A couple of towns in UK

 

A sales conference in London gave me some time to get back to UK and travel some more. We reached a day early and I took a walk around Cranford Park close to our hotel for stretching my legs after a long flight. The next day, we mostly hung around London along the river Thames. It has been over 10 years since I last went there but most areas still looked the same. We walked past the regular tourist spots not getting into any of them but having a good picnic. Photos with the Tower Bridge will never really go out of fashion.

After the 3 day conference, we were debating on where to for a day trip. I was thinking Dover & Canterbury but one of the local's suggested Brighton instead. A lazy beach town was definitely a welcome change after 3 days at the office. A couple of trains later we got to the town and walked over to the beach. The huge observation tower on the beach is easily visible to guide anyone to the seashore and the view from the Palace Pier is refreshing. To get to the edge of the pier we needed to go through the arcade. While places were still opening as it was early in the day, we were good to just soak in the sun. When it was time for lunch we found a vegan pub called the "The World's End". Also known for its retro arcade, a number of plant based burgers had all the vegetarians in the group really happy. The evening was spent at the Royal Pavilion - a formal royal residence built with Mughal influenced architecture that has been converted into a palace museum and gardens. Watching the opulence of the previous royals with some history lessons was a nice way to wrap up the day as we then got back to London.

On the next day, the rest of the group had their flight in the evening so they went to Oxford street to wrap up some shopping, I took off to Oxford city in pursuit of more sights instead. The day was 2nd of July and interestingly it was Alice's day (the Lewis Carrol wonderland gal). As parades with balloons and costumed wonderland characters ran along the town, I tried to get my bearings on places to visit in the city. I took a guided walking tour around the city to learn about the architecture and see some Harry Potter shooting spots. I then made a quick trip to the natural history museum and finally wrapped up the day with a long walk within one of the colleges in the city. The grounds had deer and a the hostels had a pub, convincing me that if I ever continued my education, Oxford would definitely be one of my preferred choices. 

The flight next day was surprisingly smooth. Heathrow had been facing the after effects of revenge travel so everyone who left earlier had faced crazy queues and massive delays but all I had to go through was a half an hour wait outside the lounge.

Photo Album Here

London

Stayed a couple of weeks in London. Unlike last time where I had stayed in Southampton, staying in Central London in summers with only one day of rain during the 2 weeks gave me much more freedom to move about. Caught a couple of movies and window shopped in a few malls. Then went exploring with a tube ticket to the first 4 zones. London of course has the kind of architecture that really intrigues you with the rustic feel that keeps you interested.

Piccadilly circus and Trafalgar square are a great way to spend the evening. Fridays, the gallery is also open until 9. A number of monuments there provide a nice view. There is of course the largest Ripley's believe it or not museum at Piccadilly but gave that a miss. The National gallery of course is free entry and has some really fantastic paintings from 16th century onwards and is large enough to keep you busy for quite a while. Trafalgar square itself provides an interesting hot-spot for tourists although the pigeon feeding is no more a practice.

Saint Paul's cathedral is another cathedral added to my list of so many visited. It has one of the highest domes and is an amazing piece of architecture to see. Photography is not allowed inside and it is not open to visitors on Sunday as services are held. They do charge about 12 pounds for entry. The view from the dome and the spire is of surrounding London if you can climb there, while also viewing the artwork. The crypt and the lower levels hold various memorials.

A walk along Thames at sunset never really gets boring. Had done that on my last trip as well but was not in much of a hurry this time so took my time exploring the areas around Westminster to the Tower bridge. It was a really long walk but fun. Took a ride on the London eye as well. Maybe a little overrated but it does provide an excellent view of the river and the surrounding areas.

The other museums that I visited were the Natural history museum, the science museum and the British museum. All their entries were free so whenever I had time on my hands and they were open, I was able to get around again thanks to the tube. The British museum itself had some really interesting details while the Natural history museum was fun to say the least. The
Kensington garden were walkable and the Albert memorial there is great. The park also attracts a variety of birds and feeding the squirrels never gets boring.

The Tower of London of course is a must see. Along with the multiple artifacts that it houses and the fact that it has a rather colorful and sordid history, the tours are really fun. The tales by the warders there, the ravens kept there as legend has it that if 6 ravens are not present, the kingdom shall fall, the fusiliers museums, the carvings by the prisoners and of course the crown jewels are just a few of the sights.