Day 117 of international places giving smiles – Remembering London, again and again.
Now I know why we have to fill a 21 page application form for the U.K. visa…the lady at the Immigration counter of London Heathrow Airport asked me lots of questions about our stay in the United Kingdom.
My first visit to London was for my 40th Birthday holiday treat with my husband and I was thrilled to wake up for the first time actually in a European country. I was literally on top of the world with a ride on the giant London Eye wheel, the amazing view of the Thames river and the city from above, the walk past the famous Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Churches, castles, gardens that I had read so much about and was actually seeing like an excited small child. We visited all the tourist spots, Tower of London, wax museum and even went for the famous musical called Phantom of the Opera.
The train stations, the underground metro rides, the malls, the people from all nationalities, the double decker bus, the pigeons of Trafalgar square, the night life of London, the quaint row houses, even the weather conversations, everything was new and thrilling for me.
My second visit to London in 2008 was as a whole family. Our friend picked us up…the spacious boot of his Audi car easily took in our big suitcases. I enjoyed seeing our children enjoy their first ride in London through typical London streets and buildings. Along with our friends, we enjoyed a typical Portuguese meal with spicy peri peri sauces at a place called Nando’s.
We soon learnt to travel on our own by metro to Victoria Station early, drank Starbucks Coffee and got tourist information of London. We took a day pass for 5.90 pounds so we could travel any number of times throughout the day in the London Underground trains, provided we start after the peak hours, after 9.30.a.m. Daughter took charge, we changed from the Victoria Line to Northern line at Warren Street station. She saw the suburb of Central Finchley as we walked from the station to Briarfield Avenue to House No.26- our friends house.
We helped ourselves to English Breakfast of tea, biscuits, bread, croissants, cereals, and juices all in plenty our friends home. We played Toppler game and then after raiding the fridge for a quick lunch we decide to see London on foot.
Family together-great!
Outing in London-really great!
We are all so happy to be doing this together!
We took the tube to Westminister station. We emerged from the underground to find ourselves in front of the soaring crenulated clock tower-the Big Ben and the very impressive Houses of Parliament.! We could also see the Giant Wheel – London Eye across the Thames River. The Westminister Abbey is the place where most British monarchs were crowned. It was a monastery, it has cloistered courtyards, a chapel and a gaggle of monuments to famous statesmen, scientists and poets. This day was closed to visitors after 12.30p.m, the timings keep changing every day depending on the services in the church, so we couldn’t go in.
We walked on the Parliament street, and saw the rear side of the prime ministers residence at 10, Downing street. We walked through the Horse Guards Parade Grounds and saw the tranquil, yet royal St. James park with it’s swans and clear waters. The Buckingham Palace-the monarch’s main place of stay was a sight to behold. We then cut across the Green park to find ourselves on the busy Piccadily street. There were countless people dressed in mostly black jackets sitting on the Piccadilly Circus with the statue of Eros. We took photos in front of the Sanyo hoarding that has been there since years. We walked past another tall pillared structure called monument and finally reached the great Trafalgar Square with the towering Nelson’s Column in the middle.
Time to partake of our short eats (any Indian farsan is welcome in a foreign country). We visited Tesco supermarket and made our way back home.
Yes, our friend’s home was going to be our base when our family would travel to Europe for the next month. They really went out of the way to make us feel good… We just had to visit a typical English pub called Five bells to drink beer with his old friend… Another fulfilling and tiring day…Everyday we really walked a lot!
My third visit to London was in April 2012 to meet my school friend who came all the way from Canada. I went again for another musical called Mamma Mia based on my favourite Abba songs. At the end of the month, I went again to London, this time on work! I had actually come to conduct my first ever international training workshop, to a group of very learned ladies. I had prepared the content for over two months, I was also anxious about whether we would be able to understand each other’s accents, it was a stressful time… yet the results of the super successful workshop was a big breakthrough for me.
I will never forget my first professional meeting at Le pain Quotedien and the interaction with the power ladies at the Thistle Hotel in Barbican. I treated the participants with bindis, ear-rings, anklets and mehndi tattoos. Also gave my first international treat to friends at the Kipling Hotel.
And I was rewarded with a professional photo session from one of the participants.
London, fantastic unforgettable memories…do make a trip there. You will have no idea what you are in for.
So what place made you smile today?
Be thankful for the places that make you smile.
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