Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain

Princess Diana Memorial Fountain is in the banks of the beautiful Serpentine lake, in Hyde Park.

Serpentine Lake, Hyde Park, London Sky Watch

When I first heard about this memorial, I was expecting a fancy jet type fountain that rhythmically dances, something like musical fountains.

View of the fountain from the entrance

I was a bit disappointed to see this flat flowing fountain. On second thoughts, I was convinced that this quite affair is a befitting memorial for the graceful princess and suitable place for peaceful relaxation. The signboard also declared this memorial as a place for 'quite enjoyment'.

Kids and adults were happily dipping their feet in that granite fountain!

We had good time, but one part of me was constantly thinking of that sweet Lady, who captured millions of hearts, and the tragic accident.

A Visit to London Harrods

When I told my friends that I wanted to go to London Harrods, one of the world's famous luxury departmental stores, they joked that I must be super rich to go there as it belonged to Princess Diana's boy friend Dodi's family! After hearing this, I was even more tempted to go and visit this shop, and at least do one of my favourite time pass, window shopping^^:)

From Wellington Arch we asked for directions to go to Harrods and we were told that it was about 10 minutes walk. Well, if a Londoner says, "10 minutes walk" then for my speed it should be at least 20 minutes! As the weather was pleasant, we headed towards the Knightsbridge underground station, next to which Harrods is situated.

The unmistakable crowd taking photos in front of the Harrods signboard shows that it is one of those "must see places". At the same time, I was pleased that am not the only person to go there for just seeing it.

As soon as we entered the shop, we were stopped by the security guards and they asked us to take off our backpacks and carry it in our hands, as it would disturb the other shoppers. Though, I was first irritated by this request, I did realize it was for our own good, only after being hit by a careless backpacker who was gazing at the ceiling :( The ambiance was too good to be true, and it felt like Alice in Wonderland. After much hesitation, I took out my camera and clicked it.

We wandered through various departments and ended up in the watches section. Most of the models that I liked was priced in 5 digits...well, might as well buy a piece of property in India or Malaysia.

Then, we thought that at least we could buy something in the food and drinks section. But, unfortunately, I couldn't get veggie stuff. Then biscuit tins and chocolates looked attractive but prices were scary...

We saw a signboard "Dodi and Diana Memorial" and followed it...

The shiny board set in this splendid store reminds me about the mortality of the human beings. I did sign in the guest book to pay homage to that great lady and left the shop with a rather heavy heart.

Wellington Arch

After a couple of stressful weeks, I wanted to take a break and decided to roam in London for a whole day with friends. What a surprise, weather too cooperated, for the whole day we didn't have to use jacket, and in fact, I was feeling a bit hot and stuffy.

From London Victoria, we took a bus to Hyde Park, instead of taking the tube (underground train). I had a good time clicking away to my heart's content:) As we crossed Wellington Arch, luckily traffic light turned red and gave me a good chance to take pictures...

This arch was supposed to be the grand entrance for Buckingham Palace, but now it is relocated here. The splendid sculpture on top of the arch symbolizes peace and it is known as Peace Descending On The Chariot Of War. Now, am waiting for my turn to experience the 360-degree panoramic view from the arch's gallery. Here is another view of the arch and the sculpture...

As a die-hard cloud watcher, I feel that this angle looks as if peace is descending from beautiful clouds. Am I right?

Big Ben and the Neighbours

We reached Westminster underground station, without any idea of how to reach the parliamentary buildings. Moreover, we saw more policemen than the civilians in that vicinity. Then, my friend called up to alert us that there was some procession by Sri Lankan Tamilians on Westminster Bridge. By then we reached that place and saw the calm procession.

As the procession passed, we turned back to examine that area, and suddenly we noticed that we were standing right under the Big Ben!

This is the World's largest four-faced chiming clock. Like us, there were many tourists and locals eagerly waiting around that area until 7 pm to hear the tone of the bell. Then, we crossed the road and tried to take a full view of the parliamentary buildings, but with my camera I could capture only this:(

Contrast to this old marvelous neo-gothic building, look at this equally beautiful modern building, which is just opposite to Big Ben.

From here, we could see the London Eye as well. But, to get a better view we walked up to London Pier.

The wheel was spinning at painstakingly slow speed. In fact, Eye on Malaysia at Titiwangsa was a bit faster! Moreover, the ticket price is GBP 17/person. So we decided not to go for a London Eye flight (ride).

This is the London Aquarium, which is situated besides the London Eye. We didn't go there either. 

Royal Guards

Changing of the Guards ceremony at the Windsor Castle, UK was spectacular. Traditionally, the outgoing set of guards march towards the main gate. During special occasions or when the Queen is at the castle, the march is led by the greyhound and band.

See the outgoing guards...

But, I wonder how the guards manage to carry the heavy bearskin hat and still march at steady gait! Their actions at the posts are a bit funny and confusing...

At one of the private areas, we saw a guard standing still, so I approached near the fence to get a good shot. Just then, he suddenly changed the rifle from left to right hand and marched few steps forward, where there was no one, stood at Attention pose and saluted. Then he marched back to the original position.

We saw similar behavior at the exit gate and front of Buckingham Palace gates.

Rattling to Unwind...

After a Day's Sightseeing, am itching to share my experiences, but before that I wanna unwind, and rest so that I can carry on for the next couple of days...so here goes my rattles...

Well, I have not yet downloaded 260+ photos that I took today in Kensington Palace, Thames Cruise and Trafalgar Square. In St Paul's Cathedral, there is a display that requests not take photos. I wanted to respect that request, but with much regrets. However, I saw few tourists snapping fervently, so I too followed suite and took very few pictures, that too using my hand-phone.

Here in UK, we are entirely relying on public transport. Even after buying car, I don't think I would like to take my car to Central London, because of excessive Congestion Tax and heavy parking rates. Besides, The Transport For London is quite good and mostly reliable. 

Whenever, I go to Central London, I have been watching a couple of things. Every time, I go to Overground railway stations in London and its suburbs, am reminded of Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Madurai and Kuala Lumpur Railway Stations. Yes, I agree that these places had British influence in the past. But, what irks me the most is the poor lighting facilities in all these stations.

The, the Underground or Tube stations in Central London is similar to Singapore Underground network. Here, the minute you enter the underground level, you can see people always moving in a great hurry, as if their whole life depended of catching that train. Today, at one of the stations, I was suddenly reminded of rats scurrying! Now, I realize what has made me to think like this:)

Especially in the tubes, always I can see young adults necking. Here, I can't understand what motivates them to behave like this.

Then, comes the basic necessity. In Malaysia & Singapore, washrooms in shopping malls and railway stations are maintained with acceptable quality and in most places, it is free of charge. As for Chennai & Madurai, there are both unpaid and paid restrooms, but you cannot expect decent maintenance. But, as for as London is considered most of the railway stations and tube stations do not have washrooms. Even the ones that has this facility, they charge, yet not in good condition!

Thames Walk

From Oxford Circus, we had to change a couple of Tubes (underground rails like Singapore trains), to reach the London Bridge, which is built on the Thames river.

From childhood, I had a penchant for this place, as there are too many attractions along the banks of this river.

And for the first time, I would say that my imagination matched with reality, which rarely happens.

We just passed through the attractions, because we would be using the London Pass to enter these places, next week. Here are some interesting shots that I took along...

 

One of the 5 Imperial museums is an army ship, HMS Belfast. This is permanently docked on the Thames.

This is a bronze fun size pirate ship, at Hay's Galleria, which is a tourist-targeted shopping center with traditional nick-nacks and coffee bars.

As we approached the London Bridge, I was so thrilled like a child, but still it was not an architectural wonder or massive. I think it is just a sense of satisfaction that I am finally there. I called my kid at that moment to share my joy and she too got excited and wanted to join us immediately!

On the bridge, the traffic was heavy. Unlike Kuala Lumpur, the pavements are large, in fact, the tracks for the vehicles are narrower. This helps the tourists to spend time on the bridge conveniently.

Then, we had a clear view of Tower of London, which was the powerful fort for the British Empire, few centuries ago.

Tower of London looks so romantic from the opposite bank. There are many gates to this tower, and one of the gates was named as Traitor Gate, which had direct access to the river in the past. I guess the history has not been kind. I will share more details, when we get to see this place next week.

By then, the weather had started to change, because of the chill wind. After a tea break, we headed for Westminster, to see the Big Ben and the Parliamentary house. I will continue on this in my next post. Stay tuned:)

A day in Central London

We were tentatively thinking to buy London pass, which provides free entry to 50 destinations, which is otherwise ridiculously expensive. The usual price for a three days pass with travel costs GBP 83. But, last week we came across London Pass promotional offer for GBP 77, so without second thoughts we bought it online. We are planning to use the pass from 13 to 15 April. I'm very excited about this trip.

Well, to collect this pass we had to go to Britain Visitor Center in Piccadilly Circus, Central London. London has excellent public transport system, but the ticket costs are exorbitant. However, there is an option of buying off-peak one-day travel card for GBP 7.50.

After collecting the pass, we wanted to make full use of the day card. So, we used the map that we had collected from the Visitor Center and started the wild-goose chase. 

This is the statue of Eros, in Piccadilly Circus. As, I have read a lot about this place, we spent some time looking at the old buildings...

Then, we headed to the nearby Oxford Circus, which is supposed to be the shoppers' haven.

This time, no shopping. Believe me, except for buying an Easter egg made of dark chocolate^^.

We were just gazing at renowned buildings such as Liberty Theater and the Palladium...

Throughout the day, the weather was good with clear blue sky. Later, we headed to London Bridge. Yes, finally, we had a stroll on the banks of the Thames and one of my dreams has come true! Thames experience is worth another post, so guys please wait for my updates:)