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Published: March 24th 2014
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London- I think anyone who walked down Oxford street will agree it is quite busy. During our stay we have been there several times, to meet up with friends, and also as a starting point to do some sightseeing. Never before did I realize that the street was that narrow, at least compared to the number of cars that were there. As a result, there were constant traffic jams, and going by foot was mainly the faster option (than going by bus). To spend our time we visited the major sights, took goofy pictures in souvenir shops, and visited the Science Museum (on our last day, the "rainy day").
One of the first effects of a bigger city we felt when we approached Leicester Square one day. It was weird, so many people, so many security and policemen, also yelling at us to not pass the street, to pass the street, very stressed out these guys. But, there must have been some kind of boyband because there were so many girls yelling and crying. Well, this stopped me from visiting the m&m's store in the first place. So, we escaped the masses and decided to do something else (I guess
Victoria Station
... first stop on our way to the hostel. we went to the Tower Bridge and walked along the Thames River).
Greenwich seemed tempting for the second day. The Prime Meridian - just a line of steel in the ground (I know). Moreover, they want the visitors to pay an entrance fee of 7 pounds. Nope, not for that money. Most probably you will not physically notice to stand in two hemispheres. And just to take a picture on the Meridian Line, with 25 others doing the same thing, at the same time, it is simply not worth it. Nonetheless, the National Maritime Museum was an informative alternative, we liked it.
A recommendation gets the Greenwich Market: you can buy a lot of artistic and self-made goods. The market has a genuine air, and one can find some nice presents for the family and friends back home. Contrary to this one, there was Covent Garden, which I found to be too crowded, and everyone was in a hurry.
As my travel mate likes the Beatles, we also went to
Abbey Road and the famous crosswalk. It must be annoying for the car drivers since the crosswalk is blocked by visitors usually quite some time. But, as
Waiting for the hostel-room...
... We found a chess game in one of the tables of the hostel bar and played a game. a visitor, it is amusing to see the people using the crosswalk in the Beatles-record-cover manner. But to find the crosswalk we first strolled around, thought we found it (but where were the other tourists?), then realized that it was not the right one, and asked a man if he knows where it was (probably he has to answer the question quite often). So he showed us the direction, and we noticed that we were way off the intended zebra crossing. Further, my travel mate realized that she lived quite close to the neighborhood some years ago but did not know that "this" Abbey Road and zebra-crossing were so close-by. Coming back to the blog's title - m&m's thought: if the people do not go to real Abbey Road,
why not bring m&m's Abbey Road to them? Therefore, the m&m's store at Leicester Square has its own zebra crossing. But the "pedestrians" look not at all like the Beatles =D And, they were uneatable.
As written, the last London day was rainy, so a museum was an option.
The Science Museum was very nice, with a very informative and interactive presentation of the history of science and engineering. One
funny gadget were the roundish touchscreens on a table at the end of the building (they are on one of my pictures) where you are competing with other visitors to answer questions and solve riddles as fast as possible. So, you had to design your avatar first. The funny (and puzzling) part was: everyone always got the same result as the other competitors. But still, a good game to check your brain and speed. Every working brain needs food to function. So, for lunch we usually had chicken burgers and french fries, not quite healthy, I know (and maybe also not good for the brain, mmh). Maybe another tip (maybe an old one, but still): the Oyster card is very useful when going by public transport - it is kind of a prepaid transport card.
The last days of the holiday we spend in
Wateringbury. A rather small, maybe a bit sleepy town southeast of London. The reason to go there was a visit of my travel mate's former host family. But to see the surroundings we went along the river to Maidstone, a very calming and relaxing walk. If you have an hour or two you can visit
the Maidstone museum, a collection of different exhibits: from nostalgic dinnerware to Japanese relics, to WWI military, to an Egyptian mummy. Of course, you can do shopping, too, but this was not our number one goal.
So, another hard-running trip ended. We made quite some kilometers by foot, and never before have I visited so many museums in just one holiday... And, although we also visited some other sights I did not write about them because already a lot of other travelers did and I thought it would be boring for you to read about them, again - therefore only pictures 😉
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