England/Scotland - London

Tuesday - 10 June – To London

Morning was not too busy today. The train to London was at 2 pm so Gaurav dropped me by 1:30 at Darlington station. Despite me being so early, I did not find out where coach A will arrive. I ended up getting into H coach and just finding a free seat. No one checked my ticket! 

Kings Cross was huge station. I came out and went down again to get into the Tube station for Victoria station. No trouble finding the station or hotel - Romany House Hotel. All went well. Room is on the third floor! Ugh. I probably would not stay here again. London is so well connected that one can stay anywhere in the city and get to anywhere.

Since it was only 5 pm, I decided to go to Notting Hill just to walk around. Bus 52 went directly there. I enjoyed the little walk on Portobello Road, all the shops and places to eat. I got my shopping out of the way. There were some nice neighborhoods, but otherwise not much to do. Got back by 8 pm.

Notting Hill

Notting Hill

Done for the day.

Wednesday - 11 June – London Tour

Today is the free walking tour at 11 am. Am in no mood to go out too early. Got to Hyde Park by 10:30 am. Walked around a bit, saw horses go by for the change of guards and found the guide, Theo. We started the tour at Wellington Arch and walked on Constitution Avenue towards Buckingham Palace. From there we saw the horses and bit of the change of guards. Saw St. James palace and walked the mall. Theo explained that the king was in town since the flag was up. St. James Park is a nice park to walk through. We reached Trafalgar Square. The National Gallery is there for visit, not for me this time. We did not wait much there – I know now is because you cannot walk in the square. Its all corralled off for something. Theo told us about the column, Nelson – officer in the army got shot twice in the head, lost sight in one eye but still continued to serve.

Wellington Arch

St. James's Palace

St. James's Park

From there we walked down Whitehall to see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. That is where we finished the tour. In the middle we had passed 10 Downy Street (it is also all protected for safety). A lot of things were listed in the tour outline, and we did walk past them, but Theo did not point them out. How much will he point out? There is so much going on in that area. 

Big Ben

He recommended Farmers Place by James Underground station for lunch, and it was good – I had brown rice with tofu and mac and cheese with some salad. It was just a perfect amount in money and size.

Then I decided to go back to Big Ben and walk towards the London Eye to see if they would let me in one hour early. Walked over the bridge. There are too many tourists – wow! I was able to get into London Eye quickly. It was a nice ride. Good views. 

From London Eye

Then I took the Uber Boats by Thames Clippers – it’s the commuter boat – but really there were all tourists on it. I took it to Greenwich. There was nothing much there except the ship. The westbound boat came after 20 mins and I got off at Embankment to walk towards Trafalgar Square. 

The goal is to go to Piccadilly Circus. Trafalgar Square was a bummer with everything closed off. 

Trafalgar Square

The walk to Piccadilly was not too long. Piccadilly is essentially a shopping and eating galore. Nothing for me. There are way too many tourists here. I found China Town also. Walked up to Leicester Square to catch my bus, 24, back to the hotel. I am tired….more than 7 miles of walking today. 

Piccadilly Circus

China Town

Leicester Square

Thursday 12 June – London and To Manchester

Have to check out today. I have the London Historical Tour and then catch the bus to Manchester. Left the luggage with the hotel at 9 am and took the tube to Tower Hill. This is where the London Tower is, which is not really a tower, it’s a whole castle type structure. Interesting. I don’t remember this at all, even though we had come here to see the jewels so looong ago.

I ate my cheese and onion pastry looking at the tower. It’s a nice day today, no jacket required. The tour started promptly with Rob at 10 am. (The hotel on the station had the restroom – you just have to walk in confidently and use their restroom, which I did!). 

We started with the wall the Romans built around 60AD right on the station – well…near the river. They built the tower, which got damaged and rebuilt over time. After the Romans left the Anglo and Saxon tribes came and took over London. And then the Vikings, but the AngloSaxons survived. This is the first 1000 years of London. 

Sun Dial

We walked towards The Tower of London where we learned about the beheadings, and the first zoo and jewels that were there. Interesting. Royalty is tough business. Then we walked towards Tower Bridge. Spent quite some time there learning about the London bridge, which was old and sold off to an American in Arizona! I did not know. Tower bridge is not that old and quite a nice looking bridge which also allows for ships to pass through. The area we were standing in had the import docks for sugar and fish. And lastly we saw the interesting tallest building, The Chard, on the other side of the Thames. Now is know about it! It looks like it is unfinished at the top hence the name. 

We walked along the Thames to reach the Monument, which is a large pillar to commemorate the big fire in London which burned down all London, started accidentally from a baker’s shop. We can also walk the pillar from inside if one so wants to – why? To see the views. From there we can also see the The Blitz, the walkie talkie building, which is won for the worst building twice! It is also the one that has the Sky Garden in case anyone wants to go and view the London skyline. Its free but one has to book in advance. (Theo mentioned that Garden at 120, does the same with fewer people so easy to get into). 

We then walked to the oldest coffee house in London, now it is a pub, of course. It was a place for people to meet and discuss whatever. It lead to a lot of business deals as financial type guys came there to enjoy. I would not have seen this side of London if not for this tour.

Next was the Mansion House, which is for the Mayor of Greater London, which really is more of a decorative position given to a rich person for one year. It is by vote, but only the rich can win as it is by how many people you know. Anyway, the house is quite huge and beautiful from outside, I am sure it is fantastic from inside too.

Next on the stop were The Royal Exchange and The Bank of England. Both are near each other, and the exchange looks more like the bank, but now the exchange which used to be a business hub of sheep and wool and meat, is now the business hub for expensive watches and clothes 😊 – a high end mall. If I had time, I would have gone inside just to see. Quite an old building, very different originally but now it looks fantastic. The Bank is hidden behind a wonderful exterior wall. It has the world’s largest amount of gold. Really? More than Fort Knox?? Only one person ever has been able to get inside where the gold is kept, a guy who used to work in the sewer system water tunnels! Great story.

Last stop was St Paul's Cathedral, where Charles and Diana got married. It is quite a cathedral. All these cathedrals charge money for visiting. Anyway…nice building. Next time I am around in London, I will visit here at 5 pm when it is free.

That is it. Once the tour was done, I went back to Victoria. Ate Thai lunch at Rosa’s and got some packed for home, and got my luggage from the hotel. Then began the long trek for the Coach station. No one was quite clear where it was. Finally, I did find it but was early so waited about 40 mins. 

Bus ride to Manchester was long, 5 hrs, but was made longer by some traffic issue on the highway. Anyway, got to Manchester around 8:45, had to walk to St. Peter square to get the tram to get home. Long day!

I am ready to go back to WPB.