Ok, so London will never be London without the Buckingham Palace. Just one more spot I can now tick off.
So I'm proud to say: "Buckingham Palace? Pah, been there, done that."
Ranking as the 3rd most expensive city in the world in terms of cost of living (Moscow and Tokyo being the 1st and 2nd respectively), London still offers - believe it or not - quite a few decent free events.
Still don't believe me? Check out londonisfree.com
Camden Town is one helluva ‘hood. The beauty of this town is its eccentricity. There was so much crazy stuff there, I was too busy gaping to take enough snapshots. There was either a tattoo or a piercing studio (or a tattoo AND a piercing studio) on every block. And we met a gang of authentic punks hanging around enjoying themselves in front of the Camden Lock. Too cool for words. It’s a paradise for all punks, goths, and ravers. And yeah, regardless of the fact that I surely do not belong to any of the three, it was definitely amazing. A superficial peek into London’s subculture.
The Camden Lock Market was a bit of a world market, with stalls and shops full of unique goodies and yummy food from all over the world. It’s an absolute must-see!
Yes, I love spoofs!
Nearest Tube Station: Camden Town on the Northern Line
We passed by the Trafalgar Square and found the Admiralty Arch on The Mall.
And as we walked down the Whitehall, we saw the Horse Guards surrounded by hundreds of wild picture-happy tourists (me inclusive, though it must have really sucked for the guard to be in such a weird spotlight as they are actually supposed to maintain a straight face while doing their jobs. And, of course, many made some nutty attempts to crack them up. Bozos. Lucky for them, the horse didn’t get pissed off. I felt with that guard, really. ).
Then we finally reached the Bridge St. to get a sight of the world-famous Big Ben, the giant clock tower on the Palace of Westminster. Today is Saturday, so there was a lot going on in the streets. Most of them stood on the bridge to snap some pictures of Big Ben and London Eye. We wanted to check out London Eye too actually, but the eternal queue turned us off. Besides, it was cooler to experience the sights from up close rather from up above anyway - yeah, I'm just cool like that.Lady 1 and Lady 2 meet at the front door:
Lady 1: "Hey, nice to see you! How are you, alright?"
Lady 2: "Yeah, am fine, thanks! How're you?"
Lady 1: "Good good! Have you been going to the gym lately??"
Lady 2: "Yeah yeah (smiles)!"
Lady 1: "Doesn't look like you do (smiles)!"
Lady 2: .....
I stopped counting the times I almost got killed by cars coming from the wrong side of the road.
Luckily, the Brits are aware that the majority of the world has right-hand traffic, and they are considerate enough to remind the people to beware while moving about with the traffic going on on the wrong side (Those signs could save your life, honestly!).
So if they think they're driving on the right side of the road, how come they drive on the left side?
We set off for Greenwich to check out the Prime Meridian before we visited some other far-out London spots today.
After arriving at the Greenwich station we actually wanted to see the Cutty Sark, a clipper ship used as a merchant vessel which was built centuries ago, but were downhearted to learn that the good old ship is currently undergoing restoration.
We then proceeded to pass by the Royal Naval College just along the riverpath. On the same grounds was The Queen’s House which featured some ancient paintings and artworks etc.
After taking a picture of Queen Elizabeth I's portait, I realized that photographing was not allowed.
Did you know that One Tree Hill is not only a TV-series, but a spot in the Greenwich Park as well?
Some park impressions:
A few meters southwards was the Royal Observatory which also marked the location of the Prime Meridian - Longitude 0°. The Peter Harrison Planetarium was also just right behind.
One can actually overlook the River Thames and the London Docklands by standing at the Royal Observatory:
Found some other neat spots on the way back to the station:
Nearest Tube Station: Cutty Sark (for maritime Greenwich) on the Docklands Light Railway Line
Today’s tour started off at Covent Garden, a marketplace known for its Royal Opera House and street performers. We got off the station and were just about to check the happenings and some shopping spots when we came across a huge crowd formed into a semi-circle. Standing amidst all the pairs of curious eyes and ears were two fine gentlemen dressed in suits, one soap box, and a unicycle which, as far as my eyes could have guesstimated from up close, was about 3 meters tall (that’s approx. 10′ for all you non-metric-unit-users). How lucky of us to just have arrived on time to witness some funky street stunt show.
The street performers got an enormous round of applause and a generous amount of donations.
More of Leicester Square:
Nearest Tube Station: Covent Garden on the Piccadilly Line
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