Oxford Street all decked up for the Holiday Season - Christmas 2014.
As I write this 6th post about my backpacking trip across the UK, I am reflecting on why I have such a fascination about the United Kingdom. I think it all began with a video game called London Racer. And I played that game so much. I was in absolute love with the game. And for that time, the graphics were drop dead gorgeous. I raced Mini Coopers and Mclaren F1s through the streets of London, crashing through Hyde Park, Tower Bridge, zooming past the Big Ben to name a few. It also included locations such as Oxford, Cambridge and so on. I think this was where my fascination with the city of London started. It is such a beautiful feeling to reminisce about that game. Lovely. Just lovely.
London has so much to offer, it is just impossible to talk about it all in one post! My previous post started with my arrival to the capital of England after riding the train from Oxford.
I stayed at my friend's apartment which was on the Shad Thames, right next to the Tower Bridge. It was a great location to be in, with the Tower Bridge being a 5 minute walk, and the Tube being a 10 minute walk. My first day was spent in looking around the town, visiting Tower Bridge, the WWI memorial at Tower of London: the 'Blood Swept Land and River of Blood' exhibit. Featuring 888,246 poppies made of ceramic, one for each soldier who died in the war, it was a sight to behold.
I spent the first half of the second day looking at the war memorials at Hyde Park. I took a stroll through Kensington Gardens, before coming across the memorial for Princess Diana, and the Wellington Arch, before walking towards one of the most famous attractions the city has to offer: The Buckingham Palace.
The Royal Coat of Arms at one of the gates of Buckingham Palace.
Panorama of Buckingham Palace from Victoria Memorial.
Victoria Memorial in the background.
The Victoria Memorial
Statues around Victoria Memorial.
By the time I was satisfied with looking around Buckingham Palace, Victorial Memorial and James Park, it was nearly evening. I started to walk towards Westminster and the Big Ben, passing by Churchill's War Rooms on the way.
Churchill's War Rooms.
London Eye from Westminster Bridge.
First view of the splendid Big Ben.
Close up of the Big Ben
Westminster and the river Thames at dusk.
London Eye and the London Dungeon at night.
I walked past Trafalgar square, rounding about to Westminster Abby, before making a final stop at the National Gallery for a look around.
The British National Gallery.
I had spent most of my day walking around London city and my legs were extremely tired. I do not know how much I had walked, but it was quite a lot! I took the tube Leicester Square towards Tower Bridge Station and made the short walk back to the apartment. What a day it had been!
I had one more day to spend in London and I planned to visit Arsenal, Greenwich and a few of the remaining sights in the city including the Lords Cricket stadium, the home of English cricket. Day 3 was going to be as exciting as the first two if the weather stayed good!
"THEN AND THERE" was my motto for visiting London and I truly did that, experiencing the most of London. Do follow me for my next post on my experience of London and for more on my solo backpacking trip across the UK.
In case you missed it, check out the first post of my solo backpacking trip across the UK.
Backpacking the United Kingdom - A Travelogue with amazing pictures
Seal Watching at Morston Quay and Blakeney Point + roadtrip!
Exploring the university city of Cambridge in pictures
Taking a walk through the streets of Oxford City
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