Today, we woke up around 3 AM due to jet lag so we got up and had breakfast buffet right when it opened at 6:30 AM.
One thing that this city has a lot of is Prince Albert’s statues/memorials. Although he had many great achievements, he personally considered holding the first Exhibition as his greatest work. Since we had tons of photo ops with him, hubby took one of me (outside of the park).
Some other sites that we saw were:
- British Airways London Eye – the large ferris wheel by the River Thames
- Nightingale Nursing School in St. Thomas’ Hospital
- Winston Churchill Memorial
- Mayfair
- Piccadilly Arcade
- Buckingham Palace
- Trafalgar Square
- St. James’s Park
- Hyde Park
- Kensington Garden
- Big Ben
- Parliament
- Westminster Abbey
What was disappointing was that we did not get to see the changing of the guards. It was in our itinerary but since they only do it every other day now, we were visiting on an off-day so we missed it.
Our tour ended at 11:45 AM and that’s when the adventure really began. We got dropped off at a bus station to find our way back to the hotel -- I mean, we had the rest of the day to explore, as our itinerary said. Hubby and I wanted to head back so we first had to find a place to exchange our euros for pounds so that we could buy a bus pass through coin-operated ticket vending machines. We totally got jacked exchanging inside the bus station at a currency exchange booth. They charged a 2.50 processing fee. Our bus passes were about 2 GBP each. We got two different directions on how to find our bus stop so we got lost for a few minutes. Then we couldn’t agree which bus route to take (to get dropped off in front of the hotel). Well, the 148 double-decker came and passed. We must have waited at least 20 minutes for the C1 to finally come and when it did, we had to stand all the way in the back in the aisle. Our whole bus ride was about 50 minutes and consisted of being crammed in like sardines. A few times, I got to sit down and when hubby finally got to sit, he stood up to let some ladies sit and a dude stole the seat and wouldn’t move over. That was weird enough for even the ladies around to blatantly make a comment about it.
Hubby was actually quite a good sport about it, considering it was hot and cramped. We got dropped off at Westfield Mall so we walked back to our hotel to freshen up and decide what to eat. We really wanted fish and chips since it was our last evening in London so he asked the front desk where to go.
We ended up eating at Belushis. We both ordered fish and chips which came with peas. Hubby said that when he ordered at the bar, the girl totally gave him attitude. He gave her the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe she was just like that but then she saw her totally chummy and sweet with other customers. Service aside, the food was REALLY good. We sat in the back in a booth that was so high that when I stood up, it looked like I was sitting. Since there was free wifi, I e-mailed our family members.
We went back to the hotel and fell asleep soon after, since we had to wake up at 4:30 AM the next morning to begin our real tour through Europe.
Verdict: London is great for free wifi and fish and chips.
P.S. Hubby hates taking pixs, especially when we take it ourselves...this will become more apparent through the next few days.
1 comment:
Fish and chips? Yum! Actually I have never had real fish and chips, but it looks good! Tell me about the Nightengale Nursery!
Sounds like you crammed a lot in! Good for you!
Post a Comment