clog blog: London sights and sounds

Wednesday 5 January 2011

London sights and sounds

Shell and Graham have been awesome tour guides and hosts but we decided that we needed to explore on our own too and work out how to use the public transport for ourselves as they are back at work this week. So yesterday we did our own walking tour of London city centre.

We took the train to Waterloo station in Town and went further on foot. We walked along the river Thames and passed all the major sights of London city including the London eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the houses of parliament and Downing Street (with lots of security). We took a slight detour through St James's park but not quite as far as Buckinham Palace, we did see the Horse Guard though. Our walking tour ended at Trafalgar Square with the unmissable Nelson's column. We also noticed South Africa House on the edge of the square.

At Trafalgar Sqaure we visited The National Gallery which has a very vast collection of art work spanning the 13th through to the 20th century. Artists work exhibited include Leonardo, Claude, Turner, Rembrandt, Von Gogh, Monet and many more well known and less well known artists. Our favourites were the Sunflowers by Van Gogh, the use of light by Turner and Rembrandt's portraits. The building itself is also very impressive with massive rooms and highly decorated ceilings and cornices. The gallery has a very good website where you can view all the paintings and special exhibits. The entrance to this gallery was also free and was just as busy as the British Museum. So far we have really enjoyed the museums and galleries and look forward to visiting many more over the coming weeks!

We wandered up to Piccadilly Circus after the gallery. Here we had our very first hot Starbucks drink! Justin enjoyed the hazelnut hot chocolate and Bron tried the chai tea latte, a little peppery at first but cleared her blocked nose right away! From Piccadilly we caught the tube to Knightsbridge and popped into Harrods. Even on sale we couldn't afford anything there, lol! Who pays 90 pounds for a golf shirt anyway?

After a long day it was time to head home but first we managed to catch a train going in the wrong direction and had to jump off at the next staion and turn around! That's how you learn I suppose. People are pretty friendly though and if you ask will help you out.

We have been lucky with the weather over the last two days with the sun peeking out for a while. It is still not warm, even with the sun out but at least it lightens up the sky. But there is generally always cloud and a spattering of rain every day. We are adjusting slowly to the cold but the short days are still very disorientating!

Later this evening we fly to Dublin for a few days. Not sure if we are going to be able to post a blog from there. If not we will catch you next week with news from the land of the wee folk! Thanks to everyone who has left us a comment on the blog, it is always great and encouraging to hear what you have to say so don't stop! Also, thanks to those who have emailed or facebooked us with good wishes.

Have a good week!