City of Dreaming Spires

Getting a parking in the city area proved to be a great hassle. We drove around the streets looking for one space for nearly an hour. So little time to explore the city as this was the very morning that we were supposed to meet up JF in the afternoon in Windsor.

Sigh... I didn't know that this was the famous bridge, and was wondering why she wanted to take a photo of it. Nothing special, that was what I was thinking. Little did I know that this was The Bridge of Sigh. Credit given to JF for posting the photo of the bridge and including the name with it, else I would not have known for a long, long time.

We took our lunch on a bench, sandwiches, shortbreads and smoothies, while wondering if everyone who walked past us were bachelor's degree holders, master's degree holders or on the way to permanent head damage. Felt smarter sitting on the streets of Oxford, inexplainable feeling. Seeing the number of tourist purchasing shirts, jumpers, sweaters with big, bold letters that spelled the city's name, we wondered:- those guys must be tourists, I would never have worn any T-shirts, with the three letters, U-Tee-Emm...

Boo...

She's now very fond of the natural-pose photos, although it took a lot of memory space, clicking, "look natural la..." and onlookers who thought we were crazy (think one person looking around, but not at the camera, and another clicking away mumbling posing instructions) to actually capture the staged-candid moment.

Apparently Radcliffe Camera is a library, it made me wonder why the word 'camera' was used instead of simply naming it Radcliffe Science Library. The buildings were great to look at, feeling was nice. Alas we had too little time to spend in this city, we had to move on. We would have jumped onto a open-top bus for a tour of the city.

Meeting with a Friend

This time, I'll back-blog-track the journey, starting with the Castle by the airport first.

Windsor was last on the itinery during her vacation in UK, to meet up with JF. We missed out meeting his other half, and almost didn't make it to meet him. He just came back from a great trip as well, traveling around Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

I forgotten though, what we were looking at... No wonder the half day spent in Windsor felt so much shorter, we were looking at something so insignificant I can't remember what. (Now that HW reminded me we were looking at the flag, here's the self-explanatory photo)

When guys meet up, all we do is chat on mobile phones and make funny poses for others to look at and to photograph.

London Revisited

I went back again to London to meet up with a friend to celebrate Chinese New Year. As with always, no photos of two of us together, we had the tripod though, being two macho guys, we didn't have the time to set it up properly haha

Believe it or not, we first went to the British Museum, not your typical place to celebrate though. Partly was due to the fact that we had never been to this museum before. There were numerous exhibits on displays and the crowd as huge as well.

Entry into the museum is free, however for the temporary exhibitions, one has to pay, such as the one shown here:- Babylon.

Statues, painting, artifacts of all kinds are on display.

We then made our way to Chinatown for dinner. The streets were decorated with lanterns, however they don't light up like those at home.

It's nice to see a change of environment, seeing more Chinese/Asian faces after some time in a foreign country. Same as with elsewhere, every Chinatown is not complete without the Gate...

Epilogue to Trip

This has been a wonderful trip. Thinking back, it was planned nearly 5 months ahead, shortened once and shelved twice. However after all that happened, we really did manage to visit the many sites and marvel at these two cities and the wonders they offer.

Closing this chapter of my blog are two photos that I believe best captures the beauty of these two cities.

Bye Bye London, Bonjour Paris!

Definitely it was better to take the train rather than the plane from London to Paris. When you only have one week for both cities, a few hours waiting for boarding in the airport and traveling between airport and cities were not logical, in our rational, anyway. It cost slightly more, however the stress-free travel and also the great country-side view that you have during the journey was worth it all.

The journey from St Pancras International in London to Gare du Nord in Paris took only 2hrs 15 mins, with 45 minutes boarding time prior to departure. Eurostar is a longer version of the TGV, having a long-standing position as bullet train of Europe.

Coming out from the train, we felt a complete change in atmosphere. The weather was extremely warm and humid, we were perspiring even before reaching the hotel which was just 5 minutes away. The people were more 'casually' dressed and there were numerous beggars and gypsies asking "Do you speak English?" around the train station. We tend to see a lot of that in other parts of the city as well. First impression received was not the Paris that we had in mind, maybe we had higher expectations of the City of Lights and Romance.

We planned to see the Eiffel Tower on the second day, leaving the first day for exploring around the hotel and also for a relaxing walk. We went to Sacre Coeur, where the unpleasant "friendship band" event occurred, cutting me short by 10eur and a bad impression. Hopefully the next few days can make up for this event. Can't wait to see the tower in person, though.

Trafalgar Square

In 1805, Admiral Horatio Nelson led the British Royal Navy into victory in the historic Battle of Trafalgar, against the combined fleet of the French and Spanish Navy. 22 ships out of 33 ships were lost by the French and Spanish while the British navy lost none of her 27 ships. He lost his life in this decisive battle and affirmed his place in British history as a hero. Trafalgar Square was named in honour of this battle and Nelson's column rises above all in this square.

Nelson lost his arm in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and his life in the Battle of Trafalgar. Legend has it that in order to bring him back after the victory in Trafalgar, the men on board the Victory put him in a barrel of whisky as a pickling substance. As opposed to others who died in sea and were subsequently thrown to the sea, he was brought back to England for a state funeral.

Next to the square was the National Portrait Gallery. We did not have a chance to visit it though, our time spent in London was actually too short. It was well recommended as well, but we have to save it for another time, if any.

We did however have time to linger around the square even after nightfall. The gallery was closed at that time. There were still quite a crowd at the square, just enjoying the cool night breeze. We had our share of people watching as well, sitting on the staircase to the gallery, with a higher vantage point.

The Palace and the Palace Guards

Who would have known that there are two lone guardsmen standing on their own for you to have a photo with them... Not really though, they are there for actual duty, protecting the palace. Look around for them, walk further away from the palace and grab this photo opportunity up close and personal.

Psst.. you know, they are not allowed to talk or move around freely. When someone would ask for photos to be taken, they would just gently nod their head and not speak a single word. However this is the conversation that we had with one (not the one in the photo...)

Me: Can we have a photo with you?
Guardsman : Sure, no prob!
After,
Me: Thanks!
Guardsman : Cool! See you!
A rather cool guardsman compared to the rest and not so uptight.. hehe

The amount of people around the front of Buckingham Palace was amazing. They were all gathered around for the changing of the guards. This is a really elaborate ceremony where one team takes over the duty from the other one and was done everyday around 11am during summer. This spot was recommended by our bicycle tour guide, Jim from London Bicycle Tour. It was included in the London Pass that we purchased and was one of the few nicest offers.

We came back again to the palace for a photo and met a Spanish family. After some short and simple conversation in Spanish (ahem.. not that bad, they understood me! ^.^) we took a photo of them and they returned the favour.

An experimental shot inspired by a similar shot seen elsewhere. Can you see the palace?

London Bridge is Falling Down.... Is it?

Link to YouTube Video used.Use arrow keys for volume control.

Contrary to popular beliefs, the bridge that has rising road portion for river traffic is not called London Bridge, it's the Tower Bridge. London Bridge is a bridge further upstream the Thames which is a box girder bridge.

The bridge was designed to be aesthetically pleasing, blending in with the rest of London's architecture. It did it really well and was a real pleasant sight.

Next to the Tower Bridge was the HMS Belfast, a floating naval museum. This cruiser had participated in the Second World War but was then converted into a museum ship.

The Tower Bridge is still functional, however, new technology for rising the bascules, as those portions are called, were applied. It now functions as well as a museum, where the original steam engines and part of the lifting mechanisms are on display.

Didn't I mention previously that it still functions today? We had the chance to see the roadway being lifted. Imagine this sight during the time of its opening, in the year 1894. Imagine during that time, such a bridge had been envisioned and was eventually built to ease river traffic and as a pedestrian crossing.

When the bascules were lifted, we were among the many sprinting from the left tower to get further from the bridge itself to get a better view. Such thrills, just to catch a glimpse of the Tower Bridge in action.

Sir Christopher Wren's St. Paul's

London's Great Fire of 1666 burnt down nearly 80% of London city. Among which was the old St. Paul's Cathedral. This gave a chance to Sir Christopher Wren to rebuild numerous public building, including St. Paul's and fifty other churches. This cathedral was inspired by St Peter's Basilica in Rome. The dome is second only to St Peter's in the world.

Have it been opened on Sundays for the public, it would have been among the first few sites for us to visit. But alas it was only on our second day that we have the chance to enter this magnificent cathedral.

After climbing up the winding staircase we reached the Whispering Gallery. The acoustics of the gallery was so well accomplished that when one person sat on one side and whispered to the wall, the other sitting on the opposite was able to hear the whisper. We thought it must have been some gimmick for attracting tourists, but after seeing how one couple did it, we tried, and amazingly it really is true. A search online shows that this can be accomplished with any gallery with a dome structure and can be found in other domed structures as well.

After the Whispering Gallery, we climbed up even higher and came up at the top of the dome, on a viewing balcony where we were presented with this magnificent view. If you look close enough, you can see the London Eye in the middle of the photo.

This is the Great West Door with the clock tower. This was where the entrance to the Cathedral was located. The pigeon was a pleasant surprise to me as well, as I didn't expect it to pass my frame. I noticed it only after the photo was downloaded to my laptop.

This view can only be seen from the river, on board a Thames river cruise, while we were passing the Millennium Bridge. This bridge was also known as the Wobbly Bridge, due to the fact that when it first opened to the public, the bridge started swaying sideways due to the passing crowd. The bridge was closed and modified to eliminate that.

What's Black, Red and Goes Around on Wheels?

London Buses and London Cabs!

Bright red London double-deckers are seen everywhere in the city. The ebony black London cabs are more expensive to travel in but really spacious and comfortable for the passenger at the back. We saw one guy put his bicycle in the back together with him when he board the cab. O_o

It pays to wait a while for one of them to pass you just before you click on the camera. You'll see them everywhere! Beep beep! Buckingham Palace!

I thought they were all black, but I was proved wrong with numerous with different colours and some even with patterns. Honk honk! Another one driving along Westminster Bridge, passing the magnificent London Eye!

There goes the bus! In front of Royal Albert Hall, opposite Hyde Park where Royal Albert Memorial is at! It was fun sitting at the top floor, at the very front. You can feel as if the bus will run down those people in the bus stop waiting to board while it came to a smooth stop.

The Royal Albert Memorial sits opposite the Hall. I'd found a way to take a photo of both of them. (Me and my gal were captured in the photo as well, try to find us... ;P )

Now in Westminster Abbey! They were everywhere! It was nice to travel on them, when you had the day pass or better still, the Oyster travel card. You can hop on and hop off as the daily rate was capped: Unlimited travel around the city and just blindly going up any busses!

Now, this is called traveling in style, the London way!

The London Eye

Behold, the London Eye! One of the biggest observation wheels in the world.

It was built to celebrate the millennium, and when it was opened to the public, was the tallest. It is now surpassed by the Singapore Flyer, they were both very similar. However I have not yet have the chance to board the one in Singapore, yet.

The pods were really spacious, easily able to accommodate nearly 20 persons. A small air conditioning unit was left in the pod, keeping it well ventilated and cool while you take your own sweet time savoring the views of London from above. Due to its location, you can see the Houses of Parliament very clearly. At the distant, you can see St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge (commonly and mistakenly known as London Bridge, about that in coming posts...) . The views were spectacular, however the sun was nearly at the horizon and it was hard to look at buildings on the west. We took the 830pm ride and the sun had not set, amazing no?

The night scene was taken just past 11pm, accompanying the Eye, is the London Aquarium. We did not have time to visit that however. These are the new attractions to revive the south bank of the Thames. The dark moonless night brought out the best of the London Eye.

Big Ben

One of the icons of London, the Houses of Parliament and the Clock Tower, or more affectionately called Big Ben, greets us every time we walked to the city. Listening to the chime sound and seeing the black London cabs zipping on the roads really makes you feel like you're in a movie.

The chime was split up into 4 parts, just as the quarters of an hour. The chime was played in parts with every passing quarter. Come one full hour, the whole chime was played and the corresponding hour will determine the number of single 'dong' at the end. Big Ben was actually the name of the great bell in the tower, not the tower as mostly mistaken.

The intricacies of the architecture and sculptures on the building can only be admired by one on location, no photos can do it justice. At night it was an even better feast for the eye.

Of Hostels and Hotels

I made all my bookings on Hostelworld. With lots of reviews and lots of accommodation to choose from, it was easy to find one. Using it together with Google Map, I was able to determine which hostel to choose from. I put a high preference on the location of the accommodation as we could then spend more time walking around the city rather than commuting.

After looking at the price ranges, the answer became really clear. Definitely it would be hostels and not hotels, at least not those with more than 3 stars rating. The facilities and services included are naturally reflective of the price that you pay, however we decided we can do without some luxury and save the rest.

We chose Journey's Waterloo in London, mainly due to the great location and price. It was less than 10 mins away from the underground station, and less than 10 mins away from the banks opposite of the Houses of Parliament! Try beating this location! It turned out pretty adequate, it's not luxury however, it was clean and comfortable.

For the trip in Paris, we chose Hotel Europe. Though its a hotel by name, it was listed in the hostel category. It's a two start hotel. Again, it was clean and comfortable. Location couldn't be better for this hotel. 5 mins walk from Gare du Nord (the North station) where the Eurostar terminates. This is also where a single metro trip would take us directly to the heart of Paris!

Shortcomings of these two hostels: no air conditioning and lifts were available. I somehow convinced myself that these were Asian luxuries. It wouldn't be logical to install air conditioning units only to be used during the peak of summer and only during the day. The weather was cool in London but was warmer and more humid in Paris. Journey's gave us a fan in the room. In Paris, we could only open the windows at night and hope for the best...

This was the view from the hotel in Paris, Sacre Coeur. A point of advise: stay away from Africans wandering around attraction sites (mainly around Sacre Coeur, literally, Sacred Heart, ironically, such 'sacred' activities were allowed uncontrolled). They carry colourful bands in their hands and give you sinister smiles. Their so-called 'friendship band' is just a way to part you with your Euro, and they are not particularly friendly when approaching you. Stay clear!

With the accommodations settled, we were all set and ready to see what London and Paris have to offer! Hooray!

Sneak Preview

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