London in a day, no way!

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Europe and United Kingdom Trip - May 1993

We departed from Manchester in the morning, to fly to London and arrived at 9.30 at Heathrow airport. To get to our hotel we took our first trip on the London underground to Kings Cross and booked into our hotel which was close by. That was easy! We had never before travelled on an underground train, but from the airport to our hotel it was not complicated and was great.



What to do in London in less than 24 hours? Such a difficult choice. We were departing on a tour early the next morning so we had limited time. To make matters more difficult we had pre-booked and paid for a matinee show from home which cut into the day as well. How do you choose what to do in London in such a short time?

First step, we chose a central spot and studied the tube map to see how to get there. Luckily Paul has a good sense of direction, so he managed to work it out quite quickly and we set forth with our exploring. Our eyes must have looked like saucers as we walked around the streets of London, but there was just so much to look at.

Eventually Paul suggested we go to the 'Rock Museum' so we ventured in and lost ourselves in the history of rock music. Before we knew it, it was close to the time for our matinee show. Only problem was that our tickets were still at our hotel and we had to collect them, then make our way to 'Her Majesty's Theatre' and time was running short. Once again we were studying maps and train timetables to see where we needed to go. We ended up running to the underground, hopped on to the train back to Kings Cross, which was thankfully quick and on time, hopped off the train at Kings Cross, sped up to our room to get the tickets, charged back to the station to catch the next train. Fortunately it was just a few minutes till the next train arrived and we got on, but if I remember correctly, we had to switch trains for a different route as well, then eventually hopped off at Piccadilly circus and ran to the theatre with seconds to spare. I thought I was going to have heart palpitations! Paul was relatively fit in those days, because he used to run every day, but I wasn't quite as fit. It took me a while to compose myself and stop puffing and panting before I could enjoy the show. But what a show it was: Phantom of the Opera! We were both enthralled with the stage props, costumes, music and singing. Another highlight of our trip. Every time we hear the music we think back with fond memories of the show and rushing through London to get to the show on time. As for our London underground experience – not bad for the first time!



We didn't really see much of London on that day, but we would be back for a couple of days after our tour, so we still had a chance too see more of this city. That evening back at the hotel we met our tour guide and some of our fellow travellers and prepared for an early departure the next morning – 5 am!

After all the running about in the afternoon we were exhausted and we walked around the streets close to our hotel looking for dinner and ended up eating a slice of pizza for about 1.50 pounds and then headed back to our hotel room and collapsed on our bed and drifted off dreaming of phantoms in red London buses and underground trains.

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Photos

London
A postcard of St Paul's Cathedral

London
Postcard of the sights of London

London
Alma listening to Dire Straits music at the Rock Museum

London
Big Ben

Comments

[Paul]

Underground trains and shows
The reason we had to change trains on the way to the show was due to a bomb scare on one of the trains. i still remember being so hot after having to run to the show as they did not let you in if you arrived late.