London - The City of the cities

Every time I hear "London" I imagine Thames,Tower bridge,St.Paul's Cathedral,Buckingham Palace,Big Ben and all those pictures we all have seen so many times on TV,post cards and internet.And every time it makes me think how wonderful it is and when I finally managed to visit it I was not disappointed at all even I was more amazed by its spirit and nature.

In The London City,a typical cab

I talked to a friend before our journey and when I told him we gonna stay for 4 days he said: "Mira, 4 weeks won't be enough to see everything that deserves to be seen".And he was absolutely right. So we had to make our program very cut and this was my list with places to visit:

• Buckingham Palace
• Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament
• Westminster Abbey
• London Tower
• Tower Bridge
• The City
• St.Paul's Cathedral
• Trafalgar square
• Covent garden
• Oxford and Regent Street
• Piccadilly Circus
• Leicester square
• London Eye
• Hide Park
• Royal Greenwich Observatory
• Museums

It's enough I guess...but let's see did we manage to visit them all,which ones we liked and which not?

I won't probably surprise you if I tell you that our first day was rainy.Maybe it's good to advise you now that in case of a rainy day it would be better to start with museums and not walks in the rain unless you have gumboots and solid raincoat. And because of the rain or something else(no idea) an uniformed guy came to us while we were already waiting for 30min for the guard change in front of Buckingham Palace and told us there wouldn't be changing the same day.First I got very sad,then I said : "OK,we'll come tomorrow" but actually we didn't.Anyway still thinking of following my plan we took a walk through St.James's Park. It was beautiful as it could be in all kind of weather although it was gloomy.We reached the Horse Guards building and although we couldn't see the change of the guard,at least we saw some guards on their horses and we even had fun with them.It seems to be a hard job to stay all day with those tourists who joke with you and take photos all the time.We passed and went on Downing street,popular with the residence of the Prime Minister.

So many people waiting for the guard's changing

Getting more and more...

St. James Park

Beautiful in spite of the weather

One of the guard in front of the Horse Guards Building

Big Ben and The Houses of Parliement! I couldn't believe I was standing there and it's hard to explain my feelings - I was in the heart of the World. It's not that I haven't seen beautiful buildings and probably this is not the best I've seen but the fact I was standing there was unbelievable. And it was the same with the Westminster Abbey,it has always sounded me Royal - weddings,coronations,funerals.If you wanna visit it,it's good to check the opening hours because every day they are different.
Tourists were all around mostly in the famous tour buses.It could be good to take a tour by them but it is deffinitely cheaper if you take a round trip by a regular bus.

Big Ben

Westmisnter Abbey

Tower bridge impressed me the most.It is just the same as in the pictures but when I saw it alive I was fascinated of how imposing it was..More than 100 years the bridge rises above Thames, thousands of people use it every day ,a lot of tourists visit it to learn something more about its history or simply to take pictures.The bridge is named after the Tower of London that is nearby. For its history of 1000 years it used to be a royal palace, fortress, prison, place of execution, arsenal, mint, menagerie and more.Now it is a museum that presents all those time in the past.I always connect England with palaces and towers and in London I saw why.I could only imagine what would be in the rest of UK!

The amazing Bridge

Tower of London

As I told in the beginning a museum visit is a great option in a rainy day.Besides most of the museums in London are free of charge so you just have to visit at least one.So in the middle of our day I finally realised it and we proceeded to the History museum. As soon as we  left the subway I saw the biggest tale for a museum ever.There were probably more than 100 people with umbrellas and raincoats standing out there waiting for being allowed in the museum. We just didn't have that time so we went to the nearest Science museum which is in the next building. Another option is to visit Victoria and Albert museum which is also on the same street.But let's get back on the Science  museum - I am very satisfied of our luck to fall there.It has 5 or 6 floors and so many exibition halls - industrial,agricultural,mathematics(sure - my favorite),computers,psychology,medical history,space and maybe 10 more. Our friend told us that he was coming for 3-d time and he still needs at least one more to take a look at everything. On the first floor there is also a shop to by some interesting souvenirs or just some gadgets to remind you that place.

A cash register

Female condoms

Math section

We could not miss the City of London,the business area,the bank center. It is the most modern region,with the most modern architecture. I regret a little that we visited it at the weekend and we couldn't see all those working people in costumes. In the City is situated the St. Paul's Cathedral.It is said that Westmisnter Abbey is the church of British people but the St. Paul's Cathedral is the church of Londoners.Inside it is with brocatelle marble,so beautiful.An amazing garden is located in the backyard and in front of the Cathedral there is a charming square where we spent some time for a coffee break.The famouse Millenium bridge is also nearby,this is the only one pedestrian bridge in London.

The City and The Royal Exchange

A map of the banks in the City

St.Paul's Cathedral

Millenium bridge

Me posing with the Cathedral behind

I guess it is enough for the museums and the most famous buildings and landmarks.In my next article I will tell you more about streets,squares,people and culture in London.