Five days in London

June 17 to 22, 2017

Our daughter had got admission in the famous London School of Economics for the 1 month Summer Programme. And we were super excited.

We took the early morning flight into Gatwick, London (not Heathrow) from Verona, Italy.

(We had first visited Venice before my husband went off on his Business trip. I had utilised that time to visit Parma and Bologna. And now we were back together.)

At Gatwick, we used the help of the 'visitlondon' counter as we did not know how to travel into the city. We each bought the top-up Oyster card. You pay a fixed amount and then top-up the card. The card can be returned when the trip ends and they refund the deposit and whatever is left over from the top-ups. And it can be used on all transport - land, rail or water.
Our hotel was at Bloomsbury street. And since the Queen's birthday celebrations were approaching, Victoria Terminus was not recommended. So we had to do a circuitous root through Blackfriars Bridge to Tottenham Court (another train). I did not complain as it was like a sight seeing tour for me. The country side had horses and the view from the higher railway tracks reminded me of Harry Potter with chimneys and slate roofs!

In the heart of London!!

We got down at Tottenham Court station and lugged our huge luggage up a flight of stairs (later we came to know about the escalator!) and walked down some stinky crowded Mumbai-looking streets to reach our god-forsaken hotel - a place we chose for proximity with our child. The WORST place we have ever stayed in our entire life - Gresham Hotel Bloomsbury. Don't even recommend this place to your enemies. And the amount of money we paid for the horror of a room! I think it was once part of the row houses and the rooms were just divided up in the worst possible way to accommodate maximum hotel guests.

Initial impression of London - 😕😐

We were very hungry and the lady at the counter recommended Govinda's on SoHo street. It was a restaurant run by Hare Krishna group.

Our daughter was flying in via Heathrow that same evening. So we went to meet her. It was a very proud moment for us but utterly embarrassing for her!

We all went out for dinner but not before buying her the top-up Oyster card from the 'Angel station'. What I really liked was there were friendly people who help the tourists to get their passes from the machines. Thank god, they knew English.
We did see Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant, but decided on a micro-brewery called Brewhouse and Kitchen - Islington.

Her classes were starting the next day and I asked her if she wanted me to go along. I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to see this famous college. I pictured long corridors, professors swishing in long coats and handsome/beautiful freshers. Yes, I read a lot of English novels!! Anyway, I was forbade from doing this.

Day 2, 18 June 2017, Greenwich
The next day was the finals for the Champion's trophy at Oval. My husband had booked the tickets for the same in March / April as soon as it was announced. You have to give it to him for being a optimist and what can be said about his luck?? He got to see a match between our own country and our rivals. It was going to be a India-Pakistan Finals!

He was to leave early for the match and I was again alone.
Some photos he took at the Oval..

(Psst: India lost!!)

My classmate from school lives in Cambridge - Dr. Ramya. She usually works over the weekends too and was not sure if we could meet. So, I called up her husband Dinesh and asked if I should come to Cambridge and surprise her. He asked me to see London instead. He suggested I take the boat to Greenwich and tour there instead of spending the time on a train to Cambridge.
So that was what I did!!

I took the train to Embarkment and then a boat to Greenwich. The person sitting near me had lived in London 35 years ago before settling in Australia and had now come with friends from Down Under. She loved sharing her knowledge much against her husband's wishes and I ended up thanking her for the same. I went as far as telling off her husband. Free guide, always welcome.

The view while waiting for the boat.

Big Ben.

London eye. We did not climb on this.

Saw the name Shakespeare, took a photo. :P

These were warehouses of the olden days, is what the lady near me told.

My first glimpse of what I thought was the London bridge. This is the Tower Bridge, NOT London bridge.

The Shard. Atrocious structure made of glass, which was initially repelled, but later embraced by the London citizens. Some had gone as far as saying, it must be demolished as it spoils the sky line.

The entry to Traitor's gate near the Tower of London.

Tower bridge.

Greenwich!!

Entry map.

Walking into the information centre was in itself a beautiful experience. There was so much to see and the lady at the counter gave me many maps and much information. And as I was walking away, I heard a woman enquire about a walking tour scheduled in 15 minutes. My ears immediately peeked. I cannot thank the Indian art of eavesdropping enough! I took my place at the back of the queue and prayed that there would be one spot left for me on the walking tour. And I got lucky.
I had just enough time to go the bathroom and buy a bottle of water and thank the woman who spoke loudly! Her expression was torn between pleased and unhappy. Poor thing!

Our guide first introduced himself and then took us to see the 'Cutty Sark'.
It was the last clipper to be built. Clippers are long thin boats with wind sails which sail very fast. They were made to meet the growing demand of the British Empire for rapid delivery of tea from China. At one point in time, people used to gamble on the 'tea race'. Newspapers would report the starting time and people placed bets on which would be the first ship to arrive! It became sort of a national sporting event!
Their golden days lasted till the opening of the Suez canal. Cutty Sark first delivered tea from China, then wool from Australia.

But the story of it's name - Cutty Sark and the figurehead was more attractive.

It is from Robert Burns's 1791 poem Tam o' Shanter. A drunk farmer saw some witches dancing around a fire in skimpy clothes while he was riding his horse back home through the fields. The youngest, Nannie had especially short clothes and the farmer could not stop from shouting, "Well done! Cutty Sark" (short undergaments) which made the women/witches wild. Nannie ran behind the horse and the farmer remembered that witches cannot cross water-bodies. So he got on a bridge and the witch caught hold of the horse's tail. The horse lost it's tail, but the farmer's life was saved.
Notice the figurehead is holding a tuft of hair? That is supposed to be the horse's tail and the youngest deck hand had the duty of changing it when the sailing was drawing to a close. :D

Moving on...

Meet Sir.Walter Raleigh. A suave character. The one who laid his cloak over a puddle for the Queen to walk across. It is said he had an affair with the Queen and even went against her wishes at a certain point; resulting in his being beheaded post her death.

You must have seen this building in many movies as the Royal Palace. This is one side of the Royal Naval College.

When men from the Navy retired, many would be handicapped and needed a place for retiring. In the initial days this college was a retirement home / a home for disabled sailors; where smoking was strictly prohibited. So the men would go to the underground connect between the 2 wings and smoke their pipe made of clay, which used to get too soggy and needed it's tip nipped off. This is one such pipe found from the Thames during low tide.

What treasures does the Thames hold?

Here had stood a palace, but it was moved up hill to facilitate the building of the college.

A panorama shot of the 2 wings.

Far away...the small building is the Queen's palace.

On the left of the 2 wings is a beautiful painted hall which was being renovated.

Photo of how it would look after restoration.

Do you see at the middle of the picture near the clouds, a stick with a ball at the bottom? The guide said that exactly at1 pm, the ball on the Greenwich hill would go up and fall down slowly so that the sailors can set their watches right.

He asked us to appreciate the work of Sir.Christopher Wren the chief architect in constructing pillars almost on a straight line to each side of the Queen's house. The Queen's house looks so small, but it is in fact as big as the distance between the 2 wings of the college! Parallax?

This is the Queen's house after crossing the road and these grounds were used by the Lords to practise Jousting.

The long corridor which is now roofed. At the very end was the place Sir walter Raleigh laid his cloak for the Queen!

It was a long walk through the Greenwich park to the Royal Observatory. It was a Sunday and many families were relaxing here.

The climb up was tough.

Better view of the ball which should have gone up at 1 pm, but did not.

 There is an explanation of this inside the museum..

The tour got over and we were let loose. First I had my lunch and then went in search of the 'oldest object on Planet Earth which can be touched'. It is a very old Meteor.

Then I paid good money to enter inside the observatory.
But just before you enter the museum, you can see the sun through a professional telescope manned by students studying to become astronomers.

Do you see those 2 dolphins in the background? They help tell time.

Can you tell the time when it was taken?
Nearly 4 pm.

This was an interactive Camera Obsura inside from olden times which still projects image of the Queen's palace real time!

The observatory was also the place of residence for many astronomers who headed it. So there had been families, bachelors, sad souls and exuberant souls who used to live and work here. They have left their marks here permanently.

I made a Chinese lady take my picture just like how her friends from China had posed. It is so easy to communicate in sign language with Asians! We understand!!

There was much more to see, but the last piece was my favourite...The Greenwich Prime Meridian.

Our own Bombay!!

This picture had to be taken!!

Time to head down the hill and see the Queen's house which now hosts many sculptures and paintings.

The famous Tulip Staircase. One stiff upper-lipped English Gentleman was not impressed that I was trying very hard to get this picture. He suggested I lie down on the floor to take it without really expecting me to do it. So, I did it!

The Queen's wallpaper - Pomegranates and Monkeys. Royal badge and Worldly Sophistication.

The cruelty of the English. This lady was deemed 'exotic' as she was from Polynesia. Her husband and brother were held hostage and she was made to pose for this picture ...like a greek goddess. So much violence behind this calm looking potrait.

Many Admirals and captains....

Galileo's bust...

Sir Walter Raleigh's bust...
After he was axed to death, his wife walked around with his head in a velvet bag for 29 years. Upon her death, his head was buried with his body. She wanted to prove that he had been wrongfully murdered by the state. And the present government agrees with her.

The view outside...The Naval Coleges flank both sides and at the very end is the Thames.

This person's story you have to hear!!
Meet Admiral Nelson.

He was a scrawny boy who went to sea as a young 14 year old; got sea sick and was written off. But his commitment saw him rise in ranks and he became an Admiral. While he was at sea during the battle of Trafalgar, to boost his men's spirits, he strutted around in his royal uniform; making him an easy target for his enemy....who shot and the bullet went through his shoulder and lodged itself near his heart. At his death bed he requested that he be not buried at sea, but in London. This caused a huge problem as England was far away and there was no way his body could be preserved. So they dumped his body into a giant vat of whisky. When the supply of Whisky for the sailors reduced, the vat in which his body was kept, also saw a steep reduction of liquor...YUCK! So they tied this vat to the ship with a rope and dropped it into the sea. His body reached London in sometime and he was buried with state honours. What a story, right? The guide was amused to see our expressions!!

Meet Queen Elizabeth 1.

Queen Annie who loved arts, horse riding and dogs...

 I got back to Greenwich and tried to find my way to the train station.
On my way to the train station, I saw my Indian flag!! A lady was selling Indian food and anoter was putting henna for the locals.

I had to find the DLR, but instead walked a lot to get to the South Eastern lines. And since I had not swiped my oyster card, I had to let go of a train and wait a further 10-15 minutes.

My classmate Remya was waiting for me at Tottenham Court and it was so nice of her to have come all the way to London after finishing her duty at Cambridge.

She went back after dinner. We spent a long time walking the roads of London and speaking about a lot of things.
The deities in the Hare Krishna temple - Jagganatha, Subadra and Balram.

Day 3 - 19.06.2017, London.

At last my husband was truly with me!!! His business trip and cricket game were over.

We had booked for "Sandeman's Free walking tour of London" and we were to meet the guide at Covent Garden at 10 am......But not before breakfast! A typical English breakfast, minus bacon.

We met the guides and they asked us to come back in 15 minutes. So we went around the market and saw some beautiful places. nothing great....but I was happy that Harish was with me and I could take his pictures and need not take selfies. :P

Then the tour started.

Covent garden was CONVENT garden - the vegetable garden of the monks of Westminster Abbey.
Earl Russell built a house here and asked Inigo James to help increase the price of the land by building some high end houses here around a square. Thus a market came up in the square to service the rich clients. Earl asked James to also build a church as an afterthought...but since he wanted to not spend money, he added "as elaborate as a barn".

Since Covent Gardens are not in the City of London, but City of Westminster...(Yes!!) and out of the way; residents here escaped the plague and the Great London Fire. But this attracted more crowds. Two theatres also opened here. The rich found it hard to live on with the influx of poor people and theatre lovers. Soon, they left and brothels, coffee shops took over. It got a bad reputation, but now it has been reorganised and made neater.

We walked via the 'Diagon Alley' ...This is a small lane which runs between 23 & 24 Bedfordbury......

The flickering gas lights!!

and reached St.Martin's Lane.
From here we reached the Trafalgar square; built in honour of the victory at the battle of Trafalgar. Remember Admiral Nelson (the one whose dead body was transported in a whisky cask), he stands tall on the tallest pillar.

There is Nelson sir on top.

This is the centre of London. All measurements of distances are done from this statue of the man on the horse. The Equestrian Statue of Charles 1.

Look at the Lion. The sculptor had seen a lion's head, but not the legs. So he used his dog's legs and backside for 'inspiration'!

We walked through the admirality arc and .....

saw a 'Nose'!

Thirty plus 'noses' were installed overnight by an anonymous artist against the introduction of CCTV cameras in London. Now only 7 survive.

The road to the Buckingham Palace is paved red...Red carpet or the colonial blood shed?

Meet the Queen mother and the Queen's father....

From here we went to see the friary court of St.James's Palace. It is a working palace and not a residential Palace even though Princess Diana has stayed here during her divorce period.

Buckingham Palace!!

The changing of guards....But we were to see the whole routine the next day.

We walked into the St.James's Park...
Our Guide Callum explaining to us the intricacies of a 'free' walking tour. We could pay as much as we thought was right.

The park was huge and beautiful.

The bird keeper's cottage....cute, isn't it!

And we went to the Parliament Square garden....Westminster Abbey is to one side and House of Parliament on the other. The tower - originally called Clock tower has been officially renamed Elizabeth Tower during the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the present Queen. Big Ben is the bell which chimes on top of this tower! Just the Big Bell of the clock on top of the tower!

We were lucky to hear it ring. Starting August 2017, the chimes were to be 'silenced for 4 years for repair and maintenance'.

The tour got over and this is the route map of what we did.

We had another tour planned at the Tower of London. While we crossed, I saw a man in a Kilt - a skirt-type clothing from Scotland.

The Tower of London.

It used to be a Prison where some famous figures have been held - Queen Elizabeth 1, before she became Queen; Sir Walter Raleigh & Queen Annie. People who were imprisoned here, rarely escaped. Executions were rarely conducted here and were usually done at the Tower Hill.

It now houses the Queen's Crown Jewels.

The Beef-Eaters / yeomen Warders are the caretakers of this tower and are headed by the Constable of the Tower. This Constable is usually a field marshal or a retired general officer for a five-year term. And the warders are sergeants from the Army who has served England for 21 years.

These Warders take us around the Tower and use their powerful booming voice to tell us a lot about the history of their office. It had lots of blood and gore, of course. And quite interactive.

Our warder told us that he would tell us a story and when he raises his hand, we must all exclaim in shock.
And he told us the story of Annie Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII who is best known for his 6 marriages and disagreement with the Pope. As the Pope would not Annul or agree to Divorce, he broke away from the Church and started the Church Of England!
Queen Annie gave birth to Queen Elizabeth and produced more daughters than the King wanted. So he wanted to marry again and charged her with treason and adultery. It is said that when she was executed, and her beheaded head was lifted up for the people to see......her lips were still moving in prayer.
We all did gasp...the  warder really did not have to ask us to do this in advance!

He is standing in front of the Traitor's gate here...Remember I saw this yesterday while going to Greenwich?

The Guards!! They are guarding the Crown jewels....

 And I saw some amazing jewellery inside...but could not photograph the same as there was a huge crowd and we were made to stand on a moving belt.
Kohinoor was also there studding her Crown.

The Ravens of the tower. Huge black birds and each had a name. They each had a cage ; but were allowed to roam around freely. We saw how one Raven made a sea gull fly away when it came to steal the former's food. Very intelligent.

The Kings of England had received many exotic gifts, unsuitable for the climate of England...like an elephant; which had been housed in the Tower bridge. Poor thing could not stand the cold and they did not know what to feed it. And it died a miserable death much like many other inmates of the Tower.

Tower bridge!!

The tastiest Carmelised nuts, I have ever eaten!

And we got to see the Tower Bridge open up!

And you can see the Tower bridge close too.

There are fixed timings which are marked / announced about the Bridge's opening and closing. Just look at this site .

Our trip was fixed, when the Grenfell Tragedy occurred. These are the flowers and post-it notes left for the victims of the Grenfell tragedy.

We went to see the London bridge Borough Market...but it was closing down for the day.

And we took a train to Holborn, which is near the Covent garden. Our daughter's college was nearby and she joined us!
So we all went out for dinner at 'Wagamama', Covent Garden. I got to know of this place thanks to an Instagram post by Kunal Khemu. The food was mindblowing.

Now I wanted to surprise my daughter.
We took her to see the Harry Potter alley!! My, did she get excited!!

Then I got too carried away and took her on our morning tour which made her too tired and stopped her from coming out again with us while we were in London! 😏

Then we put her on the bus to her hostel. It felt bitter-sweet .

Day 4, 20 June 2017, London

We were to see the Changing of Guards. We had seen a bit of the same yesterday, but today we were to follow the guards and see it properly.
We had booked tickets (this was not free, but prepaid) with the 'Fun London Tours" company and we were to meet the guide at Piccadilly Circus.

Once the guides came in (we got Jess, who looked like Hagrid!); it was time to move fast. the guide kept reiterating that we had to keep pace with him as the guards start from various points and unless we move from one place to other FAST, we would miss a lot.

On our way to the Buckingham (through Waterloo and down the steps to Mall), we saw this block of stone...
The engravings say it all; it was built for the Duke to dismount his horse and enter the club.

The Queen Mother meeting the Eastenders after the palace got bombed.

We were again in front of the Friary House.

The guards streamed out and they were inspected by their chief. He dusted some, me made some stand straighter...
You can watch a short video clip, I took here.

Look at all the black stallions!
Want to see them walk in unison? Click here.

See the family behind me? That woman, her mom and her husband were so fast; running from one point to another and making it in time for good selfies with the required background....unlike me.

We ran to Bird Cage walk and caught these set of guards....
Another short clip can be viewed here.

It got over much sooner than expected!

We watched the retreating guards....

After the Tour, we were very hungry and decided we would have lunch in the St.James Park. On our way to Whitehall, we met.....Saurav Ganguly!!

I had never seen my husband so happy. He greeting Ganguly by his first name. Something my gentleman would never do! And I reminded Ganguly that the finals the day before, which my husband had attended, was nothing compared to his topless show at Lord's years ago. Something only I can do, say's my husband!! ;D

His wife took this photo for us.

Lunch was from 'Pret a Manger', Whitehall. We had the soup and pasta under the trees of the park; with many birds and squirrels for company. Entertainment was provided by a man in white suit, feeding the ducks in the pond.

Since my husband had not been to Greenwich and there was so much to see there (and I pride myself as a good guide!); we went to Greenwich!

There is an underground connect between Greenwich and the other side. Many cyclist and walkers were using it. We decided to do the same. It goes UNDER the river Thames!!

And we emerged on the other side!

From here, we did not know how to get back to the city. So we walked and walked; I think 3 kms to find a bus stop as we were on the Thames walk and not on the main road. If only we had known there was a train station 200 metres ahead from the Greenwich foot tunnel!

We did see some great sights though and worked up a huge appetite!

We had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant at Covent Garden.....

My mother saw this photo and said it reminded her of the huge vessel filled with liquid and left overs which they used to serve the cows!! :D I could hardly finish half of it!

But my husband wanted dessert.....Meet Madame Valerie.

Day 5, 21 June 2017, London

We had nothing planned for today. But we had seen the perfect place where we wanted to eat our breakfast - Cote Brasserie, St.Martin's Lane, Covent Garden.
I had my first English tea here. And Harish had an 'awesome' breakfast!

The waiter who served us was a part time actor and he asked us to go and see a play. My husband was not very excited, but we thought...why not?

On our way to get the tickets, we stopped by in Legoland and M&M land.

From here we found the ticket booth....but did not buy any tickets. We thought; next time, maybe?

The waiter also suggested Camden Market...

As soon as we got out of the train station, we saw this man with his loudspeaker...

Shouting against this man trying to sell Jesus.

It was very entertaining.

This area was not as good as I thought it would be. Quite artistic, but cheap and dirty.

Beyond the Market hall were the stables. The royal stables now house shops. It was a very different sight.

Each stable had a different shop selling (cheap) quirky stuff.

This was our last day in London and we had to say bid farewell to our child.
So we went to see her at her college.
After embarrassing her enough by taking her pictures....

And dinner, we left her at peace!!
We saw this place on our way back...
Curious....isn't it?

The next day we were flying to Alicante, Spain , where we were to attend the marriage of Oscar and Sofia; before flying to Barcelona to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary.