London is the first European city for me; I actually 2 weeks there, yet it doesn't leave me as much impression as it should. Maybe the main reason is that I didn't treat it as a travel destination, so I didn't do any research. Or maybe it's the backyard syndrome, I always thought I have plenty of opportunity to revisit. However, I actually went back to London for a weekend in December 2006, and in that weekend I met 2 most famous people I've met in my entire life. (One is Juggler, the other is 璩美鳳). But hey, this post is about my initial impression of London. Lets get to it...
view from the plane. on the right...that's Tower Bridge, not London Bridge
London eye at centre, Parliament and Big Ben on the left, and Waterloo Station on the right (I think)
Buckingham Palace, and a shitload of trees
Street view from top of a double decker.
I climbed to the top of St. Paul, a really amazing church. It's almost as big as St. Peter's in Vatican
Photography is forbidden inside St. Paul's Cathedral. The admission is way too expensive ($18 for a church, those English bastards), but it was well worth it. In the basement there lied the tombs of Lord Nelson, Sir Wellington, and memorial of Churchill. When one thinks about it, so many people of significant historic importance are buried here. What will the world look like today if Lord Nelson lost the battle of Trafalgar? What if Wellington lost at Waterloo? (in fact, he almost lost the battle but the Prussians showed up at the last minute to rout the French Army). What if Churchill negotiated peace with Hitler?
The world history can easily be so different had any of the character did something different.
the war memorial at Downing Street. In remembrance day (not the same day as in Canada, but it's the week of Nov 11th), all countries from the British Commonwealth paid tribute to the fallen soldiers. (Sorry USA, you guys opted out)
Double decker. At first riding it was very exciting, and then I realizde...it's just a bus
if I have to take a guess, that will be Westminister Abbey
Buckingham Palace. No pictures of changing guard. Go there and see it yourself.
The admission price into the palace is whopping 14 quid ($28), but I just realized today that it is only opened during August and September.
Had I known it last year, I would still be too cheap to go in. Ha.
chairs in a park. You actually have to pay for it to sit in one.
yummm, Cornetto, (ref. Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz).
That day, I was happy, relax and carefree because I was living my dream. The weather was good (gasp!), Cornetto was delicious, and the future looked bright.
It turns out I would have way more fun than I ever dreamed of.
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