A new trip, cruising from Mumbai to Rome. We thought we'd break up the 20 hour journey with a stopover for a couple of days in London.
We flew from MIA to London Heathrow on this 747. They're slowly disappearing as more efficient long haul planes take over. Indeed we flew on a 787 to Mumbai. I last traveled on a 747 in 1984 flying from Sydney to Los Angeles on a 747SP, a short stubby version of the 747.
London as we arrive very early in the morning.
We checked into our hotel at the airport and began using all of London's transit services. A free bus from the hotel to Hatton Cross station, and onto the Underground.
We got off at Westminster and walked around the area. We had to purchase sweatshirts from a street vendor since it was cold (to us Floridians, at least) and windy. We also had to visit a bank to exchange about 100 GBP. I save some foreign currency after each trip so you can bypass the ATM as your first stop. Unfortunately Great Britain had changed their notes years ago and I had old ones. The Barclay's bank in Westminster was very accommodating.
No boating for us on this trip, but we do recommend the boat trip from Westminster to Greenwich, with a stop to wander around in Greenwich and see the Observatory and the beginning of time @ the Prime Meridian. It was much too cold for us to enjoy being on the water today.
One of Cynthia's heroes in Parliament Square Garden--women's vote crusader. Statue just unveiled a week ago & 1st statue of a woman in the Garden.
All of the public buildings in Westminster are undergoing refurbishment. Big Ben was swaddled in construction scaffolding.
We walked east along the river starting from the Westminster bridge.
A new monument, at least for us -- dedicated to the fighters in the Battle of Britain in 1940.
We went as far as St. Paul's Cathedral in the City of London.
And walked out onto the Millennium Bridge. I was happy to see that public appreciation of the bridge is limited to small paintings on the bridge deck rather than heavy padlocks professing eternal love.
We ate at an authentic British pub, with Cynthia getting Fish n Chips.
On our second day in London was pretty much the same thing. Except that the weather was miserable. Even colder with intermittent rain. We took the tube to the St. Paul's station and walked two blocks north to the Museum of London. It was an engaging way to fill the middle of the day. We took no pictures of the exhibits -- the museum is primarily a history lesson with lots of dioramas and models and text and few real things except some recovered trinkets from olden times. A note if you go: The entrance is on the second floor. There's an escalator just to the south of the museum, but the sign is hidden. Or you can climb the steps at the Ironmonger's Hall.
Our stay in the London area was short, just a way to break up the long trip to India. Some observations:
We stayed at the London Heathrow Marriott, very convenient to the airport. Inconvenient to tour London.
It was a long way by bus & tube to central London -- 1 hour+.
For more money we could have taken the Heathrow Express, 37GBP round trip. Our bus & tube was about 4GBP pp.
We didn't stay long enough to really do anything other than wander about a little bit. We've been to London several times before. This stop was just to break up the long flight and get a head start on jet lag.
There was a Mac's just 200 meters from the LHR Marriott. Suitable for cheap meals and morning coffee.
We flew from MIA to London Heathrow on this 747. They're slowly disappearing as more efficient long haul planes take over. Indeed we flew on a 787 to Mumbai. I last traveled on a 747 in 1984 flying from Sydney to Los Angeles on a 747SP, a short stubby version of the 747.
On our second day in London was pretty much the same thing. Except that the weather was miserable. Even colder with intermittent rain. We took the tube to the St. Paul's station and walked two blocks north to the Museum of London. It was an engaging way to fill the middle of the day. We took no pictures of the exhibits -- the museum is primarily a history lesson with lots of dioramas and models and text and few real things except some recovered trinkets from olden times. A note if you go: The entrance is on the second floor. There's an escalator just to the south of the museum, but the sign is hidden. Or you can climb the steps at the Ironmonger's Hall.
We stayed at the London Heathrow Marriott, very convenient to the airport. Inconvenient to tour London.
It was a long way by bus & tube to central London -- 1 hour+.
For more money we could have taken the Heathrow Express, 37GBP round trip. Our bus & tube was about 4GBP pp.
We didn't stay long enough to really do anything other than wander about a little bit. We've been to London several times before. This stop was just to break up the long flight and get a head start on jet lag.
There was a Mac's just 200 meters from the LHR Marriott. Suitable for cheap meals and morning coffee.
No comments:
Post a Comment