Travel Trekk-Europe Odyssey 2010-"London"

"The tourists flock from all directions,
Getting their memorable moments captured,
Big Ben towers over the old tired buildings,
This is London"-Silent Dogwood

 Im listening to "Bayatilar" an Azerbaijani song while writing about London...a romantic ensemble of saxophone and trumpet and all other musical instruments combined which creates a harmony of tune that soothes your heart and ears...much like London-a melting pot of culture and civilization..though life may not be as harmonious as that of the tune of Baytilar it still holds the charm that attracts millions of visitors to keep coming back to experience the London's way of life...this travel story is the first installment of parts of retrospects of my trips to London-Paris & Rome in July 2010....

The wing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 4 greeting the sights of London after a 12.30 hours flight from Kuala Lumpur.

 

touched-down at London Heathrow Airport

Arrived at Heathrow late noon and took the tube (underground train) to central London.The whole train ride took us about 40 minutes at a cost of GBP 4.5.The tube is nothing like those modern underground rapid rail system found in other parts of the world. There's no escalator nor elevator at the stations and the train itself is small-wonder how these relatively taller and bigger Westerners can squeeze in this train.

the route map

We stayed in Bayswater, at a rather affordable hotel named Rose Court. The triple room cost less than GBP50 per night.The space is really tight but comfortable anyway if you really dont spend time much in your room. There's a small garden opposite the hotel's entrance for a jay-walking in the evening or morning.

the entrance

the front facade taken from the garden

our small and messy room...

For this London trip, we had booked in advanced a one day bus tour which will take us to most of the city's top attractions-Tower Bridge-Trafalgar Square-Big Ben..u named it..most of the places will be covered. In addition we can also choose to include a boat trip along River Thames in the itinerary (which we did) to explore the city via the river way. I think this is the most affordable way to tour the city as if we take the tube the cost would be higher to travel to one place to another and there's always the possibility of getting lost. This tour can be booked by its website : http://www.theoriginaltour.com/

On our way to the tour bus centre, we stopped by Marble Arch and snapped some pics...the area was full of litters. This arch was built as the new gateway to Buckingham Palace

yours truly in front of the arch

our tour pictures

 

Trafalgar Square

 

BigBen

Tower Bridge from the boat

 

 Tower of London

 

Buckingham Palace

Madame Tussaud

Needless to say-it's advisable to book online the tickets for all the attractions in London as you will not only entitled for discount, you may even save your waiting time as most places have separate que for online booking. We found this very handy especially at Madame Tussaud..if you can see the picture above..the waiting line is so long...

Now..what about shopping in London...here you can find ones that cater to budget-concious buyer and high-end buyers alike. The most popular shopping district is without doubt Oxford Street. Along this road you can find Primark..for that bargain shopping spree. It's  a real bargain here as i bought two jeans..each cost around RM 45 only...and they are of good quality.

Then there the most popular luxury retail store-Harrods. Just walking into this store will give you the goosebumps of luxuries..if there is such word. They ensure every part of the store is exclusive with the sales person looking so handsome in their designer uniforms and most even look like models...basically the prices of the goods here are at par with other stores..thus even "commoners" like us can shop here..no problem.

We really like the food market. They even have a special section for chocolate and confectionery only.

 

 

There are many other stores such as House of Fraser, Selfridges in London to satisfy your shopping needs. During sales period, the price can be even lover than that offerred in KL, for branded items.No wonder some rich and famous people always go to London to shop....

It was a satisfying stay in London. We fully utilized the 2 days that we had and luckily the trip was done during summer season thus we had all shops/attractions opened to be visited and the daytime was longer.It was my second trip to London but the best as at now. one can never get enough of London,and surely i will return someday.

Next up..pack your bag as we are leaving on an airplane to the fashion capital of the world-Paris. Kay2011.