My flight landed at Heathrow airport
in the evening, and we left the airport at 8 pm to broad daylight outside. It
was
6 degrees centigrade and really windy.
London has
pretty, red and white colored houses, lined together, and with gardens and parkways. Overnight stay was at
Hotel Ibis in
Wembley (strongly
recommended). Wembley is a quiet neighborhood on the outskirts of
London with empty streets and a lot of eat-out options. Sunset
was at 9.30 pm with an hour of dusk before it. It was extremely cold,
for which reason, we could not walk around on the roads.
I woke up at 5 am the next morning because of the
early sunrise (around 4.30 am).
Got ready to an awesome breakfast at the hotel. Continental breakfasts
are my favorite, and the place had a variety of meat (sausages, salami
in pork, chicken, beef and I cannot name everything that was there), fruits, breads,
juices, beverages.
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Wembley
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Starting on a city sightseeing tour, our driver Marcelle was Czech,
and had a fully
tattooed arm. We drove to
Buckingham Palace and spent some time photographing the
beautiful square, statues and gates. Too early for
Changing of the Guards (a true
show with lot of colors and music) which is slated from
11:30-12.
The Palace was closed to
public and the Queen was at Windsor castle over the long weekend. It
started raining, making it colder, and suddenly the sweater and shawl I
was wearing seemed insufficient!
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Buckingham Palace
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From there, we visited
Westminster Abbey.
The Abbey is beautiful and the buildings around it marvelous and not to
be missed, especially by photography enthusiasts. We drove over
the
River Thames to get a
panoramic view of the Abbey and the Parliament buildings nearby. We soon came upon the
London Eye, a
giant Ferris wheel that gives you a
view of London for miles around (which is quite easy, as there are few skyscrapers).
Big Ben stands next to Parliament and is actually a
clock tower,
though commonly referred to by the name of the bell in it. The tower
was named after Sir Benjamin, an overweight politician and commissioner
of works.
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Westminster Abbey
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London Eye over the River Thames
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The
Tower of
London, a
castle with two defense walls and a dry moat stands
on the banks of the Thames. The moat was once filled with water from
the Thames river, but that got difficult to maintain due to the silt
constantly thrown up by the Thames current. It is a
fortress that hosts the crown jewels and the Kohinoor diamond.
The drive took us to
Trafalgar Square (and
Nelson's Column), a place with beautiful buildings and teeming with tourists. Our coach drove us through the famous streets of London -
10 Downing Street,
Piccadilly Street,
Baker Street,
Oxford Street, Regent Street, Abbey Road, Shaftesbury Avenue; the
names, histories and stories of which our guide narrated to us at top
speed! The presence of a guard in a fancy red uniform in front of 10
Downing amused the children, while the horse he was sitting on was a
fascinating sight! Mary, our guide, told us that these big beautiful horses are
reared and trained at Windsor Castle.
Our next stop was at
More London Riverside, an office area with modern architecture, glass buildings and a rare skyscraper. From there, we had a clear view of
Tower Bridge, which is often mistakenly called London Bridge and considered as the
iconic symbol of London.
The bridge is detachable at the centre to allow large ships to pass
under it. The London Bridge is the next bridge upstream and is, by the
way, quite a
plain bridge with no arches or noticeable structures.
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More London Riverside
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Tower Bridge
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Next
was a ride on the London Eye, situated on the south bank of the River
Thames. The giant wheel takes 35 minutes to complete one full round and
moves very slowly and steadily, so no need to worry if you are
apprehensive of heights or have motion sickness! You can get an
awesome view of
River Thames and the intermittent
white bridges over it, and of
London city with its
beautiful sand colored buildings. The ride ends with a view of
Shakespeare's Globe on the waterfront,
a replica of the Globe Theatre where Shakespeare's plays were performed
and which was destroyed by fire. Later, we watched a 4D show of
London's sights, which was quite entertaining for
children.
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View from London Eye of London city
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Shakespeare's Globe
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All of this was covered before lunch (about 1 pm at McDonald's). The afternoon was free for a visit to
Madame Tussaud's wax museum.
The popularity can be gauged by the long entry lines even on a cold
windy day! You are welcomed in various languages as you climb the
winding staircase to the 1st level, the
Hollywood level. There
are life like statues of some actors, Daniel
Radcliffe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, JLo, among
others. It is said the museum people change the locations and set-up of
the statues often. At the time of my visit, one of my favorite actors,
Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow was standing on the deck of a pirate
ship.
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Madame Tussaud's wax museum
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The 2nd level is for
sports enthusiasts, the 3rd for
historical figures and British royalty and the 4th my favorite, the
music section!
The 4 Beatles merrily seated on a sofa, MJ captured in a trademark
dance step. Queen Elizabeth and the Duke, Prince William and Countess
Kate stood tall on a podium and people could stand with them, wear a
crown and have themselves photographed. The volunteers at the museum
take photographs which may be framed or printed
for a few euros. Identifying the statues and getting photographs with
them was definitely one of the most 'fun' parts of the trip!
Entry fees for the London Eye, Madame Tussaud's are quite high, so look for
combo offers where you pay something like 55 Euros for entry to 4 places.
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