Advertisement
Published: April 9th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Just in time for the boat
Thames Clipper Water Bus stop A mini holiday in London, with one of my dearest friends and her sister, presented a good reminder of our amazing Capital. It’s been years since I visited London and more years since I viewed it as a tourist.Consequently it was like going for the very first time.
Staying at Greenland Dock, (named so during the 18
th century, in recognition of the whaling trade), we had a tedious bus journey from Plymouth, first to Victoria bus station, and then an hour wait for another bus to Canary wharf, feeling disorientated as we got off the bus amongst the modern high rise glass buildings, the hustle and bustle of workers escaping for the Easter long weekend. From there, we found our way to the pier and caught the Thames clipper water bus to Greenland dock. (Just across to the south bank of the Thames).
Next mission: to find our apartment, with instructions to hand, we followed them to the letter, even struggled over the wooden bridge with wheelie cases, (the following day we laughed to tears, finding that a little further along, we could have used the pathway). We were all surprised to see a fox
foxy
Who'd have thought it? in the shrubbery rustling around and seemingly quite tame, even followed us for a while. We collected our keys from the Ship and Whale, and soon relaxing in the warm apartment.
Imagine our surprise when someone entered our apartment with the front door key, three weary looking people who had travelled from Brazil, they spoke very little English, so we took them back over to the Ship and Whale to try and sort out the double booking. Basia soon had everything sorted, as well as coping with a very busy night serving food. They had a taxi organised to the Hilton. The following day we discovered that although they thought the room had been arranged, they hadn’t actually confirmed by email. We saw them several times and what a shame we couldn’t hold a good conversation.
The tube station was not far away at Canada Water, although we did get distracted on our first attempt to find it, by the shopping mall and sales. We also managed to find two more pubs while making ever decreasing circles around the docks, The Ship York and The Moby Dick waterside pub.
Taking the
Thames Clipper to Embankment on one very icy cold day we decided that the best way to see all the tourist attractions of London’s West End, would be on the Big Red Bus, even though snow was in the air, we were brave enough to view the sights from the upstairs (open top), and listen to the recorded information. Taking some respite, and warming up with a delicious bowl of pumpkin soup in Harrods. We could hop on and off all day, and managed to get round quite a wide parameter. Another boat trip on the Thames was included in the ticket, making it good value, and very enjoyable.
On Easter Sunday, taking the tube from Canada Water on the Jubilee line to Waterloo, and changing to the Northern Line - continuing to Leicester Square, we went to the Ambassadors Theatre on West Street to see Stomp, not only was it a fantastic show of energy, fun and entertainment, the beautiful historic theatre had a wonderful warm welcoming feel to it. We came out bursting with enthusiasm and giggles over the ingenious tools for making rhythm that were hypnotic and lively. We wandered on to Covent Garden,
and could not believe how lively and busy it was there at 5pm, spending some time looking around in dazed awe, we started to make our way to Westminster Bridge for an evening ride on the London Eye. Passing through Trafalgar Square, and the Houses of Parliament, there was such a wonderful atmosphere and buzz of people.
We had some queuing to do for our tickets and a 4D show to see, before joining the final queue to get on the London Eye. Having said that, it was all very well organised and we didn’t have to wait long. The capsules seemed enormous and not at all crowded, considering the people waiting. The wheel by now was lit up Blue, and the lights of London were twinkling, an awesome way to see London by night, tall buildings on the skyline that I’m sure weren’t there the last time I visited, the Shard for one, which we were told is the tallest in Europe. Of course I remember the BT tower which almost seems hidden amongst modern tall glass buildings, structures given names such as the Gherkin, the Pinnacle and the Walkie Talkie.
The Palace
The funniest Bridge
Not designed for the wheelie case.... of Westminster or Houses of Parliament, and particularly the ElizabethTower, housing Big Ben steels the prize for timeless stylish glamour, standing proud and happily striking its presence to anyone who may not have noticed.
A very full day of excitement, so much so, we forgot the time and obviously the Ship and Whale had long since stopped serving food by the time we returned. We seemed to take a wrong turn and missed passing the Moby Dick as intended, although we did find the Wibbley Wobbley floating pub, we just didn’t feel prepared for the advertised Dave the Rave and Karaoke.
For my last day we visited CanaryWharf, it was another very cold day, and spent some time in the shopping Mall, topping off my few days away, we had dinner at The Moby Dick overlooking the Dock. It felt very restful and good food too. I was off early the following morning to return back to Plymouth, Daph and Di were staying for another few days with plans for lots more to see and do.
Thank you both so much for inviting me, and making some wonderful memories, also for
reminding me to find more opportunities to visit London once in a while, and not leave it so long.
Scroll on down to see more photos 😊
Advertisement
Tot: 0.115s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 29; dbt: 0.075s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
daph
non-member comment
Brilliant London trip
love the blogg lorr, it's a brilliant summary of our amazing time in London. the pics have turned out amazingly, and I love the way the London eye pics look, just on dark, and with the city lights. love it. thanks for sharing in this wonderful experience. love daph xxx