Trip to Europe July 2005!
~England: London~
Mum & I stayed in a hotel in Eccleston – a beautiful little suburb adjacent to Belgravia where stars like Madonna and Sean Connery have stayed (as we were told by the hotel owner). The location was very convenient, about 5 minutes walk to Victoria Station, 15mins to Buckingham Palace.
We arrived in London exactly a week after the London bombing and we started our trip in Finland exactly a week ago. We flew from Sydney to Bangkok via Qantas and changed to Finnair from there on. Most people on the plane (I spoke to a number of them during the flight and they were such delightful souls) did not get off at Helsinki as they were bound for London. They would have arrived in London about 2 hours before the London bombing. As I watched the reports on Finish television, I was desperately praying that those people weren’t caught in that tragic event. The scary thing was that it could have just as easily been Mum & I, had we not changed our plan to start our trip in Finland first.
The British government must have identified Victoria Station as a potential hot-spot for further terrorist activity as we could spot police officers in bullet-proof vests and machine guns (yeah I thought you only see images like this from Iraq) everywhere within 5 blocks of the station.
NB: We bought ourselves a pass for one of those "hop-on, hop-off" double-decker bus tours. On our first night in London, we tried out the bus but we were on there for scarcely half an hour before realising that walking would be a quicker alternative. However, I need to point out that we were there the week after the London bombing which may have induced most people to abandon the metro service. Also bear in mind that the bus pass entitles you to a free boat ride down the Thames. Overall, although we hardly used the bus service, we thought it was still a worthy purchase.
Convent Garden
This is another Gloria’s originals. I thought Convent Garden is like an actual garden with a lawn and flowers. I was loony enough to ask a shopkeeper where is Convent Garden and when he replied, "this is it", I asked him "so where is the garden?" Bygones!
Anyhows, it was a very vibrant place. We had a nice dinner in the area.
Buckingham Palace
The palace is massive but after witnessing the awe-inspiring grandeur of the Vatican City, we were quite susceptible to shock.
We had breakfast in the Park next to Buckingham Palace (St. James Park?) and patiently waited for the ceremony of the Changing of the Guard at 11am. About 15mins before it started, the area before Buckingham Palace began to fill up very quickly. Mum & I were only able to grab a second-rate spot where we had to stand on our toes in order to get a peek of the long furry hats of the guards. Many people have told us that this is one of the most overrated attractions but we felt it was worth doing for a first-timer in London just for the novelty of it.
For more information, see http://www.royal.gov.uk/
Houses of Parliament & Big Ben
The gothic Houses of Parliament and its adjacent clock tower are probably the architectural symbols of England. We were there afterhours so didn’t get to observe Question Time or the debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, which is a bit of a shame. Maybe next time.
For more information, see their official website at: www.parliament.uk
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is the ecclesiastical symbol of England in which most of its rulers were crowned and where many lie buried.
Apart from the Kings and Queens, famous writers like Tennyson and Dickens, and revoluntionary scientists like Newton and Darwin, have been honoured by monuments or interred in the abbey.
No camera is allowed inside.
For more details, see their official website here: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/
Thames
We then took the bus to the Big Ben and walked to the ferry port opposite the London Eye. The bus pass entitles you to a free trip down the Thames so we decided to do that. As we floated down the famous Thames, we spotted many of London’s famous attractions including St Paul’s Cathedral.
Tower Bridge
We hopped off the boat at the Tower Bridge stop amongst a sea of tourists.
For more details, see their official website here: www.towerbridge.org.uk
~England: London~
Mum & I stayed in a hotel in Eccleston – a beautiful little suburb adjacent to Belgravia where stars like Madonna and Sean Connery have stayed (as we were told by the hotel owner). The location was very convenient, about 5 minutes walk to Victoria Station, 15mins to Buckingham Palace.
We arrived in London exactly a week after the London bombing and we started our trip in Finland exactly a week ago. We flew from Sydney to Bangkok via Qantas and changed to Finnair from there on. Most people on the plane (I spoke to a number of them during the flight and they were such delightful souls) did not get off at Helsinki as they were bound for London. They would have arrived in London about 2 hours before the London bombing. As I watched the reports on Finish television, I was desperately praying that those people weren’t caught in that tragic event. The scary thing was that it could have just as easily been Mum & I, had we not changed our plan to start our trip in Finland first.
The British government must have identified Victoria Station as a potential hot-spot for further terrorist activity as we could spot police officers in bullet-proof vests and machine guns (yeah I thought you only see images like this from Iraq) everywhere within 5 blocks of the station.
NB: We bought ourselves a pass for one of those "hop-on, hop-off" double-decker bus tours. On our first night in London, we tried out the bus but we were on there for scarcely half an hour before realising that walking would be a quicker alternative. However, I need to point out that we were there the week after the London bombing which may have induced most people to abandon the metro service. Also bear in mind that the bus pass entitles you to a free boat ride down the Thames. Overall, although we hardly used the bus service, we thought it was still a worthy purchase.
Convent Garden
This is another Gloria’s originals. I thought Convent Garden is like an actual garden with a lawn and flowers. I was loony enough to ask a shopkeeper where is Convent Garden and when he replied, "this is it", I asked him "so where is the garden?" Bygones!
Anyhows, it was a very vibrant place. We had a nice dinner in the area.
Buckingham Palace
The palace is massive but after witnessing the awe-inspiring grandeur of the Vatican City, we were quite susceptible to shock.
We had breakfast in the Park next to Buckingham Palace (St. James Park?) and patiently waited for the ceremony of the Changing of the Guard at 11am. About 15mins before it started, the area before Buckingham Palace began to fill up very quickly. Mum & I were only able to grab a second-rate spot where we had to stand on our toes in order to get a peek of the long furry hats of the guards. Many people have told us that this is one of the most overrated attractions but we felt it was worth doing for a first-timer in London just for the novelty of it.
For more information, see http://www.royal.gov.uk/
Houses of Parliament & Big Ben
The gothic Houses of Parliament and its adjacent clock tower are probably the architectural symbols of England. We were there afterhours so didn’t get to observe Question Time or the debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, which is a bit of a shame. Maybe next time.
For more information, see their official website at: www.parliament.uk
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is the ecclesiastical symbol of England in which most of its rulers were crowned and where many lie buried.
Apart from the Kings and Queens, famous writers like Tennyson and Dickens, and revoluntionary scientists like Newton and Darwin, have been honoured by monuments or interred in the abbey.
No camera is allowed inside.
For more details, see their official website here: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/
Thames
We then took the bus to the Big Ben and walked to the ferry port opposite the London Eye. The bus pass entitles you to a free trip down the Thames so we decided to do that. As we floated down the famous Thames, we spotted many of London’s famous attractions including St Paul’s Cathedral.
Tower Bridge
We hopped off the boat at the Tower Bridge stop amongst a sea of tourists.
For more details, see their official website here: www.towerbridge.org.uk
posted by Gloria at 9:54 PM
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