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whirl wind tour of london

19 votes

seeing as i was already pretty much half way around the world from home, i decided to take my savings pennies and continue on to london to see my little brother.




	one of the churchs in ealing - i passed this every day on the way to the tube station

seeing as i only really had a week in london, i would get up very very early and make sure that they day was worth it. starting with a triple espresso in a cafe in ealing, i would then make my way to the tube station and purchase my days travel pass.

public transport is not something that i usually catch at home in new zealand. it is much easier to take my car every day. but in london, public transport is totally different! now some of the locals tell me that it is not always as great as what i thought - but its better than home!

even walking to the tube station, i could find a million and one things to look at and to hold my attention

Favourite spots:




	a beautiful day in hyde park. take off your shoes, lie under a tree and read a book.

even on my first day in london, it was easy to get into the centre of the city to start exploring. as i said earlier, i didnt have a long time so i wanted to make sure i got my moneys worth!

on the first day, i navigated the tube and found myself in trafalgar square. i thought day number one could be a walking and shopping day and one of my friends from home really wanted me to visit the new apple store on regent street. so eventually i found it.

picadilly circus is just madness! locals were telling me that anyone who sits in the middle of picadilly for over half an hour is likely to see someone that they know. well i didnt quite wait that long - and there was someone i used to work with!

i loved the green parks in london - even the exclusive ones.
i spent some time walking through hyde park down to marble arch. hyde park is just gorgeous - with the fountains and the beautifull kept lanes. standing underneath marble arch, i couldnt understand why queen victoria moved it.

What's really great:




	i didnt imagine the weather would be this nice! trafalgar square lets you get bearings

i was amazed that in june the weather was so good!
being able to ride along in the open bus with a warm breeze and lots of sunshine was just what i needed - after leaving a chilly new zealand autumn! i even had to make a dash to boots for some sunscreen after my nose got rather burnt!

people are more than happy to point you in the right direction, but maps are also easy to find and if you use the tour bus maps, they are free. sitting on the stairs in trafalgar square, you can see a lot of the landmarks on the bus tours so it is very easy to work out where you want to go.

my brother took me out to camden to the markets. they are great and very much like the ones that we have at home. very colourful with some pretty cool gift items.

Sights:




	how long would it have taken to construct these buildings?

all of the buildings - espedially st pauls cathedral

Accommodations:

stay at the end of one of the tube lines - north, east, south, west - it doesnt really matter.
but travelling on the tube and buses gives you the opportunity to really get your bearings and to note things that you want to go back and see the next day.
there are a lot of guest houses online to choose from.

Restaurants:

any place that serves curry on brick lane

Published on Tuesday September 6th, 2005 by quikflikchiq

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