Old London Town

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Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236

I'm only 2 days into my trip and I am standing on the banks of the river Thames taking photos of Big Ben. It feels so surreal, but after an amazing day of seeing at the usual tourist spots, I can't stop being so amazed at what a fantastic city London is.
It's almost 8 am as I passed through the gates at Heathrow looking a little worse for wear and with the knowledge of having to stay awake for the day.

We caught the train and bus to Anna's aunties place. We grabbed a small selection of things for lunch and took a walk along the banks of the Thames from the outer suburbs perspective.
It felt weird being in the UK from the beginning but felt great. I had passed out by 6pm and slept 11 hours which was much needed.

The following morning we had arranged to meet a friend of mine, Bec. We were staying near Victoria station so we met there at 1pm. We also checked into our hostel and put our bags in storage and hit the streets for some sweet tourist action.

It still felt weird being in London, but as we went from landmark to landmark and as the picture count passed the 200 point I became more and more excited about London, about Europe and about my trip.
I kept thinking what London would have been like a few hundred years back and the developments that have occurred since.

First stop, Buckingham Palace with the goofy guards, sadly no Queen sighting. The only sighting around the palace was of hundreds of people participating in a bike event. We took advantage of this event to score some free yellow bibs for some free drinks.
We made our way to other major icons including Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, Big Ben, Houses of parliament and the London Eye. I was amazed at how everything is so close together and easily accessible by foot.

Street performers littered the banks of the Thames next to the London Eye and draw the crowds in with Charlie Chaplin impersonations, magic tricks and bubble making.
We stopped for a bite to eat along the river bank and made our way back this time in darkness. London at night provides some excellent photo opportunities.
It was then back to the hostel for some much needed rest.

The following morning saw Anna and myself on the train and bus to the Lake District, but we just missed the bus which saw us stand in a long queue for a replacement.
So far the weather has held up, I hadn't experienced the dreaded English rainy day.

Just the first blog of many to come, and it's only been 2 days!
I may possibly add some extra photos and text to this one as we stay in London for one more night before heading to Paris, there I will be catching up with Radek.

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