How Do I Love Thee?

After alighting from the train from the Chunnel, I hailed a cab to my hotel. On the way over, a most beautiful sight caught my eyes. It was the Parliament Building bathing in the golden evening sun, and if there was such a thing as El Dorado, this would be it. I knew what was on the itinerary of my list to see the next day.

I found catching the Tube or subway, is you may, quite easy compared to Paris. It was surprising through you need to get an elevator down to the level where your platform was. If you think about it, you not just several feet down in the bowels of the earth, but almost a hundred, with other subway lines possibly running above you.

The Parliament Building didn’t have that golden glow in the morning light, but a gray purplish hue and pretty none-the-less. According to the books it was constructed in 1835 after the original burned down. However, because of the Gothic designed, it had an ancient yet a modern look at the same time.

London as a whole is a mish mash of different types of buildings, some old, and some new, and not uniform as in Paris. However, it was not less beautiful and certainly not less exciting. Picadilly Circus and Trafalger Square was always crowded giving a sense of festivities in the air. Bond St. was also bustling with people shopping, and really gave credibility to the Author that said England is a Nation of Shopkeepers. Harrod’s Dept. Store, famous for the father of Princess Diana alleged Eygptian boyfriend was wall to wall shoppers, making it quite unpleasant, actually.

The Tower of London Castle is a beautiful structure almost 1,000 years old but in quite good condition, despite it’s age. Most of the other castles I’ve seen were mostly ruins. Also Westminister Abbey another old structure built in the 13th century was another great photo op. St. Pauls Cathederal where Prince Charles and Princess Diana wedded was also beautiful, though the steps didn’t seem as numerous as in the wedding photos. Could have been the angle.

The Tower Bridge built in 1894 was also a prominent structure near the Castle and it took me a while to realize it wasn’t the “London Bridge” sung in our grade school years. Also in the vicinity were remnants of an old Roman Wall.


Buckingham Palace was a rather plain building yet majestic, with beautiful gold gilded gates. People were always in front trying to catch a rare glimpse of the family or to watch the changing of the guards.

For meals, I found I tended to gravitate toward, Near Eastern or Lebanese Delis where they serve quite tasty meals for an affordable sum. Otherwise it was just mostly MacDonalds and Fish and Chips. Went to a Pakistani Restraraunt for Lamb Vinaloo which I had in Vancouver once and loved, but it was quite a rip off. Don’t know if it was because I was a foreigner, but the meal didn’t even compared to a hamburger, yet it cost close to $20.00.

Near my hotel in Kessington were row houses which went for blocks all uniformed. Reminded me perhaps of The Christmas Carol and neighborhood of Tiny Tim. Also were many large Parks, which was especially nice because of the busyness of the City.

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