A view of London

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I knew a journey to England would be on my travel list, I figured it was around #20 or so for my travel goals. Late in 2003, my friends gave me a call and told me there is a great travel special to England and asked if I would go. I told them to let me think about it and I'd get back with them. I called them back promptly and asked again how much it was. I told Victoria that I'd let them know in 24 hours. I read up on the special as the flight was well under $300 for round trip and I felt that was pretty good fare. I called Victoria the next day and said "let's book it". We decided that October would be the best time to go.

I flew over there on British Airways, it was a 12 hour non-stop flight. The service on the airlines was superb, I prefer international flights because you get more than peanuts! The flight gave me the time to do some reading as well as movie watching. I arrived at Gatwick and was pleased that I could take a train into London to Victoria Station. One thing I enjoy about Europe is their transportation system is superb, not once in England did we need a taxi. I feel the best way to get around London (besides on foot) is taking the tube, it is safe, fast, and inexpensive. I did struggle with directions around London, once I figured out how the streets worked, it was time to come home.

We stayed at the Victoria Inn Hotel, it was within walking distance to Victoria Station. This hotel is a whitestone townhouse and has over 40 rooms. An added bonus is a complimentary continental breakfast. It is very centrally located and has clean rooms. One thing about hotels in Europe, the rooms are very small in comparison to the hotel rooms in America! I would stay at this hotel again if I ever go back.

There is so much to see and do in London you can get it all done in less than a week. Besides seeing London we wanted to see Bath and Cotswold so we picked out the highlights of London including: Westminister Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Harrods, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Tower Bridge, Tower of London and other places.

While we visited Trafalgar Square we were fortunate to see a parade for the Olympic athletes, it was awesome seeing the gold medals!

This part of the journal is our first two days in London. The weather was mixed, partly sunny and partly overcast. It wasn't too cold during the first two days there.

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Photos

Westminister Abbey
This is the west end. The detailing in this abbey is incredible.

Christian Martyrs
Statues of ten 20th-century Christian martyrs. They include: Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia; Manche Masmeola, South Africa; Lucian Tapiedi, New Guinea; Maximilian Kolbe, Poland; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Germany; Esther John, Pakistan; Martin Luther King Jr., U.S.; Wang Zhiming, China; Janani Luwum, Uganda and Oscar Romero, El Salvador.

Ten Christians
Listing of the ten Christians

Stained glass
Inside of Westminister Abbey. I'm always fascinated with stained glass works.

Courtyard
Inside of Westminster Abbey's grounds.

Taxi anyone?
Parked outside of the Abbey. Cheers to arriving in London!

Methodist Central Hall
We ate lunch in their cafeteria, the food is great!

Big Ben
This tower at night is even more fascinating!

Guard
Standing guard in Parliment.

Admirality Arch
This arch is the entrance to the Mall, it is part of Trafalgar Square. The arch was named in 1835 to honor Admiral Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Trafalgar Square
This is one of London's most popular hubs.

No cell phone here
What did we do before there were cell phones? My friend gladly posed here.

Olympians celebrate
While at Trafalgar Square we were honored with the presence of the Olympians return home from the Olympics. People were lined up for the parade!

River Thames
Along the banks of River Thams

London Eye
This is a must if you want to get a great view of the city!

View from the eye
Hungerford Bridge, rather an interesting bridge. This is a railroad bridge with a pedestrian bridge alongside it.

Old and new
The old buildings seem to blend in quite well with the new buildings.

Defense buildings
The building on the far right is the ministry of defense. Behind the building to the left of the ministry of defense is the Foreign Office and directly above that is Buckingham Palace.