photos: london 2011...
This post is LONG overdue.
London, 2011.
At the beginning of August I travelled to London to meet blue_eyed_miss and watch the friendly between Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur. And to do some sightseeing, of course!
My flight arrived at Stansted around noon, but it took me quite some time to get to the hotel. First, I had to wave goodbye to the first Stansted Express because there were so many people waiting that they couldn't fit everyone in the bus. Then, when it was time to get off the Tube and into the Overground train, I spotted a sign at the station saying the Overground service was closed and there would be buses outside the station. So I went outside, and waited at the bus stop for about 45 minutes - but no bus came. I got back into the station and asked the clerk at the ticket office about the replacement bus, and learned that the Overground service was NOT closed after all. Unfortunately I had no ticket to get back into the station because when I'd gone to the bus stop, the machine at the station exit had swallowed my ticket. Thankfully the clerk believed me and let me back in. When I asked what to do at my final destination (because obviously I need a ticket to exit the station there), he said I should just explain the case to the clerk and tell them that he let me back in. Which I did. I felt pretty stupid when I told the woman about my assumption that the Overground service would be closed, and after giving the other clerk a call, she believed me and let me out of the station. What a nightmare. XD
But the hotel definitely made up for the hassle! We stayed at a hotel in Chelsea, located near the harbour, which was very nice and surprisingly cheap. The bathroom was huge! Also, we had an electric kettle and instant coffee and teabags, which really helped in the mornings. XD
Once we got settled we decided to have a little walk in the city centre and visit the Houses of Parliament. It was already getting dark then, so I don't have a lot of good pictures. We also went to Downing Street but the Prime Minister didn't come out to greet us. Boo. XD We had dinner at Hard Rock Café (nom nom nom!) and then went back to the hotel.
On the following day we visited Hyde Park Corner, because it was impossible for me to visit London and NOT see the statue of Nosey! XD Afterwards, we went to Baker Street to see the Sherlock Holmes Museum (but just from the outside, as there was a LONG queue), and then we took a stroll along Oxford Street, where I bought a Superman belt. *is a geek* At noon, we met with loads of other Athletic fans at Trafalgar Square to take a photo before going on a pub tour and then watching the match at White Hart Lane together. (More about that will follow in a separate post, this one is just for the sightseeing pics.) After the match Becky wasn't feeling too well and went back to the hotel while I went to have some more drinks with three guys from Barakaldo, and when I returned to the hotel, I found out to my amazement that about 45 minutes after we'd left the stadium, riots broke out in Tottenham, shops were burned and looted, buses exploded, and people were hurt. O_O I guess it was a good thing we were staying in Chelsea because the riots spread over several districts of London during the following days but Chelsea was unaffected. WTF.
The next day was the first and only full day we had for sightseeing. We went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards and waited there for quite a while until Becky checked her mobile and found out the guards would be changed several hours later. Apparently the news had not really spread because the place remained completely crowded for almost an hour! XD Since we still had several items of interest on our list, we decided not to wait until the changing of the guards would take place but went to the London Eye instead, a huge Ferris wheel near the Houses of Parliament that gives you a great view on the city centre and the Thames. Unfortunately, while we were there, it started raining, so we had to cancel most of our other plans for the day. We decided to go on a boat tour along the Thames and then spent quite a long time in the arcades wasting money. XD But it was tons of fun, we were having a blast, and it was raining outside anyway. We'd intended to go to a Bavarian restaurant to have dinner but when we got there the place was closed (it was a Sunday night and they closed really early!). We couldn't find another place to eat, and when we got to Liverpool Street station, the Burger King in there closed as well, which surprised me because in Germany they're open way into the night! In the end I picked up some crisps and two tins of cider (nom nom nom!), and we went back to the hotel.
Becky's bus left London around noon on the Monday so we took the Tube to Victoria together and said goodbye there. I still had ample time until my plane would leave, but I had A Dance with Dragons with me and made good use of the time. XDD
I really enjoyed that short trip to London and I'm definitely planning to return there one day and see all the things I missed on my first visit! :D
And now, I think you've been patient for long enough. Here be the photos! :D
In case you didn't know, "Big Ben" is the name of he bell inside that tower, not of the tower itself. ;)
The Houses of Parliament at dusk.
This also belongs to the Houses of Parliament.
And this as well. Looks like the entrance of a church though!
London Eye in the background!
Westminster Palace during the day.
Including bits of the Thames.
This monument is next to Westminster Bridge but I forgot what it's for.
10, Downing Street. Yeah, I know, it's pretty much just gate.
Some rather impressive-looking building in Whitehall.
The Admiralty Arch, behind which is Buckingham Palace.
The palace gardens.
Statue!
The gates in front of the palace.
Nice!
Buckingham Palace. Including tons of people who missed the memo about the changing of the guards taking place two hours later.
Don't play leapfrog with a unicorn.
Lion!
The Victoria Memorial.
The statue of Queen Victoria is on the other side of that memorial.
There!
Quite a nice fountain, that!
There were also tons of other interesting-looking statues.
After a while of nothing happening, people started leaving.
The palace gardens.
There was also a bike race through London during that weekend!
Baker Street!
The walls of the Tube at Baker Street. How incredibly awesome. :D
This is Baker Street 221b, where Sherlock Holmes lived with Dr Watson and they had tons of gay sex. Ahem.
The queue in front of the Sherlock Holmes Museum.
This monument can be found in Park Lane, if I remember correctly. Park Lane, incidentally, owes much of its fame to its being the second most valuable property in the London edition of Monopoly. XD
There is also this, which I found intriguing.
And the memorial to Animals in War.
Near Oxford Street, you can find this head of a horse.
And this monument of the Teletubbies - or whatever it is. *scratches head*
Marble Arch, the beginning of Oxford Street.
London buses!
No clue what this is but it looks pretty.
Very interesting.
Gigantic shoes in the Nike shop. XD
Victoria Palace!
The Old Admiralty!
Cannon!
Another statue.
Outside Horse Guards - no, I didn't get a photo with any of them. XD
Monument of Spencer Compton, the 8th Duge of Devonshire.
Pretty houses in Whitehall.
Wellington!!
It has to be said that the Tube stations in London are awesome.
Monument of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington and one of the most brilliant minds of English history. Also, one of my two favourite historic figures ever.
Profile pic because he was called "Nosey" for a reason. XD
Very impressive!!
Close-up to demonstrate how amazingly much he resembles Hugh Fraser, who played him in the Sharpe movies.
Wellington's house.
Wellington Arch.
The London Eye, as seen from Westminster Bridge.
This is near the London Eye and looks rather illegal but I have no clue what it is.
The London Eye has one orange cabin because it's sponsored by EDF Energy. Awesomely enough we were in that cabin!
The other cabins are white.
Yep, it does go up quite a bit.
Colourful ants! XD
Westmister Palace from above.
Westminster Abbey.
Houses on the riverbank of the Thames that remind me of the Cunard building in Liverpool.
Very interesting architecture.
And again!
Buckingham Palace! See all those people? They're still waiting for the guards to change! XD
There are quite a lot of bridges across the Thames.
One of the buildings in the background is (or used to be) a really famous hotel for really rich people.
The Emirates stadium!
And Wembley!
The Shard London Bridge building, which is about to become the tallest building in the EU.
Trafalgar Square!
The River Thames.
And the Houses of Parliament again!
Does anyone know if these actually belonged to the White Star Line?
Huge ship!
No clue what this is, but it looked nice!
No clue what this is either.
The Golden Hind, or rather, a replica of the galleon with which Sir Francis Drake toured around the world. The next time I'm in London I MUST visit this ship!!
The "30 St Mary Axe" building, also known as the Gherkin. Instantly reminded me of Torre Agbar in Barcelona, which people apparently call the Penis Tower. XD
In Wellington We Trust. XD
"In the Navy..." XD
Tower Bridge!
The guide of the River Thames cruise told us to wave at the people standing on the bridge as this is supposed to bring you luck. XD
The Tower of London in all its glory. Too bad we had no time to visit it either. Next time, definitely!
And this is the Tower at night. Spooky!
Trafalgar Square, including the monument of my other most favourite historical figure: Admiral Lord Nelson.
There he is!
Lord Nelson is surrounded by lions, and you can see pictures of his heroics on the plinth. One of the pictures looks like a lot of guys want to strip him. Understandable, really. XD
Bottle ship!
No idea who this is.
Very nice clock!
And now, let's have some pictures of a couple of very random but rather intriguing discoveries:
A compromise between a British and a Basque flag. XD
I bet you didn't know that! XD That building is right around the corner of 211b Baker Street.
One of the famous sentences you learn in London. The other one is "Mind the gap!"
Bagpipe player on Westminster Bridge.
Rubén de la Red has been busy conquering London.
One of those machines where you just can't win. XD
This is where we wasted our money in the arcades. XD We won a lot of tickets, though, with which we could get stuff like keyrings and sweets. I got a red billiards ball with the number #11 on it. If someone guesses why, they might request a drabble. ;)
Finally, a wannabe-artsy pic of the famous red telephone box.
And an interesting view. XD (I just couldn't resist taking that pic.)
Hope you enjoyed! :)
London, 2011.
At the beginning of August I travelled to London to meet blue_eyed_miss and watch the friendly between Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur. And to do some sightseeing, of course!
My flight arrived at Stansted around noon, but it took me quite some time to get to the hotel. First, I had to wave goodbye to the first Stansted Express because there were so many people waiting that they couldn't fit everyone in the bus. Then, when it was time to get off the Tube and into the Overground train, I spotted a sign at the station saying the Overground service was closed and there would be buses outside the station. So I went outside, and waited at the bus stop for about 45 minutes - but no bus came. I got back into the station and asked the clerk at the ticket office about the replacement bus, and learned that the Overground service was NOT closed after all. Unfortunately I had no ticket to get back into the station because when I'd gone to the bus stop, the machine at the station exit had swallowed my ticket. Thankfully the clerk believed me and let me back in. When I asked what to do at my final destination (because obviously I need a ticket to exit the station there), he said I should just explain the case to the clerk and tell them that he let me back in. Which I did. I felt pretty stupid when I told the woman about my assumption that the Overground service would be closed, and after giving the other clerk a call, she believed me and let me out of the station. What a nightmare. XD
But the hotel definitely made up for the hassle! We stayed at a hotel in Chelsea, located near the harbour, which was very nice and surprisingly cheap. The bathroom was huge! Also, we had an electric kettle and instant coffee and teabags, which really helped in the mornings. XD
Once we got settled we decided to have a little walk in the city centre and visit the Houses of Parliament. It was already getting dark then, so I don't have a lot of good pictures. We also went to Downing Street but the Prime Minister didn't come out to greet us. Boo. XD We had dinner at Hard Rock Café (nom nom nom!) and then went back to the hotel.
On the following day we visited Hyde Park Corner, because it was impossible for me to visit London and NOT see the statue of Nosey! XD Afterwards, we went to Baker Street to see the Sherlock Holmes Museum (but just from the outside, as there was a LONG queue), and then we took a stroll along Oxford Street, where I bought a Superman belt. *is a geek* At noon, we met with loads of other Athletic fans at Trafalgar Square to take a photo before going on a pub tour and then watching the match at White Hart Lane together. (More about that will follow in a separate post, this one is just for the sightseeing pics.) After the match Becky wasn't feeling too well and went back to the hotel while I went to have some more drinks with three guys from Barakaldo, and when I returned to the hotel, I found out to my amazement that about 45 minutes after we'd left the stadium, riots broke out in Tottenham, shops were burned and looted, buses exploded, and people were hurt. O_O I guess it was a good thing we were staying in Chelsea because the riots spread over several districts of London during the following days but Chelsea was unaffected. WTF.
The next day was the first and only full day we had for sightseeing. We went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards and waited there for quite a while until Becky checked her mobile and found out the guards would be changed several hours later. Apparently the news had not really spread because the place remained completely crowded for almost an hour! XD Since we still had several items of interest on our list, we decided not to wait until the changing of the guards would take place but went to the London Eye instead, a huge Ferris wheel near the Houses of Parliament that gives you a great view on the city centre and the Thames. Unfortunately, while we were there, it started raining, so we had to cancel most of our other plans for the day. We decided to go on a boat tour along the Thames and then spent quite a long time in the arcades wasting money. XD But it was tons of fun, we were having a blast, and it was raining outside anyway. We'd intended to go to a Bavarian restaurant to have dinner but when we got there the place was closed (it was a Sunday night and they closed really early!). We couldn't find another place to eat, and when we got to Liverpool Street station, the Burger King in there closed as well, which surprised me because in Germany they're open way into the night! In the end I picked up some crisps and two tins of cider (nom nom nom!), and we went back to the hotel.
Becky's bus left London around noon on the Monday so we took the Tube to Victoria together and said goodbye there. I still had ample time until my plane would leave, but I had A Dance with Dragons with me and made good use of the time. XDD
I really enjoyed that short trip to London and I'm definitely planning to return there one day and see all the things I missed on my first visit! :D
And now, I think you've been patient for long enough. Here be the photos! :D
In case you didn't know, "Big Ben" is the name of he bell inside that tower, not of the tower itself. ;)
The Houses of Parliament at dusk.
This also belongs to the Houses of Parliament.
And this as well. Looks like the entrance of a church though!
London Eye in the background!
Westminster Palace during the day.
Including bits of the Thames.
This monument is next to Westminster Bridge but I forgot what it's for.
10, Downing Street. Yeah, I know, it's pretty much just gate.
Some rather impressive-looking building in Whitehall.
The Admiralty Arch, behind which is Buckingham Palace.
The palace gardens.
Statue!
The gates in front of the palace.
Nice!
Buckingham Palace. Including tons of people who missed the memo about the changing of the guards taking place two hours later.
Don't play leapfrog with a unicorn.
Lion!
The Victoria Memorial.
The statue of Queen Victoria is on the other side of that memorial.
There!
Quite a nice fountain, that!
There were also tons of other interesting-looking statues.
After a while of nothing happening, people started leaving.
The palace gardens.
There was also a bike race through London during that weekend!
Baker Street!
The walls of the Tube at Baker Street. How incredibly awesome. :D
This is Baker Street 221b, where Sherlock Holmes lived with Dr Watson and they had tons of gay sex. Ahem.
The queue in front of the Sherlock Holmes Museum.
This monument can be found in Park Lane, if I remember correctly. Park Lane, incidentally, owes much of its fame to its being the second most valuable property in the London edition of Monopoly. XD
There is also this, which I found intriguing.
And the memorial to Animals in War.
Near Oxford Street, you can find this head of a horse.
And this monument of the Teletubbies - or whatever it is. *scratches head*
Marble Arch, the beginning of Oxford Street.
London buses!
No clue what this is but it looks pretty.
Very interesting.
Gigantic shoes in the Nike shop. XD
Victoria Palace!
The Old Admiralty!
Cannon!
Another statue.
Outside Horse Guards - no, I didn't get a photo with any of them. XD
Monument of Spencer Compton, the 8th Duge of Devonshire.
Pretty houses in Whitehall.
Wellington!!
It has to be said that the Tube stations in London are awesome.
Monument of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington and one of the most brilliant minds of English history. Also, one of my two favourite historic figures ever.
Profile pic because he was called "Nosey" for a reason. XD
Very impressive!!
Close-up to demonstrate how amazingly much he resembles Hugh Fraser, who played him in the Sharpe movies.
Wellington's house.
Wellington Arch.
The London Eye, as seen from Westminster Bridge.
This is near the London Eye and looks rather illegal but I have no clue what it is.
The London Eye has one orange cabin because it's sponsored by EDF Energy. Awesomely enough we were in that cabin!
The other cabins are white.
Yep, it does go up quite a bit.
Colourful ants! XD
Westmister Palace from above.
Westminster Abbey.
Houses on the riverbank of the Thames that remind me of the Cunard building in Liverpool.
Very interesting architecture.
And again!
Buckingham Palace! See all those people? They're still waiting for the guards to change! XD
There are quite a lot of bridges across the Thames.
One of the buildings in the background is (or used to be) a really famous hotel for really rich people.
The Emirates stadium!
And Wembley!
The Shard London Bridge building, which is about to become the tallest building in the EU.
Trafalgar Square!
The River Thames.
And the Houses of Parliament again!
Does anyone know if these actually belonged to the White Star Line?
Huge ship!
No clue what this is, but it looked nice!
No clue what this is either.
The Golden Hind, or rather, a replica of the galleon with which Sir Francis Drake toured around the world. The next time I'm in London I MUST visit this ship!!
The "30 St Mary Axe" building, also known as the Gherkin. Instantly reminded me of Torre Agbar in Barcelona, which people apparently call the Penis Tower. XD
In Wellington We Trust. XD
"In the Navy..." XD
Tower Bridge!
The guide of the River Thames cruise told us to wave at the people standing on the bridge as this is supposed to bring you luck. XD
The Tower of London in all its glory. Too bad we had no time to visit it either. Next time, definitely!
And this is the Tower at night. Spooky!
Trafalgar Square, including the monument of my other most favourite historical figure: Admiral Lord Nelson.
There he is!
Lord Nelson is surrounded by lions, and you can see pictures of his heroics on the plinth. One of the pictures looks like a lot of guys want to strip him. Understandable, really. XD
Bottle ship!
No idea who this is.
Very nice clock!
And now, let's have some pictures of a couple of very random but rather intriguing discoveries:
A compromise between a British and a Basque flag. XD
I bet you didn't know that! XD That building is right around the corner of 211b Baker Street.
One of the famous sentences you learn in London. The other one is "Mind the gap!"
Bagpipe player on Westminster Bridge.
Rubén de la Red has been busy conquering London.
One of those machines where you just can't win. XD
This is where we wasted our money in the arcades. XD We won a lot of tickets, though, with which we could get stuff like keyrings and sweets. I got a red billiards ball with the number #11 on it. If someone guesses why, they might request a drabble. ;)
Finally, a wannabe-artsy pic of the famous red telephone box.
And an interesting view. XD (I just couldn't resist taking that pic.)
Hope you enjoyed! :)