onto the Millennium Bridge and across River Thames, where the view of the cathedral's domed roof is spectacular: I walked along Bankside, which brought me past Shakespeare's Globe Theatre: Trundling along, I'd admit that it wasn't always easy finding the landmark or street I was supposed to be at. Street names in London aren't always prominently displayed, and signposts don't always point you in a logical direction or tell you how far away you are from wherever your intended destination is. So most of the time, one can find me standing under a street sign furtively flipping through the pages of my guidebook for the map and looking lost. But that's why it's fun. I love stuff like that, and I managed to finish the first tour without much difficulty even though I don't think I ended the tour at the intended destination. With alot of time to spare, I found myself taking a detour to the Tower of London: Then it was past the Palace of Westminster, or as many know it, the Houses of Parliament. Then I crossed the road to arrive at Westminster Abbey: Then it was a whole series of government-y streets, landmarks, houses as I made my way past Parliament Square, Downing Street, Whitehall, many of which have seriously heavy security so I could only contend myself with peering through the heavily fortified gates into the compound of Tony Blair's residence and the Horse Guards Parade ground. Oh, and I managed to get Daniel's weird hat for £3 which was the cheapest by far. Another item crossed off the list of 'Things to Get from London'. So that's Day #5 wrapped up with a day of touring instead of sitting around on my bum or walking around stuffy museums and behaving like an old arty fart [although the museums were interesting]. On my way back to the apartment, it was still early in the afternoon, so I took the scenic route back through Regent's Park and it was so beautiful. Especially with the sun reflected off the waters of the lake, ducks and swans swimming about, pigeons pecking at the ground, kids and families lying about on the grass, it was really an amazing sight. Pity my memory card in my camera is of a pathetically small storage so I had no more space left to capture 'A Beautiful Sunday Afternoon at Regent's Park', but the park's almost opposite my apartment so I have plenty of time left to capture the image. Not to worry. I would just like to say that the British kids were so cute feeding the ducks or running around scaring pigeons or being pulled along in a wagon that for a moment, all I wanted to do was take one and put him/her into my pocket and run away. In the evening we had a special 'Flat 80' dinner which Chubby [I don't know how to spell his name, but that's how it's pronounced] prepared. A Spanish feast which we all thought was too much for us to finish, but which we polished off rather quickly. But it was a good time for me to sit and get to know my flatmates better because I've hardly spoken to the guys even though they reside in the next room. Great evening and great food, although Spanish food included lots of vegetables so I've never eaten that healthily in one sitting.Location: Gloucester Place, London
Went on a couple of 'Walking Tours' as specified in my guidebook. It cost me about $35 so I might as well put it through the grind. Day #5 was just about the only day since I arrived to completely enter 'Tourist Mode'. With my headphones in place, guidebook and camera in hand, I set off with Melissa and Cheyenne [on their way to work] at 8am, and took the Tube to St. Paul's Tube Station where I started off on the first tour.
The tour took me past the famed (and very beautiful) St. Paul's Cathedral:
and the Tower Bridge [since these places weren't far from where I ended the first tour]:
before heading off to Westminster tube station to kick off Walking Tour #2.
The sun was shining, birds were chirping and the breeze was not breezing as I arrived at Westminster tube station at 1145am and kind of hung around the area to hear Big Ben chime 12pm [it's longest 'gong' of the day]:
