Spring Break 2007 Part Two

March 11, 2007 – London

After yesterday’s flight mini-drama, I was so glad and very thankful to be put on the next available flight to London. The flight went well – it was only about a third full so there was lots of space. Virgin Atlantic was not half bad, better than Northwest, in my opinion.

I arrived at the London Heathrow Airport around 11 in the morning. After collecting my bag and getting out of customs, I called Rowie because I couldn’t find the link to the underground tube. After getting some directions and laughing over some random thing that I can’t remember now, I decided I had to find an ATM to get some pounds for the tube. All the ATMs at Terminal 3 were out of cash! I had to exchange US dollars for pounds, and don’t get me started on the exchange rate!

I bought an Oyster card and put 20 pounds value in it. (I know, that’s about S$60! Don’t get me started!) The underground system is pretty easy to navigate once you look at the map and see where they all interchange. I had booked a hostel located 2mins off King’s Cross St. Pancras, on Gray’s Inn Road and so it was all a matter of taking the tube there, it was a direct journey on the Piccadilly line. The train ride took about 45 mins and it was a really interesting journey. The airport is situated in Zone Six and I remember learning from Geography back in JC that the city has concentric zoning. As the train traversed through the zones into Zone One, you can see the landscape changes from suburban to urban. A family of about seven dressed in Chelsea gear got on and were standing really close to me. That were some interesting sights of my first hour in London.

So I finally reached King’s Cross St. Pancras and it was quite an overwhelming station to be at initially. It is a major train station that has six tube lines interchanging there, and also the train station that connects to outer London and the rest of England as well.

I was starving by then, it was around 12:30 p.m. and I saw Burger King across the street so had lunch there. I found Ashlee House (the hostel) and checked in. It was my first time at a hostel (other than the band tour to NZ in 2000, but that’s not really counted because it was really nice!). I was given a bed in a room for ten. I counted that there were six other occupants at that time. There were five double-deck beds in a really really tiny room, and a sink. It was bare, but it was enough. The male bathroom was on another floor, but that wasn’t a problem. What was a problem was that they don’t have hot water in the day time, so I couldn’t take a bath. I unpacked a little, left my laptop with the safe in the reception and set out to make my way to Dominion Theatre at Tottenham Court Station for Hillsong Church’s 2:30 p.m. service.

Hillsong Church London

The people at the church were really friendly and there was a good mix of races. I suspect a good majority of the Asian people I saw inside were Singaporeans because a lot of them study here in London. I started chatting with an English guy sitting next to me and found out he was a law graduate from Nottingham who just got back to London. Ended up chatting about law and I told him I wanted to study law for the longest time, but that didn’t work out. The service went well. I was jet lagged and couldn’t help dozing off several times during the service though. One thing I didn’t get was why after service ended, the congregation kept clapping and clapping and the band returned on stage and did one more song as an encore. Was this a church service or a concert I was attending?

The service ended at 4:30 p.m. and I left for Covent Garden. It used to be a marketplace known as Convent Garden because a large fruits and vegetables garden was maintained by monks. The ‘n’ was later dropped due to a spelling misunderstanding, can you believe it??? Today, it is known for being a shopping and entertainment district (the Royal Opera House is here) with cafes and restaurants, and street performances as well.

A street at Covent Garden, cobbled streets in the foreground

St. Paul, Covent Garden

These signs were such a great help and even show the time taken to get around

After walking around Covent Garden, I didn’t have a plan as to where to go next so I decided to take a coffee break at Starbucks (where else) and plan an itinerary of some sort. It only stuck me then that I hadn’t yet bought a map of London and so I found one that was pretty good and it was then that I realized I had wandered onto the Strand, which is a street to the south of Covent Garden, running almost parallel to the River Thames. For a while I was pretty fascinated about being on these Monopoly streets. And the Strand was always one of my favorite acquisitions HAHA!

I decided to walk down the Strand towards Trafalgar Square. Along the way I passed the Savoy, which was featured in a movie I watched, but I can’t remember. It’s showing Porgy and Bess at the Savoy Theatre right now.

Red telephone booths, it’s definitely London

So I walked to Trafalgar Square and the sun was about to set. People were sitting on the steps in front of the National Gallery and enjoying the cool evening breeze. I read somewhere that among all the squares in London, Trafalgar was growing in popularity and I could see why. There were throngs of people snapping photos in front of Nelson’s Column (pictured left), the fountains, the many statues and of course with the National Gallery. One thing I noticed immediately in comparison with the little I’ve seen so far in US is that European architecture is very much nicer. Even comparing cosmopolitan cities like New York and London, they are vastly different. Maybe it’s not fair for me to judge them because what do I know about architecture and art. You can definitely see though that London has a good mix of modernity and rich cultural heritage, while NY is well, modern, (historical culture is fewer and further between).

The National Gallery houses centuries and centuries of art

Statue of King George IV

View of Big Ben down Whitehall Street

After I was satisfied with the photos taken at Trafalgar Square, I walked down a street named The Mall that starts at the Square, passes under the Admiralty Arch (pictured left) and leads to the Buckingham Palace. I walked along this street and saw the Duke of York’s Column. The sun was setting and the city started to get more cozy from the warm hues of the street lights. I took a leisurely stroll through St. James’s Park and it was really nice because spring was there in London – the flowers were blooming and made Ithaca seem so dreary in contrast. Walking through St. James’s Park, I saw the London Eye in the skyline beyond the Horse Guards. Still wasn’t too familiar with my bearings so I had to constantly check the map to make sure that I was walking in the right direction.

St. James’s Park, with Carlton House in the background I think

I went back to the National Gallery for night shots

I walked up Charing Cross Road towards Leicester Square and saw the TKTS booth for buying discounted tickets to musicals but decided that I would come back the next day to check out Phantom of the Opera tickets. Walked towards Chinatown and saw the usual sights of Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese restaurants. But I knew that Asian food would be better eaten in Asia, so I decided that I would have traditional English fish and chips and there was one that was recommended by a backpacking website and it was nearby on Endell Street. I found the place without too much trouble but it was crowded so I ordered fried haddock with salt and vinegar for takeaway. I conclude that the chips here are much healthier than processed American (French or Freedom, whichever you prefer) fries, but salt and vinegar is an acquired taste, which I have do not have.

Street performance at Covent Garden

I was really sleepy and I suspect it was because of the time difference being across the Atlantic, so I decided to call it an early night. But I walked about four tube stations from Holborn back to King’s Cross St. Pancras so that I could take in the night sights. Took about forty minutes of a stroll and there wasn’t much to see actually, other than Russell Square and UCL, which Gladys was at in Fall 2005.

When I reached the hostel, I found out that I was the first to get back to the room and the other occupants were not back yet. I was just eager to get to bed and wake up early to make the most of the day, so showered and went to bed for my first night in London.