Travel Agent Runaway Bay

London

My recent brief holiday in London was a great opportunity to see the changes there to when I lived there in the late 1970’s. Apart from the traffic being far more, madder and faster, everything else seemed to be the same. Although there is now the famous London Eye - a new landmark which allows many photo opportunities. It’s said it’s best to go with a local so they can point out the many places of interest. And of course on a sunny day.

There are many areas of London worthwhile going to but if you are on limited time there is plenty to see just around the central city area. The hop on hop off bus is probably better if you only have a day to sightsee but I walked to most of the attractions as I had several days.

There are a few must see sites such as the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St Pauls Cathedral, Houses of Parliament with Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Covent Gardens and although Buckingham Palace itself is a bit plain, the changing of the guards is a very traditional event and St James Park next door is a lovely haven with a large variety of ducks and squirrels to keep you amused. Hyde Park is also not too far away if you want to get away from the traffic. This is most popular especially in the summer. In winter it has a temporary ice skating rink near Hyde Park corner – there are a few other tourist places around town like the Tower which has a rink too.

You don’t have to go far anywhere to see a massive and very old building. If not for their magnificence they could look a bit drab in the winter leafless streets. A local took me to St Clements Danes church a short walk from Trafalgar Square. It is claimed to be the one featured in the nursery rhyme “Oranges and lemons” and on the hour the bells do play that tune. It now functions as the central church of the Royal Air Force.

Walking allowed me to discover places I may have missed from a bus for example the St Katherine docks which is a small canal area accessed by a lock from the Thames and is a fabulous oasis of boats, apartments, cafes and pubs where you are totally secluded from the hustle and bustle of the busy roads surrounding it. I loved it. You can find it across the road from the Tower of London.

Of course there are hundreds more attractions and it all depends on what types of things you like and how long you are visiting for. You have shopping areas, theatre areas, sports grounds, parks, museums, attractions such as Madam Tousadds and Greenwich. Cruises along the Thames are a very pleasant way to see the many attractions which line the river and it is a hive of activity any time of the year.

The beautiful buildings and statues alone will fill up your digital cameras memory card really quickly if you aren’t a bit disciplined. And I love the red double - decker buses and the London cabs, originally all black but now all different colours and sporting advertising.

Of course any trip to London isn’t complete without going into one of the thousands of English pubs which you can find on every corner everywhere in between it seems! They are now more popular for having a good feed but a drink is a must too.

A pint of bitter please. Cheers!!