Updated June 4, 1998
Hi from London, England. Yes, I finally made it across the Atlantic, and am
having a ball. Here is my journal of the trip, so far....
May 24, 1998 Hayley and I left for London. Took Virgin Atlantic flight out of Newark Airport.
It was a 6:30pm flight that arrived into Gatwick Airport at 6:10am the next moning.
All in all, it was about a 6 1/2 hour flight, plus a 5 hour time difference. I got a
great fare of $190 from Edita at As You Like It Travel (18 E 41st Street, NYC, NY
(212) 679 6949
I recommend her and the business, as we went in on Friday at 4:30pm and left with
the fare and our tickets at 5:30pm. We got a great fare in 1 hour with just 2
days notice. It was a good flight and they even had little TV's in the seatbacks
for free of charge with a wide selection of shows (movies, comedy, news, etc). However, the food was lousey.
Customs was no problem. The guy asked me where I was from, the mature of the visit, how much money I had
for the trip, what kind of work I did, and if I was going back to that work after
the trip was done. Even though I didn't have a return ticket, he was satisifed that I had an
Eurail pass as proof that I would be travelling on from England.
After we got our bags, we were met at the airport by our friend Chris (see Key West
posts from Florida, April 1998) and his new roommate John. That was a big suprise to us,
as we hadn't been able to get a hold of our friends (Chris and Darren) before we left.
We had tried emailing them, but had notheard back. We had also called his relatives in England
and had gotten another # from them to call. We called it and were given even another # to call.
We called that, and it was a home office for their work in South Wales. We had left
a message with them about the flight, they in turn, got a message to Darren, who was at work,
and he called Chris (at home) to let him know about our arrival. It all worked out.
It turns out that John was also Chris' landlord and was going to let us spend a few nights at their house.
From there, we headed to the airport pub (a pub in England is like a coffee house in the States, a place to
hang out with friends and socialize))to talk and catch up for a few minutes. Two hours later, we left
Gatwick on the train, headed for the house. We got off at the East Croyden station and caught
one of the famous London Black Cabs to the house.
From there, we met up with Darren and also met John's other roommate, Ross (both John and Ross are
English). We spent a couple of hours talking and John and Ross explained a lot to us (English
money, what life is like her, etc). Then, we went for a walk.
A few brief observations....I noticed that cars are a lot smaller here, as are
roads. I guess big cars are just am American thing. Also, most of the roads only
have 1 lane each way. The buildings were a lot smaller also. Rarely was anything (in that suburb)
over 2 stories.
Our walk took us to a real Englush pub called the Black Horse. We played pool and
hung out for a few more hours and then went back to the house for a barbarque. Then,
around 4pm, we finally went to sleep.
May 25, 1998
Hayley and I took the train into London. We bought a 1 day pass at a newsstand
for £4.30 (1£ = $1.65 American) and took a double decker bus to the train station.
A daily pass in Central London usually costs £3.5, but we were in the suburbs, so it cost a bit more.
I recommend it as a good way to save money. They also have weekly passes.
We went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. However, since the Japanese
Emperor was visiting, they didn't have it. What they had, instead, was a procession,
including the queen in an enclosed carriage. So, we did see the Queen of England.
When we got home and told the others, Ross said "I've lived in England all my life and have only seen the queen once.
You've been here for 1 day and have already seen her." Lucky, I guess.
Next, we went to Earl's COurt, an area populated heavily by Australians and New
Zealanders. Hayley (an Aussie from Tazmania) wanted to see if we could find
any Aussies. We didn't, just someone from New Zealand.
I did find an internet cafe, located at 1 Hogarth Road. It only charges £6/hr. We had dinner
at the Prince of Teck Pub. They have excellent food that is also inexpensive, I had the
Chicken and pasta with chips (chips in English = fries in American). It was only £4 and was
excellent. We hung out in the pub for a while and then took the train back to the house.
May 29, 1998
I woke up this morning at 7am and saw that it was actually sunny out. I was so excited to see the sun (my first time in the 5 days that I had been in England) that I got up and went outside just to experience it again. There was brilliant sunshine until 10am when some clouds rolled in. After that, it remained a mixture of sun and clouds for the rest of the daylight hours.
I went to see the Tower Bridge today. It cost only £5.95. Here's how the tour goes:
First, they take you in a lift (elevator) to the first level. There, you watch a totally irrelivant 5 minute video.
Next, you walk up 70 stairs to the second level, where an animated manequin tells you, for 5 minutes, about some of the history of the structure. That part was very good. It tells about how the peasants needed a bridge, but Parliment didn't want to give it, as it would block shops from the River Thames.
Then, you walk 70 more stairs for another 5 minute presentation. It tells you how they decided on the bridge design.
After that, you take the walkway over the bridge. We took the East walkway from the North Tower to the South Tower. After we got to the other side, we were also able to go to the West walkway (it looks right at London and gives a better view). |In the walkways, there are a lot old photographs of the bridge during construction (1886 - 1894) and also during World War II.
Next, there is another 5 minute video describing the building of the bridge.
Then, you descend 70 stairs to yet another 5 minute video of how the bridge lifts for tall ships to go by (it is a drawbridge).
Next, you guessed it, 59 more stairs down to a landing, where you take a lift down to the ground level.
From there, you can continue the tour by taking a self giuded tour of the Engine Room and see the actual hydrolics that make it work.
I thought that it was great and highly recommend the tour.
After that, I hopped into the Tube (subway) and sped off towards Westminster Abby and the Parliment area. I came up from the tube onto Bridge St and all I could say was "OH WOW"!!, as I saw the Parliment Building. I looked to my left and saw Big Ben. I'm going to have to find someone with a scanner to have the photos scanned in, as I can't even begin to describe the beauty of the architecture. Too bad you can't take a tour of the inside.
I then went to Westminster Abby and took the self guided tour. It's only £5 for admission, but is well worth it. It would be worth £20!!! It's a wonderful place. it's been around for over 900 years and is a beautiful cathedral. It's where all but 2 of the Kings of England have been crowned and a lot of the British rulers are also burried in and under it. I'm kind of glad that you can't take pictures inside, otherwise I would have probably used 4 rolls of film. If you go to London and don't take the tour, you have missed out on a lot.
May 30, 1998
I decided to take it easy. I went to Protobello Market. It is, more or less, an open air market british style. It is on Portobello St, in an area with a lot of little antique shops. What the merchants do is set up tables out front of the shop and sell merchandise off of them, at, what they claim to be, reudced prices. The prices seemed a bit high to me, but I don't know anything about antiques. Most of the stores participate in this every Saturday.
