Simply Sofie

It was April 25, 2007 when Atinna, Thess and I left Bath and went to London. I don’t know anymore what time did we arrive in London. The train was delayed so I also can’t remember what time did the train leave Bath. We finally arrived at the Paddington Station after more than 2 hours of travel from Bath. Then we took another train from Paddington Station to Victoria Station.

I was not impressed with the London train stations, they are not friendly to commuting tourists who have big or even small suitcases. Nevertheless, we still made it to the Victoria Station, which is located along Buckingham Palace Road.

When we were walking along Buckingham Palace Road, despite that it was drizzling, I thought that the area was polluted. I can tell because my nose is quite sensitive to smoke and dust. When I started sneezing, I knew it was not a good sign.

Instead of taking a cab from Victoria Station to the hotel, we just walked along Buckingham Palace Road to St. George’s Drive. The hotel is located along St. George’s Drive.

When we arrived at the hotel, it really looked good from the outside, and mind you, the location was just great. But my my, really, looks can be so deceiving. We checked in at the hotel. The person, actually a lady, at the front office was not accommodating. We were asked to pay right away, unlike at the other hotels where we only paid when we checked out, the normal way of paying hotels as far as I know. It was my first time to be asked to pay immediately.

Once we were inside the room, it was even worse, the curtains were dusty and the toilet was not properly cleaned. Oh no!!! I started sneezing again. Oh no, not again! I actually got sick.

We could have transferred to another hotel but you know that hotels in London are quite expensive considering that we already paid for 4 days and 3 nights accommodation.

I will never, never recommend this hotel! I have been to small hotels too but this one is not at all recommendable. I won’t write further, kindly read Atinna’s entry about the hotel.

Anyway, as we still had time to go around and the sun was still up, we left the hotel, had lunch at a Pub along Elizabeth Street, the street connecting St. George’s Drive. Later on, we joined the “Jack the Ripper” combined bus and walk tour at 5:40pm. We had a bus ride from Buckingham Palace Road near Victoria Place Shopping Centre to London Eye area. From the pier where the London Eye is located, we had a boat ride on the Thames River to the Tower of London area. From the Tower Of London, we had another bus ride to the London’s East End for the “Jack the Ripper Walk”.

I will tell you about our “Jack the Ripper Walk” with the quote below, from the Premium Tours flyer.

As the shadows lengthen, we approach London’s East End, a hotbed of crime and vice in the nineteenth century. During the autumn of 1888, terror struck when Jack the Ripper came out of the fog and dimly lit alleys just long enough to stalk and butcher his five victims. At this point we leave the coach and walk his death trail inspecting the murder sites, deciphering the evidence and discussing his suspects. To this day the case remains unsolved. Come and investigate the case for yourself - who was Jack the Ripper?

It was a “good” long walk, seeing the crime scenes, but I don’t know, I can’t really tell, something was missing during the tour. It was horrible, just to think about it, and I can only sympathize.

We finished the tour at the area where the Wallace Plaque is, where Braveheart was tortured. Then, we were brought to the Embankment Northhumberland area for a supposed dinner at the Sherlock Holmes Pub along Northhumberland Avenue near Trafalgar Square. We skipped the dinner at the Pub and went to the Trafalgar Square instead. After that, we went to the Walk Bridge near the Embankment Station just to see the British Airways London Eye at night. We probably went back to the hotel at past 10pm or 11pm already. There was traffic at the Trafalgar Square area and it was not that easy getting a ride from there to Victoria Station.

The next day, we went to the Westminster area. We took the red hop-on hop-off bus from Victoria Station via Victoria Street to Parliament Square. We went to the Westminster Abbey and the St. Margaret’s Church which was just beside the Abbey. We saw Big Ben and the House of the Parliament. We walked from there up to the Tate Modern Museum. We passed by Bridge Street, Westminster Underground Station, and Victoria Embankment where we saw the British Airways London Eye once again. We also saw the Battle of Britain Monument along the Victoria Embankment. We continued our walk, passed by Waterloo Bridge, and then used the Walk Bridge near the Embankment Station crossing the Thames River going to the other side where the Royal Festival Hall is located, which is also near the other end of the Waterloo Bridge.

We walked along the Thames River, passed by the Blackfriars Bridge, and finally we arrived at the Bankside where the Tate Modern Museum is located. My feet were aching that I was not able to roam around the museum anymore. I sort of miss a lot there but I really needed a rest.

After Tate Modern Museum, we just walked a little bit then decided to take a bus ride, and we ended up at the Oxford Street in Oxford Circus. We had a nice lunch at a small Chinese “take away” and restaurant. The long street of Oxford Street is a shopping area, so what else did we do? You guessed it right, walked, and walked, and did a little bit of shopping, of course.

From Oxford Circus, we took the bus going to Picadilly Circus and Haymarket area, the place to watch London operas. Unfortunately, we were not able to see one, time was not just enough. Oh yes, we saw the billboard and the area where Daniel Radcliff’s Equus was being shown. Daniel Radcliff is the famous Harry Potter of Harry Potter movies. From there, we went to Trafalgar Square again, and waited for the bus going to Victoria Station.

It was traffic as usual, another busy night, and it was quite late when we arrived at the hotel.

The next day was another day, we decided to see the Buckingham Palace. Yes, the Palace! We just walked from the hotel, then all along the Buckingham Palace Road, and finally, we saw the London’s Royal Family’s Buckingham Palace. Was the Palace impressive? Not really, it was just a rectangular building, and there was nothing spectacular about it. But the gate? Yes, the gate along the Constitution Hill was more impressive than the building.

After Buckingham Palace, we went to Harrods. Yes, the Harrods of London. It is probably the most famous shop in London. It was another long shopping day!

After Harrods, we went to the Trafalgar Square. Again! This time though, we went inside the National Gallery. It was another long museum day tour.

After National Gallery, we decided to go to the Tower of London area. Unfortunately, we were not able to explore the Tower of London as it was late in the afternoon already. What a pity! But I promise to myself that I will go back there. Just to mention, when I called up my dear mother after I came back from London, she especially asked me if we were able to explore the Tower of London. She told me that a day was not enough to do it. She already explored the Tower of London with my sister and father, that was when my father was still alive.

So, we just stayed at the Tower Hill Terrace for a while, had some food and drinks, then walked toward the Thames River, took some pictures of the Tower Bridge, and enjoyed the view of the area and the sunset over the Thames River.

Anyway, it was getting late, so we decided to call it a day. We went to Earls Court Road at Kensington, London for a nice dinner at As Greek as it Gets. It was a popular restaurant and we did not have a reservation. When we arrived there, the restaurant was full, we were just lucky that there was still an available table for us. The people were really accommodating and the food was good. We really enjoyed it.

We went back to the hotel early, right after our dinner as we needed to wake up early the next day for our flights back to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, then to Switzerland and for Atinna to Japan.

I had an hour earlier flight than Atinna and Thess but we still went to the London Heathrow Airport together. I took an earlier flight to catch up with some friends who were supposed to come to our place for dinner, only to find out, when I arrived, that they cancelled it because they also have to fetch someone at the airport. It was not me, Erich fetched me. We didn’t see our friends at the airport though.

Well, it was an enjoyable and educational trip despite the fact that my feet were aching the whole time we were travelling. I still enjoyed our escapades in London even if I got sick (because of the dust and pollution in London, because of the dust and dusty curtains inside the hotel). We discovered a lot of places and learned a lot too.

Lastly, you might ask, where did you stay in London? We stayed at the New England Hotel.

Note: This is a follow-up to my blog entry, European Destination 4a: England, last August 21, 2007.

This is the end of the series of my blog entries about our trip to the 4 European Countries.

Blog Entry on Thursday, May 31, 2007: Trip to 4 European Countries
blog Entry on Friday, June 15, 2007: European Destination 1: Germany
Blog Entry on Wednesday, June 20, 2007: European Destination 2: Belgium
Blog Entry on Friday, August 10, 2007: European Destination 3: Netherlands
Blog Entry on Tuesday, August 21, 2007: European Destination 4a: England
Blog Entry on Thursday, August 30, 2007: European Destination 4b: England (London)