London, England

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Date: 04.09.2004
Destination: London, England
Day: 1

London baby.. Finally after months of planning, ticket booking and head-banging, I am going to Great Britain. Basically, the trip is plan by me but the people going there are 4. So, you know how headache it is trying to find the cheapest flight, cheapest accomodation, cheapest ticket, cheapest everything..

The flight to London was from Dortmund Airport using Easyjet. One of the main budget airline in Europe. But the time flight was a bit out of shape. 10.00am. It took only 1 hour to reach there but because of time difference, it took us just few minutes. Ha!

At last, we touched down at London Luton (also a small airport). We took a bus to Central London and the first impression is that London look a lot like KL, full of people walking around. Just need time to get used to the fast pace here. Taking the Tube (London Underground Transport), we found our hotel or what we call it budget hotel. What a nice place but the room was on the 4th floor and no elavator! After refreshing and putting down the luggage, off we go for the first London attraction...

We started from Trafalgar Square. Wow! So d*mn big and pretty. There are so many people (mostly tourist) just walking, sitting, lying around. At the same time, the Square was hosting some functions. So, we just started walking where everybody are heading along the famous Westminster road. Along the way are all those famous Double Decker Bus that I started to get bored. Then we pass by 10 Downing Street where it is heavily guarded. And finally, we saw the Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment. The surrounding was so awe inspiring. Hmm... Took so many photos while being there. The yellowish buildings is just a pretty sight with the London Eye being the background.

Just opposite the Houses are Westminster Abbey. A big church i presumed. One of Friends episode featured this place. Ha! It's big but closed for the weekend. Sigh!Then, we headed to the London Eye where we booked a flight up. Yap, they called it flight up the eye (weird Britons). But it's still early, so we stroll along the park beside. There are just some interesting street performers. Some act supperbly as statue for so long. Near evening, it's our time to go up London Eye. Nice view up there! The Eye can take up to 20 persons per capsule and will take 30 minutes to make one round.

Night time and we are still walking around and my legs are killing me.. and sh*t, just the first day. Next, we went to Tower Bridge (or mistakenly known as London Bridge). The night view of the bridge is wonderful and again, more photos. We then took a walk across the short bridge. It's not falling down.. The bridge is very old and has a nice view of the Tower of London and Thames river. At last, it is time to be heading back to the hotel but the nearest Tube Station was miles away. Everyone was tired but at least we saw some of the 'Must See' in London. Back at the hotel, there was no hot water and it is freezing and there's no light in the bedroom! 8 days to go.. How lar?







Date: 05.09.2004
Destination: London, England
Day: 2

A nice sleep.. Hmm.. Breakfast bread and biscuit from Duisburg. No meat! Today is Castle and Palace day because we are going to Hampton Court Palace and Tower of London.

The journey to Hampton Court Palace took 1 hour. It's on the outskirt of London. We reached there early to beat the queue but maybe too early. Huh! The main entrance is not that grand but inside, wow! very nice.. it was the palace for one of the most famous king of England, Henry VII. The palace is divided into several apartments such as State's, Queen, King, Georgian and the amazing garden and maze. Each and every wall in the Palace are so beautiful crafted with paintings, vase, guns and so on... There is one 'weird' clock hanging on top of the inside gate that shows the hour, minute, day, seasons that even i also can't figure it out. hmm.. and also a small church inside that is creepy and cold. No photos inside the palace. D*mn! After all the rooms and apartments, it past noon and it's getting late for the next visit to London Tower so we just breeze pass the big garden and got lost in the maze just for a while.

Next stop, Tower of London. Just beside the Tower Bridge. It is famous for the hanging of Queens, Kings and the storing place of the Crown Jewel. I think that Braveheart (Mel Gibson) was hanged here too. We can see nice view of London from here and a lot of past London. Inside, we saw the famous 'red-shirt guard that won't move'... the White Tower, the place that showcase armoury of Medieval London. And others, you know.. guns, cannons, swords, guards, people's head.. blablabla.. I think we are getting tired of seeing castles. And before we left, we caught a nice view of the Tower Bridge opening for a ship. Huh! I think we got a good bargain by purchasing a twin Hampton Court Palace and Tower of London ticket that is much more cheaper than the London Pass..

We then took a one way short boat cruise along river Thames to Westminster. The boat tour guide was a clown and shown us a lot of building along the river such as the Millenium Bridge, the Globe, Shakespear's house, the real London Bridge, St. Paul Cathedral etc. Nice way to end the day of course. Before we headed back to the hotel, we stopped by Harrod. A shopping complex which is closed on Sunday. Man.. That night, we had fast food for dinner and I think that is the cheapest food you can find in London. Others cost a fortune. We had our room changed to a better room.. another day survived... congrates










Date: 12.09.2004
Destination: London, England
Day: 9

We reached London early in the morning from Edinburgh and this will be the last day of our long trip..

We put our luggage at the bus station and had our breakfast which is again, biscuit and coffee. Then off we go to Maddame Tussaud's and the Planeterium. We were there at 9 am to enter early as it will be very full later especially on weekend. Maddame Tussaud's is a wax museum with lifelike celebrities, sport stars and famous individuals. It is not cheap! We are the first batch to enter and we took photos with nearly 'everybody' there. There was Tom Cruise, The Rock, Britney Spears, Mel Gibson, The Beatles, Pele, The Hulk, Superman, James Bond, David Beckham and of course George Bush and Tony Blair.

Then we walk towards the Chamber Live! It is a torture exhibition with wax figures in so terrible real torture post. There was also a Ghost House there and we dared ourselves entering. Inside was people dress and act as ghost .. Really scary! After the Chamber, we went to the Planeterium for the Trojan Show. It was exciting especially the light show up in the ceiling... Too bad it was a short show.

Then we went to the British Museum. It was unlike Muzium Negara, this museum is really full. One can spend the whole day here but because of our time constraint, we just have a look around. The main focus should be the big oval library and the Egypt Exhibition (full of Mummies).

After exiting, we headed to Buckingham Palace. The weather was nice that day, unlike in Edinburgh. But still very windy. The palace is the residence place of the Queen but we can't see Her Majesty lar.. Hmm.. The garden or should be called park around the palace was so huge.. We walk through it towards the Tube Station for our next destination. It takes more than 20 minutes.

Everybody was tired but we don't have a place to stay so off we go to St. Paul Cathedral. We can't enter the Cathedral as it was closed on that day. The front side of the Cathedral was dark as there was painting going on. I think the interior is surely as beautiful as the outside... Then we cross the Millenium Bridge across the Thames River to the other side to find something to eat as everybody was very hungry. There was no Tube Station near, the nearest being the London Bridge Station, which is still quite far. But as we go on, we go through a lot of other 'smaller' attraction along the river such as William Shakespear's House, Pirate Ship and HM Battleship.

We went to Victoria Station to search for food but ended having Pizza Hut. As we still has 6 hours to go before heading to the airport, we ate slowly. Night time arrive and suddenly I wanted to go to have a last look at London at night, so we went up a Red Double Decker and headed straight to Picadilly Circus, just a 10 minutes ride. There are big neon sign boards all around, looks very much like New York Times Square. Picadilly Circus is a busy junction of 5 roads coming together with shops around it..

After that, we went to the bus station and headed to the airport, it was 1.30am. Our plane back to Germany was 7.30am so the airport will be our sleeping tent for the day.

The whole nine days was quite memorable. We saw Great Britain in a nut shell, the Famous Landmark, Old Town, Medieval Cities, Modern Buildings, Man U, Beautiful landscape. A truly wonderful experiance...

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