So today I unfortunately have to leave London. I've been here since the 15th, which I believe was Monday, and I have to say this city is just magnificent. The tube system despite being a tad overwhelming at points is actually such a great system. Definitely much better than anything we have in Calgary.
So Monday was just my arrival I didn't really do much that, just kind of say in my hostel relaxing. Tuesday was the real start to my holiday. To be honest I didn't really know what to do with my time. I sat in the hostel most of the morning just firing out where to go an dhow to get there. But I did end up going to Green Park, which is close to Buckingham Palace. At 3 o'clock that day I did a walking tour of London which took us around western central London I'd say, and the guide we had, his name was Eddy, kind of reminded me of Doctor Who a little bit, but that's besides the point. Eddy was actually very knowledgable about London and shared with us some very interesting facts. Like how in Green Park they have no actual flower beds, there are flowers just no flower beds, because some king was cheating on his wife and was picking some flowers for his mistress from the park so his wife ordered them torn up. I'm sad because I don't remember which king it was exactly, but I believe it was King Charles II.
Frem there we continued towards Buckingham Palace. Which is heavily guarded, but really gorgeous. It is believed to have some 780 room or something close to that if I remember correctly. There is also more than one part of this building. It you look close at it you will see that it is 2 different colours, the front part is actually a newer addition to the building.
Walking away from Buckingham Palace you will notice that the road there is red, it is called the Mal. Eddy said that the road there is red so that it seems like a red carpet when travelling on it. I thought it sounded kind of silly but it did make sense.
Continuing on we walked through Westminster which has a lot of prestigious clubs. I don't mean party dance clubs, I mean prestigious groups of people that get together to drink tea or brandy or something and talk about the city. After walking through Westminster we ended up in Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square is averylarge area that was used for many protests or gatherings. The fountains within the square we're supposedly built to reduce the amount of space people could use to protest. The large statue within the square as four lions upon it and a man on top of a tall pillar. Now again I don't remember his name but he won a war for Britain during Napoleon Bonapartes attempt at ruling Europe. The lion statues in the square were made by a man who was a painter rather than a sculptor. The lions were his first sculptures and therefore he requested a real lion so he could get the look and everything about it right. So they went through a lot of trouble to bring this man a lion. When they eventually found one they killed it and brought it back to him, but the decaying animal does not provide a perfect model so that is why you may notice the lions in the square may appear to have disfigured paws.
Ater the square we walked along a road with many parliament buildings on it. Then we ended up beside Big Ben, the actual Building of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. It was phenomenal to see, as some of you my know I've always wanted to go to London and see these sights. I can't even explain how extraordinary it was to experience, I took many pictures as you can guess. After Big Ben and other things we walked through some smaller side streets and finished at an all boys school who claims they invented soccer/football; they have a field in the middle of their courtyard that you can only be on if you are playing soccer/football.
From there we all parted ways and I found my way to the London Eye, which for those who don't know is basically a giant Ferris wheel in the centre of London. It cost £20 to go on but it was well worth it. The time of day that I went on was just perfect. The sun was just starting to go down so it was still light out but it was also starting to get dark. Going up in that little bubble thing was unreal. You literally get a view of the entire city. Just about the only thing I couldn't see was the London Bridge and the Tower of London, but I think I'm just blind. Or was looking in the wrong direction..
Once I was done there I took a nice long walk back to my hostel. I got a little lost trying to find the right directions to go so it was a bit of an adventure. Walked a couple blocks down the River Thames and then turned to head towards Trafalgar Square. Walked down the Mal a little and then turned into St James Park. It was nie walking through the park by the water there. I basically took a similar route that the tour took a couple hours before.
The next day, Wednesday, I headed over to Camden Town, which is a large market area of London. It was actually super cool. The area used to be a horse hospital, I believe, so all of the stands have been set up in old horse stalls. Something that you would never see in Calgary. While there at the market I actually ran into 2 girls I had met on the walking tour. One is fully from France so I couldn't really talk with her, but the other girl was in France for some schooling but spoke English so we got along quite well. It was not planned in any way so it was a huge surprise to find them. After we left Camden Town we headed to Hyde Park. There's moms boats there that we took a ride on then headed for dinner.
Thursday I did a bunch of museums, started at the British Museum, which is where I ran into the same girls again! After the Britsh museum we went to the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. After saying good by for the third time I went and met up with an old friend for dinner. i was really happy to be able to catch up with her, it had been quite some time and I really missed her.
Yesterday I just spent lounging around a bit in the morning. Headed to Oxford Street later in the day just to check it out and I must say it is an insanely busy place.
Today I am sad to say hat I must leave London for the next leg of my journey. I am sad but happy. I truly think London is a magical place. They actually have a reliable public transportation system, driving on the left side of the road is still a bit strange, but it comes with being in the UK I guess. I'm sad to go like I said, but 3 months and I'll be back again. =D
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