London

 

June 29, 2003

We arrived at the London Gatwick airport and after clearing immigration took the Gatwick Express to the London Victoria station. The people at the airport were helpful. The train carriage was a little old and without lights!

It passed through several long tunnels leaving us pitch dark! But it was fun. The feeling of entering London was over-whelming us. We were delighted to see rows of houses with beautiful gardens and flowers. All the buildings were old indicating the age of the city. But they were all well kept giving a historic feeling to the city. We reached Victoria station within an hour and then changed to take an underground train to Bayswater. The underground is the lifeline of central London. Built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Londoners seemed to have preserved the character of the stations. We reached Bayswater underground station and then took direction to Hotel Blakemore. The walk took us through narrow streets and showed us a glimpse into the daily life of London. All the houses were like town-homes with beautiful flowers on the porch. We reached Hotel Blakemore after around 15 minutes of walk.

It was around 10.00 a.m. and we were told that we couldn't check in before 3.00 p.m. We decided to wait the hour by walking on the streets to Kensington Gardens which was a few minutes walk. There were many street vendors selling paintings, sculptures and other stuff. The gardens were very green with full of trees. There were many people walking and jogging. Many more were sitting in the sun and sun-bathing. It was very soothing to sit under the shade and watch people around. Later around 11.30 a.m. we went back to Hotel Blakemore. 

We decided to go back to Kensington gardens and have lunch under the shade of a tree. After a fulfilling lunch we crossed over to Hyde Park. The walk was very pretty with all kinds of trees and flowers. There were beautiful water fountains and plenty of people sun-bathing. There were musicians playing and painters painting.

We walked to the Speakers Corner where we were welcomed by a big surprise. There were hundreds of people listening and arguing loudly with the speakers. The topics mostly centered around religion and politics. The arguments for or against were extremely provocative and would have passed as blasphemous in most countries including the United States. We could see so many tourists shouting back and making cat calls. We wondered how one didn't come to blows! In short we saw true democracy and free speech at work. We walked back thinking about this awesome experience. It was thought provoking.

We checked into Hotel Blakemore and after freshening up took the subway to Covent Garden. The feeling was exhilarating. The smell and sounds were mesmerizing. There were people on the subway stations playing music. The London subway and train network is extensive. There were all kinds of services available at these stations. As soon as we got out of Covent Garden station we could hear music of the guitar. There was a big festival going on. People were sitting outside and  enjoying the food as well as the music. There were numerous restaurants. Covent Garden is inside a charming old building where there is a huge farmer's market.

We sat down to talk over a snack at a restaurant. We finally headed to the south bank of the Thames river for a late night walk to see the skyline of London which is on the north side. There are numerous double-decker buses and other kinds of buses for public transport. There are the famous London cabs which look like a car from the past. There are numerous options for public transport and it is extremely easy to get from one place to another. We got beautiful views of the tower of London, the London bridge, the London eye and the Westminster Abbey in the distant. We went around several old churches and buildings. In London most buildings are old and beautifully preserved. They blend seamlessly with the newer buildings. Some streets are extremely narrow and some are very wide. There is a lot of heterogeneity. We walked around the riverside to the beautiful views and then crossed the river over the modern Millennium bridge. 

We could see miles away on either side. There were boats and ships of all sizes. We finally took the subway back to Hotel Blakemore. We were tired from the jet-lag and the long day outside as well as all the walking we had done. We had such a peaceful sleep.

June 30, 2003

At breakfast I was surprised to meet my friend from work. He was returning from a trip of Russia. And of all the thousands of hotels in London here we were! We decided to split up in the morning into two groups. We went to see the British museum. We saw the Roman and Greek section, the Egyptian section, the Indian collection and the Native American collection. The collection of Roman and Greek statues were big. There were Egyptian idols dating back well over three thousand years. Interesting though was the explanation of the origin off the museum's priceless collection of antiques from almost all parts of the world. Nowhere was mentioned the plunder and robbery committed by the erstwhile British empire. No wonder governments from all over were fighting to get back the loot to their home country; most notably being the Elgin marbles of Parthenon (from the Acropolis) by the Greek Government. Many people around the world refer to the British museum as the Thief's museum. 

However I should mention the exceptional way in which all these priceless antiques were kept. All the displays were very informative and seemed accurate. The highlight was the reading room of the museum which was over four storeys high housed in a single circular room with racks of books extending all over to the top. It was a dream collection with books ranging from philosophy to movies and entertainment. We all finally met up at a subway station and then went to London's famous vault. The vault is located in the basement of an old building. The entrance had huge iron doors. There were over fifty shops selling all kinds of silver goods, new and antiques. It was an unique experience. The prices were also astronomical! The silver vault also housed all the precious stuff of Great Britain during the world war for fear of attack and capture from Germans.

Later in the afternoon we took a tour of the Tower of London which was once the palace of the Kings and Queens of England. The tower palace is itself surrounded by the River Thames. The most striking part of the tower are the fortified walls and the beautiful views of the Thames and the city of London. The sad part though are the repeated torture and executions over the thousand years of the tower's history. The different buildings inside the wall were built at different times. Today it houses different collections from swords, scepters, revolvers to canons. The crowning glory are the crown jewels of the Queen. There were so many jewels of different forms with different kinds of gemstones. The diamonds were huge and spectacular. The biggest of them all was the Kohinoor from India. Yet another case of looted treasure from different countries! From the Tower of London we continued walking towards the London bridge.

We walked across the modern road bridge below the London bridge admiring the architectural marvel. We were now on the south side again! We took a train to the famous neighborhood of Notting Hill. The houses were neatly lined in a row painted in different colors. These were the typical London town homes. The roads were going up and down. Unfortunately, the shops and restaurants were closed at the late hour. We went back to Victoria station to admire its architecture and then grab dinner at a Noodle place. All along we were amazed by the brazenness of all British tabloids.

There were all kinds of trashy stuff in the newspapers. Most magazine stalls had all kinds of gossipy magazines along with the good ones. However the regular newspapers were extremely informative and relatively saner than their counterparts in other countries. There was much more International news compared to even the New York Times!

The city of London is always on the move. There were people at all hours. However obesity is an epidemic here especially amongst the women. Drinking and smoking is a huge problem. There is lesser awareness of this dreaded problem. We called it a day at Hotel Blakemore.

July 1, 2003

We reached London in the evening and headed back to Hotel Blakemore. We surprised my sister, with gifts for her birthday which was the next day. It was so nice to be with my sister on her birthday. It was a touching family moment. 

We had a picnic dinner outside our hotel before we went to bed for an early start to Scotland the next day. Before going to bed, we roamed around Bayswater area and were surprised to find many people on the streets at that time of the night. Most of them were from mainland Europe and other parts of the world. We feasted on a Mediterranean snack of falafel balls and fixed up our ride to the airport for the next day.

July 2, 2003

We got up very early in the morning to catch the flight to Edinburgh. We were picked up by a private taxi and taken to London Luton airport which was about a hours drive from central London. I always wonder how the city planners of London as good as they were would allow five airports in close proximity! 

July 11, 2003

We caught the afternoon Easyjet flight back to London. The Indian cab driver who had dropped us to the Luton airport earlier came to pick us up again. Since it was afternoon, the traffic into London was lighter than usual. Also the cab driver took us through narrow inner routes which saved us a lot of time. We had reserved rooms in the same hotel as before, Hotel Blakemore at Bayswater. We spent rest of the evening shopping at Central London and enjoying (sort of) the rush hour. After a long time we had seen thousands of people crowding the streets and waiting for the subway. The trains were late creating a big spillover on the streets. It was a hot day and the temperature in the subway and trains almost became unbearable. There is limited ventilation in the trains and subway. But nevertheless it was fun enjoying the sights and sounds of many a people. 

We shopped at all the famous stores including Selfridges and Harrods. The items needless to say were extremely expensive at all the stores allowing us to buy only a few small items. Later in the evening we found our way through a narrow lane in Central London to eat at a fabulous Greek restaurant. The entire street was filled with small restaurants. It was 10.00 in the night and there were still so many people on the streets. We topped of the dinner with Baklava and a wide assortment of Mediterranean sweets!  

July 12, 2003

Today was the last full day of our trip. We decided to take a walking tour of many of London's historic landmarks. We started off with the famous Trafalgar Square. There were beautiful statues and fountains with a whole lot of pigeons in the huge open square with the British Art Museum at one end and a main thoroughfare leading to the Parliament Square area on the other side. It was a beautiful time to stroll around as it was not very hot and was partly shaded. The tourists hand't arrived yet. 

We took a quick tour of the British art museum which was simply huge. There were art treasures from all parts of the world. We took a tour of one small gallery that took us well over a hour. The paintings in that gallery were from the renaissance period. It was hot by now but we proceeded ahead to parliament square. While we were leaving Trafalgar Square, a street artist had created a giant canvas of Christ's Last Supper on the concrete pavement of the square. It was a beautiful creation with paint and powder. It attracted a lot of attention. 

As we walked to parliament square, we were seeing glimpses of the parliament building. After crossing over the main street, we could see the Big Ben clock tower and the adjacent parliament house in grand view.  What amazed us is the proximity  of these lavish and ornate buildings in the middle of London's heavy traffic. The architecture was grand with hundreds of statues all over. The Parliament house was heavily fortified. There were the famed London cops all over. 

We took some photographs and then walked over to Westminster Abbey. This church was even more ornate. At the time we were looking around the Abbey, the clock at Big Ben struck 12.00. It was nice to hear the famous chimes in person. After this we had a long walk towards the Buckingham Palace. 

The Palace is huge and opulent. The gates are imposing with gold insignias on them. The actual building of the palace is around 500 meters away from the gates. The famous palace guards were as straight as ever guarding the palace. There were many tourists swarming the place. Tourists were not allowed to walk in the palace grounds for obvious reasons. Outside the gates was a huge statue of Queen Victoria sitting on the throne which signified the prime of the imperial British Empire in power and wealth. There was heavy traffic around the palace in its cobbled streets. 

We spent the afternoon relaxing at Covent Garden. There was a huge fair and it was a true delight sampling all the food. There were a whole lot of street performers. We idled our time away eating and watching the people. We did some shopping at the eclectic stores of Covent Garden. 

The best was the tea shop which had teas from around the world. The grand finale' was our dinner in Picaddily Circus at a highly acclaimed themed Indian restaurant called Chowki. This was London at its best as it is known for its liking for Indian food. This restaurant presented us great food from three different states of India. The sumptuous meal was a fitting end to our trip. We took a train to Bayswater and then walked back to our hotel. It was 12.00 in the night and the streets of Bayswater were filled with people.

July 13, 2003

We packed up in the morning and then headed to the Victoria station to catch the Gatwick express to the Gatwick airport. We were all so happy that the trip went off so well. The ride to the airport was uneventful. We caught the afternoon flight. 

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