Highlights of my London trip - P2

The parliament building and Big Ben (BB is the big clock tower)

We took the Hop On and Hop Off Bus Tour, which has a stop right in front of our hotel, and my goodness, what a great way to see London! 

The open top bus tour takes us to all of London's famous landmarks, best way to see London's colorful 2,000 year history.

You get to hop on and off anytime, anywhere, any frequently for 2 full days, it is really worth it, for London is simply too BIG to cover on foot or to be missed while taking the tube! And trust us, on the surface, London has got so much to see, what I am able to highlight here does not really do any justice to what we saw. We opted for a package that includes a day time River Thames Cruise plus entrance to a castle - The Tower of London.

The Tower Bridge

The Tower Bridge

Nope, this is not the London Bridge. The actual London Bridge looks extremely simple and boring. The actual London Bridge is located not too far away and can be spotted easily. This Tower Bridge is newer and because it is beautiful and people can walk across it, it becomes more well known.

Tower of London (a pre-historic castle and fortress)

My first experience going into a real castle. The steps and old narrow plus winding staircase made of stones felt chilling cold to our fingertips. With it lies layers upon layers of history that begs to be unfolded.

The Tower of London dominated the city for nearly 1,000 years and has been a symbol of power and subjugation. In its history, The Tower has served many functions, it has been a place of imprisonment, home to royalty, the Royal Mint (the body permitted to manufacture coins in the UK) and an armoury.

Picture of the Tower Bridge taken from inside the castle

I remember that I used to own a little London toy soldier looking exactly this when I was very young. I cannot imagine that I will one day be standing here looking at a real one.. :)))

The London Eye

Picture taken from our river cruise ferry. It is humongous and awesome!

We did not get on the London Eye because the queue was like a mile long. It looked impressive and majestic enough from far, we weren't sure if we will be able to survive the view from the top. Anyway, there were just too many things to see & before we knew it, our attention were drawn to the site in the next sub topic of mine.

The Parliament Building and Big Ben

The parliament building, also known as the Palace of Westminster, is one massive and truly amazing building, built in neo Gothic style. You can stare at it whole day and still be overawed by the details and intricacies of the architecture.

Feel free to click on any picture for a clearer view

Royal Albert Hall

 At this stage, the sun was blinding bright, hence, the over exposed picture

This is a music and entertainment venue. Each year it hosts over 360 events which includes classical music, jazz, world music, circus, rock, pop, opera, dance, comedy, tennis, dinners, award ceremonies and The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance.

 Night scene. The Royal Albert Hall is located just about 10 - 15 minutes walk from our hotel, past the Kensington Garden side, so we could walk there again at night for these night shots.

Les Miserables
We went to watch Les Mis, in London, something that I've always wanted to do.. :-D

My belated birthday present for this year.. :)))

Random Ramble

Love this few pictures below, as they are so English.. :-D

Stay tuned for my next up-dates on Kensington Garden and Hyde Park.

Oh, in case you wonder, this IS the actual London Bridge...

Note
1) For more spectacular pictures of Big Ben, please click here.
    Fine Art America
2) For more spectacular pictures of The Royal Albert Hall, click here.
    BBC



--moon

Blog name - carrot head and applemint