10 - 12 June 2013
Day 6: Science Museum
I said earlier that everything in London is expensive but I should revise that statement to say that everything EXCEPT the national museums, which are free! There's a lot of museums to choose from but being the nerd that I am, I decided upon the Science Museum. I didn't get to see everything but I covered the Alan Turing section, the James Watt section, the space area and the Google Web Lab. The first 3 sections were all really good but the Web Lab was a let down because it has 5 experiments but 2 of them were down (for people in the lab but still accessible via internet) and the last was just a "see what you've done" PC. It was a cool idea but poorly executed (link to their site).
Old London walking tour
I now know that London city has another city inside it; Old London City. A fun fact is that the Queen has no jurisdiction here and the mayor must meet her at the border if she ever wishes to enter. This walking tour took us past the Opera Theatre in Covent Garden, the RAF church that still has shrapnel damage, temple church (where the Knights Templar started), the original stock exchange, the Bank of England, the embankment (with a view of HMS Belfast, the Shard, the wobbly millenium bridge, the Eye, the Globe Theatre and Tower Bridge), St Pauls Cathedral, the monument (to the great fire), London Tower and finally to the remains of the city wall from the Roman era.
Coffee
After the walking tour I went for a wander with two girls I met on the tour, an Adelaidean and a Californian, until we found a coffee shop to relax in.
Headphone fail
I bought some cheap headphones to replace the ones I killed but it was a terrible mistake because they SUCKED!
Day 7: Car Shopping
The boys were after a car so I tagged along for a morning of car shopping. We didn't find anything :(
Trafalgar Square
I made my way into town again after the car shopping to see some more sights. I wandered around lots of streets and alleyways, where I recognised a lot from Monopoly, and eventually ended up in Trafalgar Square. I expected it to be full of pigeons but it wasn't, just full of people.
Day 8: London Eye
The Californian chick was kind enough to share her free passes for the London Eye so up we went. Unfortunately the weather was a bit rubbish and one side of the capsule was covered in rain drops so photos weren't going to happen (we still tried). The view is great though because you can see a full 360 degrees and the top is easily taller than anything else that's close.
Dinner
We went to a Thai restaurant called Tutuk for dinner where I ordered, and I bet you can't guess, nasi goreng! It was both great tasting and plentiful and I'd definitely eat there again.
Scenic way home
I hadn't done much walking today so I decided to walk back to Victoria station rather than taking the tube. The two things I noticed; I was walking through a pretty rich area and London doesn't have any straight streets.
I'm a bit slow
So at this point I'd already caught the tube a bunch of times but I only just realised that the handle bars are colour coded to the line that you're catching, duh!
More thoughts (dangerous, I know)
-The long days mess me up because it doesn't get dark until almost 10 so you end up going to bed really late
-The sun is still a rare sight
Day 6: Science Museum
I said earlier that everything in London is expensive but I should revise that statement to say that everything EXCEPT the national museums, which are free! There's a lot of museums to choose from but being the nerd that I am, I decided upon the Science Museum. I didn't get to see everything but I covered the Alan Turing section, the James Watt section, the space area and the Google Web Lab. The first 3 sections were all really good but the Web Lab was a let down because it has 5 experiments but 2 of them were down (for people in the lab but still accessible via internet) and the last was just a "see what you've done" PC. It was a cool idea but poorly executed (link to their site).
Old London walking tour
I now know that London city has another city inside it; Old London City. A fun fact is that the Queen has no jurisdiction here and the mayor must meet her at the border if she ever wishes to enter. This walking tour took us past the Opera Theatre in Covent Garden, the RAF church that still has shrapnel damage, temple church (where the Knights Templar started), the original stock exchange, the Bank of England, the embankment (with a view of HMS Belfast, the Shard, the wobbly millenium bridge, the Eye, the Globe Theatre and Tower Bridge), St Pauls Cathedral, the monument (to the great fire), London Tower and finally to the remains of the city wall from the Roman era.
Coffee
After the walking tour I went for a wander with two girls I met on the tour, an Adelaidean and a Californian, until we found a coffee shop to relax in.
Headphone fail
I bought some cheap headphones to replace the ones I killed but it was a terrible mistake because they SUCKED!
Day 7: Car Shopping
The boys were after a car so I tagged along for a morning of car shopping. We didn't find anything :(
Trafalgar Square
I made my way into town again after the car shopping to see some more sights. I wandered around lots of streets and alleyways, where I recognised a lot from Monopoly, and eventually ended up in Trafalgar Square. I expected it to be full of pigeons but it wasn't, just full of people.
Day 8: London Eye
The Californian chick was kind enough to share her free passes for the London Eye so up we went. Unfortunately the weather was a bit rubbish and one side of the capsule was covered in rain drops so photos weren't going to happen (we still tried). The view is great though because you can see a full 360 degrees and the top is easily taller than anything else that's close.
Dinner
We went to a Thai restaurant called Tutuk for dinner where I ordered, and I bet you can't guess, nasi goreng! It was both great tasting and plentiful and I'd definitely eat there again.
Scenic way home
I hadn't done much walking today so I decided to walk back to Victoria station rather than taking the tube. The two things I noticed; I was walking through a pretty rich area and London doesn't have any straight streets.
I'm a bit slow
So at this point I'd already caught the tube a bunch of times but I only just realised that the handle bars are colour coded to the line that you're catching, duh!
More thoughts (dangerous, I know)
-The long days mess me up because it doesn't get dark until almost 10 so you end up going to bed really late
-The sun is still a rare sight
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| The Eye from Hungerford Bridge |
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| Shrapnel damage from WW2 bombings on the RAF church |
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| St Pauls Cathedral |
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| London Tower |
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| I'm touching a 2000 year old wall (well, the foundations are anyway) |
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| Trafalgar Square |
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| More Trafalgar Square |
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| Pfft, these aren't balls! |
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| Tower Bridge |
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| In the Eye capsule. From left to right: Me, Adelaide and California |
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| As we reached the top |
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| I do actually. There were heaps of these banners, all with a different conversation starter. |
Tom, London has made you soft. Look at that person behind you in Trafalgar Square! Riding a lion! That should've been YOU! :)
ReplyDeleteFinally found your blog! Hello.
ReplyDeleteDammit I had to finally create a Google+ account for this. You've ruined me.
Lol those balls are small! :P
ReplyDelete