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Stop #2 - Dublin, Ireland
Stop #3 - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Stop #4 - Brussels,
Belgium
After work on October 14 Friday, Amit and I
took the 6:15pm flight en route to London, England and arrived at the
Queen's country the following day at about 8:30am.
From London Heathrow Airport, we took the
tube (subway) bound for our hotel which
was close at Liverspool St. The travel was approximately 1 hour.
We bought the 1 day pass which covered the tube and bus. The pass was
GBP 8.00 or about CD$13.00.
When we reached
The Grange Tower Bridge hotel, Benjie Sabiniano who lived in London, was
already at the reception
desk inquiring about us. Benjie was the brother-in-law of one of my
friends, Joy Talattad. Although I did not know Benjie personally, Joy
was very kind to ask Benjie to guide us around for our one day London tour.
After settling our personal belongings, we immediately started our London
tour.
Our first stop was at the
Trafalgar Square.
Good thing Benjie was there to guide us and going around from one
place to another was easy. From Trafalgar Square, we went to
Buckingham Palace. There were no palace tours available at that
time so we just saw the outside perimeter of the Queen's residence.
From the palace, it was a short walk towards
Big Ben,
Westminster Abbey and at
No. 10 Downing St.
which was the official residence of UK's Prime Minister. The Downing
residence was gated and was guarded by fully armed military personnel.
As tourists, we strolled towards the banks of
River Thames where the
London Eye Ferris Wheel was located. We stopped by one of the boat
restaurants that floated steadily at the river. We grabbed a couple of
local London beer and authentic fish and chips. Amit and I realized
how expensive London was because for 3 pints of beer and 1 serving of
fish/chips, the cost was GBP 26 or about CD$43.
From the banks of River Thames, we took the
bus towards Harrods. Amit
was wondering what was the big deal with Harrods and was not aware of its popularity
due to the extravagant and
expensive items it sold. From clothes, shoes, and suits, the
department store was simply expensive to shop at.
From Harrods, we went to the
Tower of London and
beside it was the Tower
Bridge, commonly known as the London Bridge popularized by the folk song
"London Bridge is falling down...falling down."
Both the Tower of London and Tower Bridge
were near at our hotel so before crashing, we passed by a restaurant and had
a taste of the local London dish, a beef pie and some mashed potatoes.
Amit had his usual chicken dish.
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