'May I Speak with the Queen, Please?' or London in a Day and a Half (United Kingdom)

Trip Details:

Where: London, United Kingdom

When: 6th - 7th December 2013

How many of you have imagined saying that in one of those red telephone booths in London? Or pretended to do so? I have. I've done both. Well, minus the British accent. I'm still working on that.

Telephone booth, London

But London isn't only known for its telephone booths and red double-decker buses, is it?

Double-decker buses, London

After getting off our bus from Oxford near Victoria Station,

Victoria Station

we headed to our first sight for the day - the Buckingham Palace.

The Buckingham Palace

The Buckingham Palace, as you probably know, is the official residence of the Queen. However, she had her hands full that day and she didn't invite us over tea. Oh well, there's always next time.

We were greeted by a marching band.

At the Buckingham Palace, Victoria Memorial on the right

If that was the changing of the guards we witnessed (because I'm not entirely sure what it was), we got there right about its end when the marching band exited through the central gates and went on its way. Here's a schedule, so you don't miss it.

The Buckingham Palace

The balcony in the middle is where Kate and William had their first (and second) kiss on their wedding day. The wedding that took place at the Westminister Abbey, but we'll get to it.

A great deal of banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions, etc. are held in the Palace. There's plenty of space - a lot of different rooms with different purposes, including the Grand Hall, which is right on the other side of the entrance, with the Grand Staircase and portraits on the walls, dated since Queen Victoria; a Ballroom - the largest multi-purpose room and a Throne Room. The last one is sometimes used for Court gatherings, a second dancing room and on special occasions - the Queen receives loyal addresses.

In the middle of Queen's Gardens, in front of the Buckingham Palace, is the Victoria Memorial, a sculpture dedicated to Queen Victoria (whose 63 years' reign (1837-1901), known as the Victorian era, marks  industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and a great expansion of the British Empire).

Victoria Memorial

St. James Park leads from the Palace to Horse Guards building. It's the oldest of the Royal Parks of London (another one of which is Hyde Park - which has Park Lane and Mayfair as it's boundaries - for those of you, who play Monopoly).

St. James Park

The fauna was rich - from chips-stealing gulls and squirrels, sensitive to crunching noises to scarf-eating pelicans and black swans.

St. James Park

It was quite the experience getting through that park! (P.S. Cycling is not allowed.) But we made it to the other end (alive and whole) and reached the Horse Guards building.

Horse Guards Building

The building is the headquarters of two major Army commands: the London District British Army and the Household Cavalry, which is the Queen's official bodyguard.

Horse Guard

Notice the sign on the right? It says 'Beware: Horses may kick or bite! Thank you'. Keep it in mind when you go near.

Speaking of London police, Scotland Yard is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, the police force, that polices most of London.

Metropolitan Police Service

Trafalgar Square (another Monopoly estate) is a few meters away from Horse Guards.

Trafalgar Square, Nelson's Column

Aside from a tourist site, the square is used for political demonstrations and community gatherings (New Year's eve and more). There are a number of performers, live statues, other statues and sculptures in the square, and one podium, which was left empty. It's a place for different contemporary art. A blue rooster was standing on top when we were there.

In the center, guarded by four lions at its base is Nelson's Column - a monument in memory of Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

An interesting fact is that Trafalgar Square is owned by the Queen in Right of the Crown, while the roads around it are owned by the Westminster City Council.

You've heard of the famous black London taxis, with doors that open in the opposite direction, right? Well, I saw something better.

Harry Potter Taxi

A Harry Potter taxi! If you haven't picked that up from my previous post - I'm a fan.

We didn't take a Harry Potter taxi to our next stop, but the underground (or tube, as it's known in London).

London Undergound

I bet you've seen the red disk with the blue bar across the middle of it somewhere. It's one of the most recognized signs around London. I saw more T-shirts and souvenirs of the London Underground than Big Ben's.

Also don't forget to Mind the Gap!

Mind the Gap, London Underground

London Underground is the world's first electric underground railway. It has eleven lines and it's really not that complicated when you get the hang of it (and stop laughing at Cockfosters station). It's divided in zones, which matters for the type of ticket you get. Most of the popular tourist sights are in zone 1. You can buy your ticket from machines in the stations. If you're going to be using it a lot, which you probably are, consider getting a day travelcard. We got it for £7.30 but check here for the current rates.

If you're only visiting for a short while, then it's probably too much trouble to get an Oyster card but if you're going to be staying longer, using one instead of paper tickets is a convenient (and cheaper) way to get around the city. Here's more about it.

Speaking of getting around the city, it's hardly a surprise that people in UK drive on the left side of the road. But be careful when you cross the streets. It's confusing if you come from a country with an opposite driving. Although, if you forget, there's always a reminder of which way to look:

Look Right, London

Back to our trip. We got off at Embankment station, where an Eye was revealed before our eyes.

London Eye

Of course I mean the London Eye - the giant Ferris wheel on river Thames' bank, which offered the highest viewing point (135 metres up in the sky) before The Shard was built. We didn't get on, because according to a friend, it moves very slowly and a round takes quite a while and during that time you're standing, crammed with a bunch of people in the passenger capsule. Not to discourage you or anything but that's what we heard.

Also see the clouds? It didn't rain once while we were in London! How lucky were we?

The sight I was anticipating to see the most was in walking distance. Big Ben.

Big Ben

Did you know Big Ben is the nickname of the bell of the clock in the tower and not the whole tower? I didn't. The tower, formerly known as Clock Tower is now called Elizabeth Tower, renamed in 2012 in the name of the Queen. I still call it Big Ben. The clock is the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world.

Palace of Westminister, Big Ben

The tower is a part of the Palace of Westminister.

Palace of Westminister, view from Westminister Bridge

The Palace of Westminister is also known as the House of Parliament, where the two houses of the Parliament have their meetings.

Next to the House of Parliament is the Westminister Abbey. The same one I mentioned earlier, where William and Kate (and I suppose all royal couples) got married.

Westminister Abbey

The cathedral is also a place for coronations and burials of British monarchs.

The Natural History Museum followed next.

National History Museum

I wanted to get on that ice-rink but my friends thought going inside the museum was a better idea. They weren't wrong. The museum has a vast range of specimens of the natural history variety. Most impressive was the dinosaur skeletons collection.

National History Museum

Also, there's a room that's an earthquake simulator, but it was closed for renovation (no joke) at the time. 

The museum has no entrance fee. In fact, most of the museums in London have free entrance or require a donation the amount of which is of your preference.

As for other sights, you'll probably get a better deal if you book them in advance. There are also passes that combine a few sights, which could be useful. I can't recommend any though, since I haven't used any.

Platform 9 and 3/4, Kings Cross Station

See that? If not, then you're a muggle! Well, Harry Potter fans get me. That's Platform 9 and 3/4 at Kings Cross Station. Which is only one of the biggest railway stations in London. And not only because the Hogwarts Express departs from here.

Kings Cross Station

It serves main line stations such as Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh and international connections.

But back to the important stuff. Platform 9 and 3/4 was in the main hall on the way to platform 9 - no need to buy a ticket or get to the actual platforms - but they move it around the station, so they may change its location again. For the record, the real location where the scene at platform 9 and 3/4 was shot is between platforms 4 and 5. Be sure to check it out.

There's also a Harry Potter store, close to the magical platform, which has all kinds of souvenirs, including wands, books and a one-way ticket to Hogwarts.

After the Harry Potter heaven, we headed to Canary Wharf.

Canary Wharf

It's located in the West India Docks, which once formed part of the busiest port in the world. Canary Wharf is a major business district - one of the two financial centers - and doesn't look anything like classic-hundreds-years-old London. The whole district is connected underground, so basically people who work there could go by without getting any vitamin D all week. Not that there's much to get in London anyway, given it's hardly ever sunny. But indeed, there's a shopping center on the underground level and a tube station exit.

There's also the DLR (Docklands Light Railway), which operates automatically, without the need of a driver.

DLR, London

Pretty cool, huh? We took that to our next stop: Tower Bridge and Tower of London.

Tower of London

The Tower of London (Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress) is a historic castle, which has served as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint (the body permitted to manufacture (mint) the coins of the United Kingdom), a public records office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom - crowns, sceptres, swords and more (which are still kept there). Between 16th and 17th century it even served as a prison.

At 9.52 pm a Ceremony of the Keys is performed there, which is a 700 year old gate-closing ritual. Tickets are required. Check here.

Right next to the Tower of London is Tower Bridge over r. Thames.

Tower Bridge

Just as we were about to cross it, they closed it for a boat to pass and we got to witness its lifting.

The view from the bridge is pretty amazing at night.

The Shard, view from Tower Bridge

The tall building in the middle is The Shard - an 87-storey skyscraper. It's 306 metres high and is currently the highest building in the European Union. There's an observation deck at the top, which is open to the public.

Down the river bank we passed by the HMS Belfast - a war museum, situated on a ship. The buildings at the background are part of the other financial center - City of London.

HMS Belfast, a war museum on a ship

And that's pretty much how the day ended.

The next one we spent mainly wandering around and not so much sightseeing. A few hours went by in the Science Museum.

Apollo 10, Science Museum, London

There were items from steam engines and ancient computers to rockets and planes. There's also an IMAX 3D cinema showing documentaries and a few simulators.

We came across a bigger IMAX cinema:

IMAX Cinema

 and the National Theatre:

National Theatre

on our way to Waterloo Bridge. The view on both sides of the bridge is supposed to be beautiful. However, we were going to be late for our flight (which by the way was two hours late) so we only got as far as here:

London Eye and Big Ben, view from Waterloo Bridge

which is like two minutes away from our desired destination. But the view isn't half bad.

We got back to Waterloo Station (is it just me or did we visit quite a lot of these railway stations?)

Waterloo Station

and headed back to the airport.

So that's London in a day and a half. In the end, a day and a half is not nearly enough but that's one more reason to go back.

Oxford - Educational and Classic, with a Pinch of Magical (United Kingdom)

Trip Details:
Where: Oxford, United Kingdom
When: 5th December 2013

Luton Airport greeted us with a beautiful sunrise.

Sunrise at Luton Airport

Way to start a day, huh?

A friend picked us up in his car and even though we were aware that driving in UK is done on the left side of the road, which is the opposite of here, it was still a little weird when he climbed in what would be the passenger seat, if it was my car, to drive.

If you don't have such a friend, there should be a bus to Oxford. There's also one to London, which would take you to Victoria Station.

After getting settled, we headed out for a walk around town. What we noticed first is that the architecture is very old and classic. There wasn't a single modern-looking building, unless you consider a hundred and fifty years old ones modern.

Oxford

The houses looked pretty much like these ones. Also see those trash bins there? One's for recyclable materials - weirdly enough it's the blue one - and the other one is for everything else, and if you don't separate your trash correctly and put it in black bags, in the morning, you'll find it where you left it.

But enough about trash. The Oxfordshire County Council is situated in Oxford.

Oxfordshire County Council

That's the place where the most strategic local government decisions are made for the whole county.

There's also quite the number of churches in the city.



The University Church of St. Mary the Virgin



Well, former churches, now used as parts of the university. As you probably know, the city is home of the University of Oxford and pretty much everything is centered around it.

The University of Oxford Shop

Oxford University is the oldest in the English-speaking world and the second oldest still functioning, in the whole world and is made up from a number of different colleges and academic departments.

Which is one of the reasons that as old and traditional as the town looks, it's full of young people from every part of the world. Aside from Oxford University, there's also Oxford Brookes University, which is fairly new - since 1865.

The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It's the second-largest in Britain.



Tower of the Five Orders - main entrance to the Bodleian Library



We may have gone in to warm ourselves up a little, since there was this biting wind that day. But hey, at least we learned a bunch of facts. Like the one that during World War II, a great deal of doctors and scientists in Oxford used Alexander Fleming's observations on penicillin and turned them into a drug that would save lots of lives.

Excuse my randomness.

Carfax is where the city center is considered to be, which is a cross-roads, connecting four streets, two of which are pedestrian (one semi-pedestrian) - St Aldate's (south), Cornmarket Street (north), Queen Street (west) and the High Street (east). It's relatively small.



Carfax Tower



In one of its corner is the Carfax Tower, which is what remains of St Martin's Church. It used to be the official City Church of Oxford - now moved to St Michael at the North Gate.

The city doesn't lack theatres and cinemas.

New Theatre, Oxford

Sheldonian Theatre

That Sheldonian Theatre up there has three levels for its audience to sit and the higher you go, the cheaper the tickets. Once upon a time, there was straw for seats on the third level for the lowest class of viewers.

Moving on. Oxford has its own Bridge of Sighs - like the one in Venice.



Hertford Bridge, popularly known as the Bridge of Sighs



It joins two parts of Hertford College over New College Lane. It doesn't really resemble the one in Venice though that supposed similarity is the reason they call it the Bridge of Sighs.

I'm probably not supposed to tell you this but see that passage way between the college and the red bulding? There's a pub on its other end, which is pretty much hidden from tourists so that locals have the place to themselves.

We decided not to disturb them so we went on with our walk to the best part of it. For me at least. Christ Church.

Christ Church

It's part of Oxford University, traditionally considered the most aristocratic college of its university, and also a cathedral church, but that's not why I loved visiting it most. You see that long part of the building there, the one with the pointy thingies on top? That's the dining hall of the college.

The Great Hall, Hogwarts (Christ Church College Dining Hall)

Seems familiar? That's right, Harry Potter fans! That's where the scenes in Hogwarts' Great Hall were filmed. You can't see the ceiling but it reflects the weather outside. (Not really, but it's a great illusion).

It's indeed used as a dining hall, not sure if the students are divided in four groups depending on the tower they belong to, though. 

Once done with my fangirling, we ended the day with a warm cup of tea. You can't go to the UK and not have one.

English Tea

You know how British drink their tea with milk? It's not bad, actually. Speaking of food and drinks, the salmon cost less than the chicken. Unusual, huh? Also, when the waitress comes and asks how's everything's use 'all right' rather than 'okay'. She would appreciate the first and possibly give you the stinky eye for the second. As for tipping, it's not always expected, but if you're sitting in a restaurant, where you're being waited at, it's probably a good idea to leave a few extra pounds. 

That's about how our day in Oxford went by. On the next one, we headed to London.