Houses of Parliament
Since I had extended the time of my trip to Europe, Britt and I decided that we had time to hop over to London for a few days. Actually, this is very easy to do––get to the Gare du Nord in Paris (we took a cab, which almost hit two pedestrians on the way to the station) and take the Eurostar train from Paris to London. The train trip takes about 2 hours 40 minutes, with the actual trip through the Chunnel taking only 20 minutes. (There is a movie clip of our Eurostar trip: Go to Movies, Western Europe, France, “On the Eurostar Between Paris and London.”) Before getting on the train, we had to go through both French and U.K. immigration and also had our luggage X–rayed. We arrived at London’s Waterloo Station and took a London taxi to our hotel. From Waterloo Station, we crossed the Thames on Westminster Bridge. The first sight that you see while crossing the bridge is Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
Houses of Parliament
The Protest
It took awhile to get through the area at the end of the bridge because a major protest was just beginning in the area. We asked our cabbie what it was for and he said it was about fox hunting. We at first assumed he meant that people were protesting against fox hunting––just the opposite, the protest was to lift the ban against it. This was an upper class protest. This protest became the talk of London when we were there as later in the day it became violent with the police and the protestors fighting each other. Also, some protestors made their way into the Houses of Parliament. The sign for these protestors read: Fight prejudice, fight the ban. That looks like a statue of Winston Churchill in the photo.
The Protest
Parliament Square
Behind and to the right of the Houses of Parliament is Parliament Square, an area set off for protesting the government. To the left of the square is Westminster Abbey. That is Westminster Abbey in the photo.
Parliament Square
More of the Protest
The upper class were joined by other people protesting just about everything.
More of the Protest
Our Hotel
We stayed at a bed and breakfast named Five Summer Place in the area of South Kensington, which we do not recommend. It was way too expensive for the accommodations that we had, though the breakfasts were good. Actually, right now, London is a very expensive city for Americans as our dollar does not go far here. The prices here seem reasonable until you realize that they are in English pounds and that you then have to almost double all these prices to get the dollar value. We had changed dollars into pounds at the Waterloo Station and didn’t get many pounds back in exchange.
Our Hotel
South Kensington
South Kensington, however, is a very nice area to stay in. Britt and Chris had stayed at a B&B near our present B&B last year, so Britt was familar with the area. This photo shows some of the very attractive apartments in the area.
South Kensington
On Our Walk to Harrod’s
The British are very considerate to their visitors from countries where cars drive on the opposite side of the road than they do in England. Look Right and Look Left are painted on roadways all over London so that you can remember which way the cars are coming.
On Our Walk to Harrod’s
On Our Walk to Harrod’s
Most of the taxis here sport advertising on them.
On Our Walk to Harrod’s
On Our Walk to Harrod’s
London phone booths.
On Our Walk to Harrod’s
Harrod’s Department Store
This is the department store owned by Dodi Fayed’s father and it is a major tourist attraction. The whole ground floor is a huge food court with a carnival–like atmosphere. They were having an Italian week here. I took some photos of the food court before I saw the sign that photos weren’t allowed. We ate lunch at the food court––Britt had a salad and I had a cheese, cracker, and fruit plate, which ended up together costing about what a full dinner for both of us would have cost in Paris.
Harrod’s Department Store
Harrod’s Department Store
More of the food court. The selection of food that could be bought here was exquisite.
Harrod’s Department Store
Harrod’s Department Store
The escalator to the upper levels. Photo taking allowed here.
Harrod’s Department Store
The Tube
We took the tube from near here to the Thames embankment. The reason the London subway is called the tube as both the trains and the passageways (I guess that is what you call them) are shaped like tubes.
The Tube
The Tube
One of the trains.
The Tube
The Tube
MIND THE GAP. They are quite serious about this and as soon as the doors to the trains open a man’s voice with an English accent repeats the warning over and over and over again: MIND THE GAP, MIND THE GAP, MIND THE GAP…. At some stations, there is a sizable gap between the station platform and the train entrance and they want to make sure that you MIND THE GAP! At some stations, there are escalators to take you out of the station. On these, you are reminded by signs to STAY TO THE RIGHT. That is so that the people who are in a hurry can get by you and walk up the escalator, even though the escalator steps are quite narrow. At other stations, you climb stairs to get out of the station. There are divided staircases with a rail in the middle of them. Now you have to remember that in England cars drive on the opposite side of the road than we do and it seems that in England people walk up and down steps to the left, the same direction that they drive their cars, not on the right as we and other countries do. So you end up with quite a mess––some people walking up and other people walking down the same steps and you have to be careful not to run into someone or have someone run into you. And to find the way out of a station, you simply need to follow the signs that say WAY OUT.
The Tube
On the Thames
We took a sightseeing boat on a cruise from the Houses of Parliament to the Tower Bridge and back. The Thames does not have the beauty of the Seine, as many of the buildings along it are modern and most of those are uninteresting, but there still are a number of scenic areas along it. In some of the photos, it looks like it is going to rain, but it didn’t. The following photos show some of the scenic areas. This photo is of the London Eye, which was built for the Millennium celebrations. It is 443 feet in diameter and each car holds 25 passengers. The Eye is almost right across the Thames from the Houses of Parliamen
On the Thames
On the Thames
View on the Thames.
On the Thames
On the Thames
View on the Thames.
On the Thames
On the Thames
View on the Thames
On the Thames
On the Thames
Blackfriars Bridge.
On the Thames
On the Thames
The Millennium Bridge, a pedestrian bridge. When it first opened, it was swaying so much people had to hang on to the rails so they wouldn’t fall off it. It had to be re–engineered. That is St. Paul’s Cathedral in the photo.
On the Thames
On the Thames
This should be London Bridge, which was rebuilt as a very uninteresting structure.
On the Thames
On the Thames
London Bridge.
On the Thames
On the Thames
The Tower Bridge. A beautiful sight.
On the Thames
On the Thames
The Tower Bridge and a modern structure in the same view.
On the Thames
On the Thames
The Tower of London.
On the Thames
On the Thames
View on the Thames.
On the Thames
On the Thames
View on the Thames.
On the Thames
On the Thames
The Houses of Parliament.
On the Thames
A Pub
We took the Tube back to South Kensington and ate dinner at this neighborhood pub in the photo, which was an authentic British pub with authentic pub customers. We both had fish and chips (what else?) and as Britt ordered a black and tan (Guiness mixed with another beer), I had one also. But I was careful only to drink half of it. I had begun to be aware of my drinking limits. After our pub fare, we walked across the street and I had French coffee and French pastry at a patisserie (I thought all this food went very well together!) and Britt had a cup of tea. Then we returned to our B&B and watched the news of the protests that had become violent.
