Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts

Saturday, 5 March 2011

Spirit of London

In my previous post I shared with you some of the places I visited in London,mostly museums and must see landmarks.This one would be more about London life.
An artist near Covent Garden
Let me start with the famous Piccadilly Circus. My imagine of it was WOW until I stepped there.It is a regular square with the famous Sanyo advertisement!(Here I have to say that everybody sees things in different way and probably for you Picadilly Circus would be charming as for example Trafalgar square was for me,but for this place later).You're surrounded by shops,bigger and smaller,selling everything - from souvenirs to expensive clothes.We went on north, along Regent street,beautiful street again with shops,pubs and cafes. It was in the early afternoon and we stopped in a cafe to have something sweet.We sat next to the window just watching people outside.I like doing it - some are happy,others are sad,some are in a hurry while othres are just looking around.Going on along Oxford street we entered some shops.London is a reasonable city for shopping but not in every moment. Unfortunately it wasn't siutable time when we were there so we bought just few things.I'm going back to souvenirs for a while - there are so many little gifts you can buy - a small red telephone cabin,little police helmet,the popular underground sign,etc.Their price starts from 3 pounds but we found a pound store where all the souvenirs were 1 pound each.There was not a huge choice but for me it was enough - beer glasses,openers,flags and some similar ones.
Piccadilly Circus

Regent street
Oxford street
Talking about London we should never miss the Underground. Through the emblematic tube pass probably millions people daily.And they are so used with it - some carry books,others read newspapers,most of them listen to music.This is the place where you have the biggest opportunity to explore the people,they are from different nations,colour,race,religion.I haven't seen so many nacionalities ever,later I read that London is the city with the most number of people from different nationalities.Nobody cares how the other is dressed,nobody pays attantion of how others look like,nobody would look strange at you if you look different just because all of them look different.
What surprised me most was that women were carring sandals or shallow shoes with no socks in early May while it was raining and for me it was cold.But I suppose that they're so used with the weather that they feel comfortable.

One of the nights we spent in London we decided to go out and be part of the nightlife.We went to Leicester square anf first took a walk around.There were pubs, bars and restaurants on every cornes.No,they were just next to each other.This was definitely the heart of London nightlife,people were all around.In front of a dance club we saw a long tale of people waiting to go in,I have seen such thing only in New York and movies till that moment.Then we found our place,a typical British bar with people who were there to have fun,the bartenders were also taking care for people's good mood.Beer,cocktails,shots,dynamic and funny music,friends and cool people all around - I couldn't have asked for more.And if somebody tells you that British people can't have fun,just never believe it!When we already decided to go we took a walk again to the nearst bus station and the atmosphere out there was more enjoyable than before -  more people,little drunk,laughing.We had to take a nightbus,cause it was too late for the subway.In the beginnig I was enjoying the night view through the windiw but then I have fallen asleep.When we finally had to drop off the bus after an hour,a guy shouted after me(I was already at the door) : "Hey,excuse me,is that your phone?" I quickly noticed that my phone was not in my pocket and yes that was it. I thanked the guy several times and got off the bus.One example does not mean that everybody would have given me my phone back but this was my impression.This made me ask myself if somebody here in my country would do the same and how many people would do it?
Leicester square
In the bar
People waiting to be allowed in a club

I was told I should not miss Covent Garden market.This is actually a big square with again a big building in the middle where is the market.Now they sell some ancient stuff and also people offer their collections - from cards,badges,marks to beer pads,jewlaries and so on.There are also many cafes,restaurants and some shops. I liked the place pretty much especially when we saw a comedian who was giving a performance.We stopped for half an hour.Everytime we tried to go it was getting more and more intersting.Who said that British humour is not funny?
People having fun at the street

Covent Garden



And we came on the place that I really loved - Trafalgar square.As I said in the beginning everybody feels different about every place.Maybe some of you would say it is nothing special but I found the square really amazing. Was it because of the sunny weather or maybe beacuse of the fountain in the midddle,I don't know.
Tourists and locals were all around having fun.There were kids playing with the water,teenagers taking photos and other young people reading books. And I,I sat at the edge of the fountain and just looked around accepting all the beauty with my eyes thinking of nothing.
As we were there we entered the National Gallery and took a half an hour walk inside. It's not enough at all but for us - people who are not much intereted in that kind of art was fine.
The Art Gallery
Trafalgar square


I'm happy I could almost fulfill my to do list in London. I regret about not visiting the Royal Greenwich Observatory and also that the weather was not good enough to spend more time in the parks.But what I really wanted and didn't go to was a musical or a theatre performance.Here you can see the whole program of the theatres and buy thickets on very reasonable prices.Well,I definitely have reasons to go back.
A theatre near Piccadilly Circus

Monday, 28 February 2011

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.