and the Houses of Parliament. We were both surprised because the tower isn't very tall at all. We even asked someone if it was really Big Ben! Actually it's the bell in the tower that's called 'Big Ben' and not the tower itself. We stared at the tower for a few moments unimpressed then decided to have a sticky beak to see what Westminster Abbey looked like.
We soon decided to forgo interior visits to the various monuments after the initial heart attack at seeing the prices. Though even if the entry wasn't so expensive I'm not sure that we would have visited them anyway..
Across the road from the Houses of Parliament and Victoria Tower (below), we found Westminster Abbey.
Below are views of the Abbey's front and right hand side.
We then made our way up Whitehall St, passing Downing St and the Horse Guards. As you can see this particular guard seems a bit bored with having his photo taken (those pesky tourists!).
Eventually we arrived at Trafalgar Square and the game of Monopoly began (at least for me!).
The first two photos are the left and right sides of Nelson's Column facing towards the National Gallery. There are four lions, one at each corner of the column.
This is a looking from Nelson's Column towards Big Ben
A general view of the base of Nelson's Column, some of Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross Underground. There are no steps around the column but with a bit of clambering you can join the rest of the crowd.
After a rest we continued on and crossing Regent St came to Piccadilly Circus which, while being a mass of ads, looks pretty cool by day or night.
Our hostel was just around the corner and after checking in with our two day reservation and depositing backpacks and whatnots we went out again on a quest to discover the 'old London' area. This area is supposed to be winding streets neighbouring the Soho so first we ventured in the Soho and its Chinatown.
Soho's Chinatown consists of a couple of streets crammed with Chinese shops and restaurants and smells.. mmm! The main part seems to be guarded by 3 arches, one of which is pictured, since it's a sort of T-junction. At night these arches are brightly lit and the whole of this main area is a mass of coloured lights against the darkness. Recently I discovered that my camera takes night shots (up to a minute exposure) so I tried to take some of these arches but they haven't worked. Oh well, I just need more practice I guess!
We never did find the 'old London' area but wandered into Leister Square by accident. The roads to this square are crammed with tourist shops and booking offices for every musical seeming under the sun!
Eventually our meanderings lead us to the banks of the Thames where we followed the Thames Riverside Walk, a long but pleasant walk past the bizillion bridges that span the river. One of these is the bright red and white Blackfriars Bridge, but there are others equally brightly coloured.
Since by this stage we were drawing close to St Paul's Cathedral we decided to take a little detour and see this house of god. The photo here is really the only part of the cathedral that is visible at the moment as the rest is covered with scaffolding and being cleaned of pollution stains.
After circling the cathedral (and finding it mostly covered, complete with a queue for the inside a mile long) we idly made our way back to the Thames walk and soon found ourselves outside the Tower of London. The glass egg looking thing that you can see in the background is the Swiss Insurance building and is affectionately called 'the giant gherkin' because of it's shape.
Along the Thames walk, but here in particular, you have excellent views of the Tower Bridge.
The urge to cross the Tower Bridge was irresistible and I wouldn't have minded crossing the high walkway but unfortunately it's part of a museum that was just closing as we arrived. Ah well.
On the other bank you have a good view of the totality of the Tower of London. This is near the new town council building that looks like squat glass egg or golf ball that's been cut in half.
Red double decker buses and phone boxes are a common sight.
That evening, while we were in the East End, we also did the Jack the Ripper tour by London Walks .
