Adventures in Europe: London, United Kingdom

I am on my way to Central Asia and, just like last year, this has resulted in being laid over in London and Istanbul. My Heathrow layover was less than five hours, and after getting through passport control easily I second guessed if I should really leave the airport. But, I had not slept a wink on the airplane and I felt I would much rather spend even just an hour walking in London than hang out in Heathrow longer than was necessary, so I spent 10 quid storing my bag and jumped on the Piccadilly line.

I got off at Hyde Park Corner and bought a coffee and a sandwich and then started walking east. Most of the roads I walked along are closed right now and there were thousands of people out walking, jogging, biking, scootering, etc.

I passed the palace . . .

. . . stopped for a few minutes in St. James Park to eat my sandwich . . .

. . . approached Westminster Abbey . . .

. . . and ended up at Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. 

And really that was all the time I had, so I jumped on a Jubilee line train at Westminster, transferred back to the Piccadilly line at Green Park and was back off to Heathrow. It was a quick visit to London, but I definitely felt it was worth it.

Adventures in Europe: London, United Kingdom

I am on my way to Tajikistan, but from Edmonton that is not a quick or particularly efficient (or cheap) trip. I was laid over for six hours in London this morning and decided to make the most of it. I left my bag at the airport and took the tube into the city. I got off at Leicester Square just before 9:00, or 2:00 in the morning Edmonton time!

I walked into Trafalgar Square . . .

. . . past Canada House . . .

. . . and down Whitehall to Westminster. I stopped to take a photo or two of Big Ben . . .

. . . and Westminster Abbey.

It felt good to be walking briskly, but coffee sounded good, too, so I found a cafe in St James's Park. 

I thought about continuing on to see Buckingham Palace, but instead I decided to head over to Monument, which I think I have climbed every time I have been in London and really it never gets old. It was a few stops ride away on the District line. At 9:45 on a Thursday morning I had the great views all to myself!

Back at ground level, I had about half an hour left, so I did another walk, this time westward toward St. Paul's.

By the time I reached St. Paul's I figured I better head back to Heathrow. In the end I only spent about 90 minutes in London itself, and probably 120 minutes on the tube to/from Heathrow, but it was a nice way to spend the layover and fight jet lag, and I was very happy I had taken the opportunity!

Adventures in Europe: London, United Kingdom

On Friday night we flew from Cairo to London, and we were able to enjoy yesterday and this morning touring around. Really this is pretty much a stopover before we head home, but we made the most of it. 

We are staying in Hyde Park at a hotel that is nondescript, in a room that is small and expensive (so, typically London). Still, it manages to look remarkably posh from the outside.

Of course, we have spent time in Hyde Park the actual park, enjoying walks through there a couple of times. 

Something I have done every time I have been in London is climb "Monument." My wife declined to join me, but agreed to wait below while I ascended. 

After climbing many stairs, the view is wonderful, and has changed some since I was last here in 2011.

Your ticket is also a souvenir, but I did not want to carry this around for the rest of the day, so a photo will have to do.

From Monument we had a lovely walk along the Thames . . .

. . . and then up to St. Paul's.

Time for some lunch, and so how about the Olde Cheshire Cheese, which apparently dates from something like 400 years ago!

We ate some lunch and enjoyed a pint by the fire.

We carried on enjoying our walk to Trafalgar Square, where we met a protest in support of the National Health Service. 

We more or less joined in, and down Whitehall past Downing Street (where the protest stopped).

We stopped for photo opportunities at Big Ben . . . 

. . . and Westminster Abbey.

We decided to join the evensong service at 17:00, so walked across the Thames, had a drink and did some more exploring, and then hustled back to join the queue. You cannot take photos inside, but it was a cool experience to join evensong in such an iconic church. We also got to briefly sit in the choir stalls, the most recognizable part of the interior of Westminster Abbey. In just two or three months King Charles' coronation will take place and a lot of people will be watching the procession of people right through the choir stalls where we got to sit.

After the church service it was dark and raining, but that was not any particular issue as our next plans were to see the musical "Wicked" at the Victoria Theatre just a stop on the tube away from Westminster Abbey.

We fly home this afternoon, but had some time to still go for a Hyde Park walk this morning, and keep going on to Buckingham Palace. By the way, this is Diana's first time in London, so the mandatory sites are, pretty much, well, mandatory. 

We actually kept walking on past the palace back to Westminster Abbey, because we wanted to get a souvenir from the gift shop.  So, it ended up being quite the walk, but lovely, and we took the tube back to the hotel before heading off to Heathrow.