London Is Calling
London calls, and I’d love to come running, but sadness befalls me now as I can’t obey. Too bad. Well, I’ll just have to write about the rest of my day – Day Two in London which was July 24, 2014 – just over a month ago – and really my first full day. London has a power over me, I just went there, but I would like to be back there already….oh, well. Guess I’ll just have to be content looking back at my pictures.
Here is a picture taken at Trafalgar Square close by to our hotel
Trafalgar Square
This man seems to fit right in this picture, I don’t think he was the one who vandalized the phone booth with graffiti though, I hope not!
London is calling, excuse the graffiti!
Just a recap, we headed for Buckingham Palace through Green Park (pictures show in my post Enchanting London) and this is before we did that
Picadilly, London
Why would I not want to see the Ritz?
The Ritz Hotel, Picadilly
That night we ate in Chinatown, which is close to Leicester Square. Normally, I would have opted for Indian food as it is really great in England – where they are not afraid to add the spice, or for English food which is also superb, but my sister who we met up with this evening wanted to try Chinese food, and I’m so glad that we went to this restaurant – the Hong Kong Buffet – I will always remember how delicious the food was.
Chinatown, London
Do you know the food was extremely delicious at the Hong Kong Buffet? It was a good price too – only £9.95 per person, compared to what I paid one of the days in a restaurant in Covent Garden.
Chinatown, London
That’s my sister going into the restaurant with Chandi – my little girl.
Chinatown, London
Sorry about the half eaten food, I forgot to take a picture of it before it got to this stage, but better to show you something rather than nothing!
Hong Kong Buffet, Chinatown, London
This picture is a little blurry, but I think it shows the atmosphere of Chinatown really well.
Chinatown, London
This is where we ate on our first night in London (yesterday evening) – I did not want to eat pizza, I can get Pizza Hut in the USA, but my kids wanted it, so I had to give in. Tonight, we walked right by it after our meal in Chinatown.
Pizza Hut, Leicester Square
Right next to Pizza Hut in Leicester Square is Burger King – gladly, we did not go there on this trip, but I’m guilty of taking them there on a previous trip.
Burger King, Leicester Square
Okay, so this picture belonged higher up, but I wanted to put it next to the night-time picture of the same place – the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. We walked past it many times during our five days there, both morning and night.
National Gallery at Trafalgar Square
National Gallery, Trafalgar Square
My computer is acting really weird right now, and going ever so slow, I guess I have overworked it with all of my pictures in I-Photo and I think I’m running low on memory. Anyway, time to go now and enjoy life here in San Diego! Have a great weekend!
Enchanting London
Day 2 in London started off with a nice view from the hotel:
View from Trafalgar Hotel – Room 305
We explored the lobby area
Hilton Trafalgar Lobby & Bar
Breakfast was included, and we were allowed one item from the menu as well as the continental breakfast. The menu offerings were English Breakfast, pancakes, waffles, Eggs Benedict and a few other items. Since this was our first full day, we just had to have English Breakfast, which consisted of baked beans, egg, bacon, sausage, grilled tomatoes, and black pudding (which I did not eat as this makes me feel a bit uneasy).
English Breakfast – complete with Black Pudding
Here’s a view of our table, and then a view of the restaurant
Hilton Trafalgar Restaurant
Hilton Trafalgar Restaurant
Now to the outside which beckoned me with all its might.
Trafalgar Square area
Trafalgar Square
We headed to Charing Cross Station and bought our travel passes – I was told it was best to buy Oyster Cards, that are basically tube and bus passes that you swipe for unlimited travel during a certain period of days. 2 adult Oyster 3 day passes were £60, that contained a £5 refundable deposit per pass – so the net cost was £50, plus £3.60 per day for my son’s travel pass. London certainly is not cheap for getting around or eating out, but it is well worth it. These passes can be used unlimited amounts per day and after you have used £8.60 or so up in a day, it won’t take any more from the balance off your card, so you can keep on taking more rides after you have maxed that amount out, and you won’t pay anything further – the key is to at least use it up to the value of £8.60 in that day. However, I think a single ride is about £2.70 or £3.30 or so, so it makes sense to get the Oyster Pass and you can use it on the red double decker buses (just not the Big Bus sightseeing buses).
The London Underground – Piccadilly Circus
Oh, the train is here!
The Tube
The London Underground
The London Underground
So where to today? I thought we’d just wander around and might as well start off with Buckingham Palace. This involved taking the train to Green Park and then walking through the park to the Palace. We could have walked to Buckingham Palace from our hotel in Trafalgar Square, it would only have been a 12 minute walk or so.
Once we had come out of Green Park station, this is some of what we saw
The Big Bus, London
near the Ritz Hotel
Sightseeing bus
London
London near the Ritz Hotel
I had always fancied going into the Ritz Hotel, this is a favorite hotel of the well-off, including celebrities and royalty. Therefore, my curiosity peaked and I could not resist going in.
The Ritz Hotel
I can just imagine Princess Diana being welcomed by this employee of the Ritz and then entering the hotel.
The Ritz Hotel
Here are some pictures taken in the hotel
The Ritz Hotel, London
Here I am at the Ritz
The Ritz Hotel
Last one of the Ritz
The Ritz Hotel
Better stay on track and get to Buckingham Palace – so we headed through Green Park. English parks are so beautiful, just how parks are supposed to be – with lakes, ducks, and lots of greenery. The parks in London are some of the best I’ve ever seen. People in London really make use of the parks, and frequent them often.
Green Park, London
Here’s my little girl enjoying Green Park
Green Park
Just a nice building I saw in Green Park
Green Park
Here is that building again
Green Park
Here’s an English Bobby (another word for police man) in Green Park
English Bobby in Green Park
Green Park
Green Park
Green Park
Green Park with a view of Buckingham Palace
We have arrived at Buckingham Palace, every time I see this place – it feels like the first time, and that is how I feel about most of the places in London, they are special to me time and time again.
Guards Marching outside of Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace and it’s beautiful blooming flowers
There’s me and Chandi with the blooming flowers of the Palace behind us
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
This memorial just opposite Buckingham Palace is another must-see and very popular with tourists
Queen Victoria Memorial
Queen Victoria Memorial
Buckingham Palace Guard
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace Informational Sign
Queen Victoria Memorial
Queen Victoria Memorial
and yet one more of the Queen Victoria Memorial
Queen Victoria Memorial
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace Gates
Now, I will show you one last photo of Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
As we left Buckingham Palace and walked by one London’s many parks – St. James’s Park – so central, just like Green Park, and Hyde Park. We saw this memorial on the ground – I had to take a picture – I absolutely adored Princess Diana.
Diana, Princess Of Wales Memorial Walk
We continued on our walk until we got to a tube station that would take us to Westminster, and this is what we saw:
Flowers of London, near Buckingham Palace
St. James’ Park
St. James’s Park
St. James’s Park
St. James’s Park
St. James’s Park
St. James’s Park
I take way too many pictures, and just think that each picture is unique in it’s own way. I don’t want to tire you with all my pictures of Buckingham Palace, and the Parks, but believe me….I have many more! However, I feel that you can get an insight into life in London – at least with the park pictures, as there are mostly local Londoner’s in the pictures who are on their lunch breaks, and just enjoying the beauty of what is around them. Next post, I will show you some more of what we saw today on Day 2 (which was our first full day in London).
luchanik 