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Published: November 25th 2007
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London Eye
We went on this at night. It's owned by British Airways. Well my first visit to the United Kingdom was both good and bad, but isn't everything? We left Brussels on the Eurostar hispeed train which was lovely. We shared a table that had 4 seats around it. Since we only needed three, we had one empty to leave stuff in. To our delight, besides having friendly staff, the train also fed us breakfast. It was good too. I had hot chocolate, an omelette, yogurt, orange juice, a croissant with strawberry jelly and butter, a roll with butter, cheese, and various other things I can't remember. So then we arrived at St. Pancras Station. We got on the underground and arrived at Picadilly Circus where we went to the Visitor Center to get our London Pass (which we preordered with a Travelcard). We got some information too.
I actually met some people from Stockholm there so that was neat. We left there and took the bus to Victoria. We picked up our passes for the sightseeing bus, which was discounted thanks to the London Pass. Then, we took a London black cab (we had to once you know) to our hotel since we blessedly couldn't find it. When we arrived and
Tower Bridge
Impressive at night, this is one of the famous bridges over the Thames River. checked in, we realized why the hotel was so cheap. Monica's mother had booked it on hotels.com. Anyway, it was small, didn't have an elevator, and had shabby rooms. So we climbed four flights of stairs to the room and put our stuff in there. The view from the window was also disappointing. So we left there and went to the Pimlico station to get to Victoria.
For anyone going, I definitely recommend a travelcard. You get it for however many days you need and it's good for all transportation forms in the city. Unlike the oyster card, you pay once and get unlimited trips. So anyway, we got on the Big Bus and traveled about London. A trip to Harrod's was in order. I was fascinated by such a place as that but it was too rich for my blood. With the dollar down..psh. So we got back on the bus and went around the City for awhile.
We got off at the London Eye, where we went on the giant ferris wheel and saw the city at night. We ate at an all-you-can-eat Chinese place that was cheap near the Aquarium. Then we walked to a
Tower of London
It was fascinating walking through here and seeing the Beefeaters and where Anne Boleyn was killed and all of the history. I liked the crown jewels too. souvenir shop. Feeling as if we hadn't really done anything, we went back to Victoria via Waterloo and proceeded to the theatre to see Wicked-the musical. Monica and her mother had both read the book. They said the musical doesn't follow the book. I enjoyed it though. After the musical, we went home and slept. I cried as I lumbered up the stairs. Monica was breathing hard since she had her knee brace on which made it hard to climb.
The next morning, the hotel failed to perform the requested wake up call which I was thankful for since I was really tired and got some extra time in. We got ready and Monica and her mom ate some of the breakfast, but not much. Honestly, the hotel wasn't that great. So I napped in the reception area and then we were off. We went first to Speakers' Corner since they said they would have actual people on Sundays. There was no one there yet. So we left and went to Shoreditch where Monica's mom had wanted to go to a market. What a market it was.... They had everything and it was so cheap. If I had brought a suitcase....Lord help those people. I just didn't know how I'd get it to the states. I did buy some things for some people though. My mom would have gone nuts there. So we left it and went to the Tower of London. From the Pier there, we took a river cruise.
Between the tour bus and the cruise, I was able to see (from a distance): Big Ben, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Globe Theatre, St. Paul's Cathedral, Marble Arch, US Embassy, the Belgian Embassy, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Bond Street, the Oxo Tower, Embankment, the HMS Belfast, the Golden Hind, and various other places. After the cruise via City Cruises, we went back to the Tower. We went in and looked around. I went in the White Tower, the Medeival Palace, the Jewel House, and a few other places. I saw Traitor's Gate, the Ravens, Salt Tower, the Beefeaters, and a few other things. They had an ice rink outside it too. I met some people from Oak Ridge, Tennessee of all places there. I would have liked to go there when they do the haunted tour but oh well.
There were a few other places I wanted to go, but we didn't have time. We went back on the train and made it home. They fed us dinner too. o.O
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