Since young, WB has dreamt endlessly to one day visit London, the city where Paddington Bear lives, where the red double decker bus ferry passengers, where Harry Potter story originates, where the Queen stays, etc etc…
So, throwback to March 2013, WB had the opportunity to visit London, thanks to a working trip to Belgium. BB wasn’t able to come, so WB had fun all on her own, and with her coworkers of course 🙂
To save money (which WB later regrets), WB and her coworkers took the Eurolines bus to London. The bus provided is normal seating, 2-2 in a row, even though the whole journey took 7 hours 😦
The bus started from Brussels at 7.30am (where WB waited outdoor in freezing winter cold), went to France, then boarded a train in Coquelles (one huge train terminal, below picture), went through the famous Chunnel, out on the other side on UK soil, and continued on to London, finally arriving at Victoria Station.
Along the way in UK, green pastures can be seen on either side.
There was a Tesco in an Esso petrol station. That’s nice 🙂
Nice used cars selling at a bargain (Mercedes – GBP 15,990), imagine if those prices were in RM… hmm…
So, once WB and her coworkers got off the bus, they had lunch at KFC in the station, nothing special thus no picture taken. Next, they headed towards their budget hotel via the tube, met Yoda selling wifi in the tube. Man times are sure hard after the Star Wars series stopped.
After much bickering and got lost on the way, they finally arrived. It is an old guesthouse, run by Indians. The rooms are small, bathrooms are shared, hmmm… no comment there. Well, at least it is nearby to the Underground Bethnal Green Station.
After they settled down and rested 10 minutes, they headed straight outdoors to Oxford Street to shop!
Oxford Street is much more affordable than the Champs-Élysées in Paris. WB bought a lot of stuff here, clothes, kids clothes, bags, gotta love shopping! WB and her coworkers shopped til late in the night, where they gave up and went back to the guest house. As dinner, they had a Chinese take out along the street to the guest house, WB had prawn fried rice (her usual) which cost GBP 7.00.. man that’s expensive..
The next morning, WB and her coworkers have a long list of tourist spots to complete, so they woke up early and had their breakfast at the guest house, which was prepared by an Indian woman, a toast, sausage and scrambled eggs, with orange juice.
After the brekkie, they started their journey. First stop, to the famous St. Paul’s Cathedral.
A very majestic church (Baroque style) in the morning lights. The statue of Queen Anne stands tall in front of the church and at the back, willowy trees stand guard.
WB took the opportunity to go inside the church to have a look, and took a forbidden picture.
Breath taking, isn’t it? After this picture was taken, the caretaker said to WB “No pictures!”. Well, sorry too late…
Next stop, they walked over to the other side of Thames through the Millennium Bridge.
Why would someone install a plaque on the floor where people can just step on?
Left and right of the Millennium Bridge, it was a glorious morning! The sun feels so good on the skin. Then it U-turn really fast later. WB and her coworkers happily continued on their walk over the bridge and saw this not far after.
The Anchor Bankside pub, an old tavern with a brewery at the back producing Anchor beer. Such a nice piece of history against the Shard at the background.
After a long walk criss crossing back alleys and really experiencing the old London, WB took the tube to Buckingham Palace.
It was Easter that Sunday, and there were throngs of people gathering around the palace. Though the royals did not make an appearance. WB was treated to a march of the Palace guards, nothing really special.
Since there wasn’t going to be anything special, WB and her coworkers headed to Covent Garden next.
One must take special care when one exits the Covent Garden station, it is 20 floors beneath the surface, and it is recommended that you must take the elevator (very big one), except in an emergency, you can take the stairs. Covent Garden is full of stalls selling handmade crafts, food, souvenirs, and also tea shops. WB had lunch and got fridge magnets with some other souvenirs here.
WB came across this very cute booth selling hand drawn pieces. Quite pricey though 😀
It was getting late in the afternoon, so to chase back some time, they hurried to the National Gallery for a quick walk around.
The entrance is free, but no photos are allowed. There are a number of Impressionist art pieces here (more can be found in Musee d’Orsay in Paris), the most famous of all perhaps is the Sunflower by Van Gogh. There are also some other works by Leonardo da Vinci, but no Mona Lisa, she is in Lourve. But they are amazing nonetheless!
Directly in front is the very famous Trafalgar Square.
It was very different than what WB pictured, perhaps it looks better in spring or in summer, too bad it was still winter back then.
Witnessed this poor guy and his horse, have some respect, random pigeon!
Carrying on, WB next arrived at the north side of the Palace of Westminster, gazing upon the clock tower that WB have pictured countless of times in her lifetime. Big Ben is perfectly exactly what WB expected, i love you Ben!
Across the river Thames, the Eye of London stands magnificent on the banks.
Going down the road towards the Westminster Abbey, looking back and one will capture this familiar scene.
There was also a funny scene along the way, where a part of a church was under restoration, a real size poster was hanged as substitute. Though it looked a bit off 🙂
If you ever got lost with the multitude of buildings around the area of Westminster Palace, look for this plaque, it’s like a mall directory, kidding 🙂
When WB finally arrived at Westminster Abbey, they quickly took some pictures, hanged around for a while and left, and totally forgot to go inside the church T.T
Don’t the abbey look so much like the Notre Dame? The gothic style, the two tower facade, the flying buttresses at the north entrance.. etc.. this is just like deja vu! But who cares, they are both amazingly wonderful architecture masterpieces 🙂
The last stop before WB left London, was the ever misunderstood Tower Bridge, which as kids, always thought of as London Bridge.
To take a truly all inclusive nice picture of the Tower Bridge, never go too near to the bridge itself. Walk along the banks and find a good spot to take a picture.
As you walk nearer to the bridge, one can actually go on the bridge 🙂 There was a stall selling glazed peanuts, it was such good food on such a cold day, must try!
On the other side of the river, stands the Shard, tallest building in the European Union.
After a whole day of tourist spot hopping, WB and her coworkers went back to the guest house to get their luggage and headed back to Victoria Station. They had their dinner there at McDonald’s.
Heard people said fast food at western countries are far better. Oh really… nope, not true. And after that disappointing meal, WB took a 7~8 hours long bus trip, back to Brussels, where they arrived at 7am. Still fresh in mind, it was freezing cold in the morning, and it took WB more than an hour to get back to the apartment in Brussels, as they were stranded outside waiting for the tram…
Too Fat Bears 
