What comes to mind when you think of England, and in particular, London? Fish and chips. Football. The royal family. Shakespeare. Big Ben. Knights. Harry Potter.
With all these things floating around my head, I was incredibly excited to visit the capital of England for the first time. And seeing as the country is really one of the closest you can visit from Paris, it was a must-see for me! So with a rare three-day weekend opportunity smack in the middle of high season, there was no question that I would be headed off to London.
Thankfully the riots had stopped in the city, and the heavy police presence in many parts of the city kept things pretty safe. The English seem to be a little paranoid, though. There are CCTV cameras everywhere, watching your every move. Orwell, anyone?
The trip started off with an exhausting overnight coach ride from Paris to London. I wouldn’t particularly recommend this means of transportation; you can’t sleep for more than 90 minutes at a time, since the bus keeps stopping and forcing all the passengers to get up for customs and the ferry ride. I guess you get what you pay for! A return trip with the Eurolines coach was only €91, while the Eurostar high-speed train from London to Paris on the holiday weekend would have cost me over €230! Still, I had to get a little creative to try to be comfortable enough to sleep…
I arrived in London with two other friends at about 6:30AM Saturday morning, famished and willing to eat almost anything (which ultimately ended up being pancakes at McD’s). I then bought my Oyster pass (same as Opus or Navigo cards but with a much uglier name) and took my first tube ride to Camden, north of London. The tube is probably the best underground subway I’ve used so far: it’s clean, it smells relatively okay, there’s absolutely no graffiti, and it’s much more high tech than most other metros. I have to admit though, the constant “Mind the gap!” warnings get annoying very quickly.
I was lucky enough to stay with a German friend who I had met in Australia. I even had a whole room to myself, as one of his roommates had moved out of the flat. He lived in a quiet but more or less central part of the city, which made my exploring very easy to do.
From then on, the rest of the weekend was an intense series of tours, visits, and moments of lost confusion. We started off with an excellent tour at Hyde Park Corner called Sandeman’s New Europe London Tour, which I would recommend to anyone who visits London for the first time. It’s a free tour run by very charismatic students, leading through the main parts of the city by foot and giving some entertaining historical commentary along the way. We walked though the royal gardens, past Buckingham Palace (I apparently pronounce that wrong, you don’t really emphasize the HAM), the Changing of the Guard, past Parliament, and eventually making our way to the gorgeous Westminster Abbey and the symbolic Big Ben (named after the fat guy who built the bell).
Interesting story: you can’t take close-up photos with the Queen’s Guard anymore because 2 years ago a Colombian tourist pissed off a guard so much that the guard lost his cool and attacked the tourist. (Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDPK1kPWj1E) Now the guards are roped off so you can’t toy with them anymore. How unfortunate.
A second tour in the afternoon took me into the older parts of London, from the city of Westminster to the old City of London. We got some Harry Potter fast facts along the way, for example: Gringotts bank was actually filmed at the Australian consulate, and they look pretty much the same! We also learned about the Great Fire in London in the 17th century and the history of the Monument, the Temple (ie. Knights Templar), London Bridge, and the Tower of London.
Unfortunately my plans to see a play or musical on Saturday night fell through (my one great regret on this trip), so we ended the evening with some cheap Chinese food, a nighttime stroll along the Thames River, and of course of few drinks at the pub!
Sunday morning started off early at the Camden market, a highly popular and “hip” place to find almost anything, such as food, souvenirs, trinkets, records, clothes, art, and even a massive multi-floored cybergoth shop! I loved this place, and I wish I had more time (and money) to fully enjoy the market all day.
Yet there were many other things to see and do. The Tower of London took up most of the afternoon. It’s a massive medieval fortress with exhibits and museums scattered around the grounds, including exhibits about torture, the armory, the royal menagerie, and the Crown Jewels. I even got to see a realistic swordfight on the moat outside the fortress walls! I’ve always been enthralled by the Middle Ages, and exploring a genuine castle was quite an experience.
I ended the day with my German friend searching for the hidden “gems” of London: Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross, Abbey Road, and 221B Baker Street. As touristy as these places are, it was cool to go on a little pilgrimage and see some of the most famous spots in the city. Just a head’s up: Platform 9¾ isn’t between Platforms 9 and 10, because there isn’t anything there! JK Rowling apparently confused King’s Cross with another station.
Monday was the last stretch of my tour of London, which included the majestic Westminster Abbey (where the royal coronations have always taken place, where Kate and Will’s wedding was held, and where centuries-old memorials tomb of famous Englishmen are placed), the Natural History Museum, and the British Museum. None of the three disappointed, and I just wish I had more time to explore them completely. Some of the highlights of the museums included an impressive dinosaur exhibit (with animatronics of course) and an exhibit of scientific tools used during the Renaissance. As you could imagine, this was probably the most exhausting of the three days!
London was fantastic, and held up to my expectations. I had a great weekend exploring the city. Three days aren’t nearly enough to really get to know London. I’ll have to return again one day!
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