Blogs from London City, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 6

Not much happened during the rest of the month. I attended class, went out with my friends, and kissed a French boy, which unfortunately led nowhere. Have you ever had one of those nights that feels amazing and right at the time but is impossible to duplicate? It's a little like being Cinderella, only Prince Charming doesn't really take the hint. The last weekend in March I took the train back to London to see the Script in concert. On the way down I made friends with a pair of children named Zi Zi and Ahmed, proving that the best conversations definitely don't have to involve adults. I met up with Natalia and a friend of hers, and we began our visit with the Tate Modern. I'll come right out and say it: I despise modern ... read more

Three Days in London I've been in London for the past three days which has given me just enough time to complete all of the essential tourist activities. I've been through Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Tate Modern Art Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, a riverboat cruise on the River Thames, and Windsor Castle. Of these, I found Westminster Abbey to be the most impressive; it featured stunning Gothic architecture (compared to St Paul's more Romanesque construction), parts of the Abbey were nearly 1,000 years old, and the amount of notable people buried there is astounding. Among the tombs, I was most interested to see those of Charles Darwin, Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, and C.S. Lewis. The Tower of London, ... read more

My kind parents-in-law had purchased the tickets to the Shard for the last year’s Christmas present. Mark booked the date for us to visit there at 11 o’clock on 20 September quoting the reference number. The Shard was built last year and was opened to the public earlier this year. The height of the Shard is 244m, and located aright of London Bridge station. We arrived slightly earlier than the scheduled time. We looked at the fares of the entrance tickets, i.e. £29.95 for the person who books the time on the day or 24 hours advance, £24.95 for the online booking, and £100 for the immediate entrance!?!, and free entry for infants up to 3 years old. At 10:45, one of the ushers came and let us enter the building. We were asked to go ... read more

I took a train from Edinburgh to London. It wasn't cheap (the cheapest option was flying), but it was the most comfortable and it also gave me 4 hours to read a book that I had picked up in a hostel in Cape Town which I really enjoyed ("The Passage"). I had my tickets printed out at the house I was staying in and after arriving at the station I just got on the train. Out of all the boxes I checked when I bought the ticket online, I guess I didn't read the "fine print" where it said that I had to present the printed papers in an office to get the actual tickets before boarding the train. I found out about all this when the train was well underway and the ticket inspector asked ... read more

I am impressed that i blogged 4 days in a row, now i have to blog for the least 2 days and try to remember the highlights from each day. Wednesday - On route to the centre i decided to jump off the underground at Knightsbridge and take a look at Harrods. The place is huge! loved the lower floor especially with all the foods, particularly the fish counter and cheeses. I have to admit i got lost on the other floors, in fact to the extent that i considered downloading the Harrods app for the iphone to find my way out! my jaw dropped why i found myself on the floor that contained designer pet clothing, a facility to groom your pets and unbelievably a pet spa. My 2 cats Fern and Fachine do get ... read more