London Calling

Apologies again for the late post, but this weekend I went to London! What a fun time.

It’s really cheap to get to London from Glasgow with Ryanair, my flight cost like 40 pounds I think (I bought it a while ago so I don’t fully remember). And once you land there’s a Stanstead express to get you from the airport to the city center. Kind of pricey, but probably the best way to go. Also a word about the London Underground, the stations are split into zones numbered 1-9. If you only want to take one ride on the subway, use the select destination option on the machine. If not, then get an off-peak day pass. Or get an oyster card, because it’s much cheaper to use an oyster card than anything else in London. It’s a pretty strange subway system, I didn’t fully understand it my first time and got the wrong ticket.

The first thing I did was head to Abbey Road to see the crosswalk and the studios. The studios themselves are pretty cool, not much to see other than the wall with graffiti all over it. The crosswalk is in the middle of an actual road, so be careful if you want a picture while crossing it. And whenever the cars honk at the tourists people cheer, it’s pretty funny. I would recommend not getting a picture because that isn’t even the crosswalk that they used (they had to move it) and then you aren’t a jerk. On a similar note, Paul’s old London home, 9 Cavendish Rd, is around the corner, but there’s nothing to mark it really. He still owns it though, so maybe you could creep on him or something?

Nearby there’s the Sherlock Holmes museum on Baker St. Didn’t go inside, but the outside is pretty cool as well.

After that I headed to the British Museum. It’s a bit of a walk, but totally worth it for this museum. There’s a little bit of everything here, mostly artifacts from ancient civilizations and the like. I tried to do a “best of” run through and ended up seeing most of the rooms. Either do that or pick a few rooms to go over in detail, because there’s no way anyone can handle more than that.

The National Gallery isn’t too far away from there. It’s smaller and has a whole bunch of really cool art. Lots of medieval, Dutch, and French paintings in particular. And like all the other museums in London, the building itself is a work of art.

After that I walked to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Also a kind of long walk, there’s probably an easier way to get there but I’m cheap. I just looked at the outside, but still very pretty. Then I walked to the Tower of London. This is a pretty long walk, maybe wouldn’t recommend. But the London Monument is on the way, if you’re into that. There isn’t much to the London Monument. The Tower of London is pretty cool to look at, and the Tower Bridge is right next to it. There’s also a bunch of vendors around if you need a snack. I crossed the Tower Bridge, and got a very nice view of the Thames River. Then on the other side I basically walked back to where the Globe Theater is across from St. Paul’s. The Globe Theater is great, I wanted to see a show there but they were sold out, which was disappointing.

Then there’s the Tate Modern just around the corner. This is where all the strange modern art is kept, so be prepared for weird. It’s also open until 10 pm on Friday and Saturday, so that’s exciting if you’ve got a busy itinerary (like me).

After my second dose of art, I walked down by the riverside to the London Eye. It’s pretty cool to see it up close, most pictures are from far away. You can also get a great view of Big Ben from across the river here. I then crossed the Westminster Bridge to see Big Ben up close, and the London Eye from far away. Big Ben is also right on Parliament Square, so the Parliament building and Westminster Abbey are super close.

After all that walking I was exhausted so I just headed to the hostel and passed out. It was my first experience in a hostel, and I have to say I really didn’t mind it. It’s just the basics, but it involves a place to sleep, free wifi, and free breakfast so I’m happy.

The next morning I headed off around 8:30 to Buckingham Palace. It was nice to see London in the morning, much less cars around. And the monument in front of the Palace is just as nice as the building. Then the Wellington Arch is on the way to Hyde Park, which is pretty convenient. Hyde Park is huge, I just wandered around and looked at whatever seemed interesting at the time. Definitely walk along the river, there seems to be a hearty population of swans around. And at the end of it there’s the Italian gardens with a few fountains that are all really nice.

I went to the Natural History museum after that. Warning: while this museum is interesting for all ages, it’s crawling with small kids, so prepare yourself. Also get there early so there isn’t a long wait for the dinosaurs exhibit.

After all that, it was time for me to head back to the airport and Glasgow. On the way, I did stop at King’s cross to see Platform 9 ¾. There’s usually a long wait to get your picture taken there, so plan ahead if you know you want to do that. And there’s a store right next to it, for all your Harry Potter needs. I went to see the real one, but it’s not nearly as interesting as the fake one.

And back to Scotland! London was definitely a cheap and fun way to spend the weekend.

In comparison to Liverpool, it’s definitely a bigger city with much more to do in it, and more spread out. But Liverpool is less international, so it feels more like England I think. Getting to see both cities I think was definitely a good idea, you get to see both its capital and another city, which gives you a better idea of the country as a whole.