I had barely a day and a half to explore the city and see the main sights, but I did manage to cover a large number of places.
First off, the old, Victorian-style buildings impressed me greatly. It was amazing to see the historic architecture preserved beautifully, as these are the little things that add to the charm of cities with rich history.
First off, the old, Victorian-style buildings impressed me greatly. It was amazing to see the historic architecture preserved beautifully, as these are the little things that add to the charm of cities with rich history.
As I was short on time, I bought a one-day ticket on the hop-on-hop-off Golden Tours bus, which did cut down a lot of my commuting time. If only I could find their bus stops more easily; not all the locations of the stops corresponded to those drawn on the map. Or sometimes the location of these stops on the map weren't accurate enough. One of the most memorable things I saw while on the bus was King's College London. Being a geneticist, I was even more thrilled knowing from the posters put up at the entrance that this was where Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin conducted their groundbreaking X-ray diffraction experiment that led to Watson and Crick subsequently postulating the double helix model of DNA. #scientistpride
Besides, isn't the College beautiful? Just imagine how it would look on a sunny day?
Besides, isn't the College beautiful? Just imagine how it would look on a sunny day?
It was a rainy day, and though I regret not having seen the places swathed in sunshine, they were pretty nevertheless. This lovely brown river is the Thames:
As you can see in the backdrop, the Big Ben was under refurbishment so the scaffolds did not allow me to see the tower in its complete glory while I walked across Westminster Bridge. Which brought me to Westminster Abbey.
After walking around this place a million times to locate the bus stop, I found it. The next stop was Buckingham Palace. I wanted to spend some time taking pictures, but the next bus (apparently the last bus on that route or something) came immediately and I had to get on. In way, considering the mess that happened at the end of the day (see later), it was a good thing I didn't have to delay outside Buckingham Palace. The bus driver told me my smile was amazing and that made my week! Next up, Trafalgar Square.
Trafalgar Square is a large, wide open courtyard with fountains and statues in the centre, with historic buildings surrounding the area. After that, I headed on to explore SOHO, or more correctly, to visit the places I had earmarked for the trip.
I walked across Piccadilly Circus, then along Regent Street to come to Kingly Court, where I wanted to visit the bakery Crumbs and Doilies, which is owned by Jemma Wilson, one of the bakers I'm most inspired by. But I was momentarily distracted by Piccadilly Emporium. It's a nice souvenir shop with an amazingly fragrant shelf stocked with boxes of tea.
I walked across Piccadilly Circus, then along Regent Street to come to Kingly Court, where I wanted to visit the bakery Crumbs and Doilies, which is owned by Jemma Wilson, one of the bakers I'm most inspired by. But I was momentarily distracted by Piccadilly Emporium. It's a nice souvenir shop with an amazingly fragrant shelf stocked with boxes of tea.
Onward, I finally reached Kingly Court. But, I couldn't find C&D. I walked up the road, and instead found Liberty Mall, which was another place I wanted to see. It's over 150 years old, and it definitely looked like it has seen better days. I explored the ground floor, which had crafts and stationery and candles. This is a shot of the mall from the outside:
You see what I meant when I said it looks like we're travelling through time in some parts of London? This looks straight out of the Tudor era.
I finally located C&D after that, and I was surprised that it was so tiny; no wonder I had missed it. I had somehow expected it to be bigger... but anyway, Jemma had started selling vegan cupcakes from the previous week or so, so I was in luck. I got this lovely little vegan Biscoff cupcake and a mug of hot chocolate. It was such a bummer that Jemma wasn't in on that day, because she came to the shop only on Thursday's, and I had gone on a Monday.
I finally located C&D after that, and I was surprised that it was so tiny; no wonder I had missed it. I had somehow expected it to be bigger... but anyway, Jemma had started selling vegan cupcakes from the previous week or so, so I was in luck. I got this lovely little vegan Biscoff cupcake and a mug of hot chocolate. It was such a bummer that Jemma wasn't in on that day, because she came to the shop only on Thursday's, and I had gone on a Monday.
After I was done with my cupcake, I walked down to Soho Street where ISKCON London was for a takeaway dinner for Govinda's (great for vegans and vegetarians).
Up till this point, the day was going more or less as per my plan. But the messy part of the day started after this. I walked back to Trafalgar Square and tried to locate the Golden Bus stop that I had to take a bus from so that I could go back to my lodging, which was in Southwark. But I couldn't find the stop. It was frustrating because I knew the last bus of the day was about to come anytime and I still hadn't located the damn bus stop. I thought I was at the location the map indicated, but no, no bus stop to be seen anywhere. Finally, I don't know how it happened, but I saw a Golden Bus approaching on some tiny road, and I ran to get onboard. That was the last bus I had caught.
I was relieved, but my phone went flat after that. Though I knew that I couldn't refer to Google Maps now, I was already on my way back so I thought things shouldn't go off the track from this point. The bus went across the Tower Bridge, which was very beautiful and memorable because the sun was setting, but my phone was dead so I couldn't film it. I alighted at the London Bridge station area and began walking down the road, knowing that where I was going to live was only a ten minute walk. But somehow, I lost my way. I kept walking but I was going off-course. I had no Google Maps, and though there are maps that have been put up at every end of every road, somehow I was just. plainly. lost. I had no way to contact my family to tell them I had reached my lodgings (they get very worried when I don't contact for a while), I hadn't checked in yet, it was getting dark, the shops had begun to close and it had started to rain (I had no umbrella). I still remember my frustration from that evening. I was just walking around in circles. What could have been an easy ten-minute walk ended up being a mess that lasted around thirty minutes. I went into a restaurant and asked for directions - the place I was staying was very near Tate Modern - so its location was all I needed to know. It was only when I saw the familiar area where I my lodging was that I was actually relieved.
Believe it or not, I got lost along the same area a couple of days later. It was in the daytime. I finally figured that the reason was because there was a fork at one point on the road, and I took the left fork both times instead of the right. That made all the difference.
Fast forward to two days later - I had only the morning as my flight back to Dublin was in the afternoon, so I planned to visit the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. I walked across London Bridge and then down the road to get to the Tower of London. It was a bright and sunny day, to my satisfaction. I would have loved to explore the Tower of London as I love to walk along the corridors of medieval or ancient buildings, but like I said, I was very short on time. But this is something:
I was relieved, but my phone went flat after that. Though I knew that I couldn't refer to Google Maps now, I was already on my way back so I thought things shouldn't go off the track from this point. The bus went across the Tower Bridge, which was very beautiful and memorable because the sun was setting, but my phone was dead so I couldn't film it. I alighted at the London Bridge station area and began walking down the road, knowing that where I was going to live was only a ten minute walk. But somehow, I lost my way. I kept walking but I was going off-course. I had no Google Maps, and though there are maps that have been put up at every end of every road, somehow I was just. plainly. lost. I had no way to contact my family to tell them I had reached my lodgings (they get very worried when I don't contact for a while), I hadn't checked in yet, it was getting dark, the shops had begun to close and it had started to rain (I had no umbrella). I still remember my frustration from that evening. I was just walking around in circles. What could have been an easy ten-minute walk ended up being a mess that lasted around thirty minutes. I went into a restaurant and asked for directions - the place I was staying was very near Tate Modern - so its location was all I needed to know. It was only when I saw the familiar area where I my lodging was that I was actually relieved.
Believe it or not, I got lost along the same area a couple of days later. It was in the daytime. I finally figured that the reason was because there was a fork at one point on the road, and I took the left fork both times instead of the right. That made all the difference.
Fast forward to two days later - I had only the morning as my flight back to Dublin was in the afternoon, so I planned to visit the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. I walked across London Bridge and then down the road to get to the Tower of London. It was a bright and sunny day, to my satisfaction. I would have loved to explore the Tower of London as I love to walk along the corridors of medieval or ancient buildings, but like I said, I was very short on time. But this is something:
Also, I don't mean to brag but this was just such a good shot I took of the Shard, which I didn't get the time to enter.
Undoubtedly, one of the best points about the trip was walking across the Tower Bridge and the phenomenal views it offered:
After spending a good while here taking photos, I decided to pop down to Borough Market, which was on the way. This was not part of my original plan but I'm so glad I did. Borough Market is filled with tonnes of tiny stalls selling foods of all varieties - there were stalls selling different types of cheese, stalls selling vegan cakes, stalls selling kebabs, and so on. It was a delightful medley of smells and colours, and I was especially thrilled by the fact that the market was started in 1756 (I'm drawn to historic things).
It was an amazing day, but for the fact that my bus back to the airport delayed by around an hour so I was standing by the road freaking out. Not a nice scenario when you have a flight to catch...
Anyway, this was a solo trip that taught me a lot; I had planned every step of the way, yet there was something that happened everyday that didn't go as per planned. There were many moments of frustration, confusion, joy, and relief.
I have to come back for more.
Anyway, this was a solo trip that taught me a lot; I had planned every step of the way, yet there was something that happened everyday that didn't go as per planned. There were many moments of frustration, confusion, joy, and relief.
I have to come back for more.
March 2018