Starting Out, Day 0

Room with a View

We stayed at a Swissotel property called The Howard. The picture to the left was taken from the terrace of Somerset House, which is a palace built in 1547 (King Edward VI) and has served as the residence of several royals including Elizabeth I and Catherine of Braganza. It also houses the Courtald Gallery, which is apparently one of the better, smaller art collections primarily for Renaissance and Impressionist art, including Renoir, Michelangelo, Rembrant, Cezanne, etc.

Of course, we only found out all this after we returned and I googled Somerset House, so when we were actually there our association with Somerset House was restricted to walking across the terrace to get back to the hotel. But it's quite impressive; it was almost like you couldn't go more than a few minutes without walking past something historic.

The reason that our intrepid travellers are dressed like Eskimos is that it was freezing and snowing the first couple of days. Fortunately, for most of the week it was sunny.

The hotel and the (two connecting) rooms were great, courtesy Beth Marciel of Casto (who did a great job with all the travel arrangements). Notable features included really good espresso coffee, a minibar in which Vijay could hide, and a view of the Thames, including London Eye, Big Ben, etc. The collage to the left is a composite taken at various times of the day through the week. Taken from the London Eye, the picture on the right has the hotel in the middle of the picture (next to the red building along the river.) Speaking of historical stuff, the red building is Arundel House, and the grounds house Roman Baths (which are mentioned in David Copperfield.)

Incredible. We didn't get to see that either, more post-trip googling.

Hotel Surroundings

Our hotel was right across from the Temple Place Tube station and as we walk towards the Embankment we pass by (after Somerset House) King's College and the IEE. Further down, along the banks of the river, is Cleopatra's needle, and continuing down a little further past the Embankment, we can see a nice perspective of Big Ben (the tower that the bell is housed in.)

Instead of going towards the Embankment, if we took a right on Surrey Street we go past the old Piccadilly Railway station, then turn on to the Strand and walk past the other side of King's College. We also go past the church of St. Mary le Strand.

This takes us to Covent Garden Market, which is huge and happening. Lots of shops, arts and crafts, street performances, etc.

Finally, we reach our goal ... the Masala Zone on Floral Street. Run by the guys who started Chutney Mary and Veeraswamy, MZ is a chain with each unit having its own twist. This one near Covent Garden has Rajasthani puppets suspended from the ceiling.

Day 1.

The Original London Hop On, Hop Off Bus Tour

This was a pre-booked tour, and quite good. Took us through several interesting neighborhoods and sights. The two downsides were that the tour guide was a very sniffy woman, and the weather was terrible. Meera and I sat on the upper deck which was partially covered, and managed to take photographs of some of the areas that we passed through.

We started out walking past Charing Cross Station to Trafalgar Square, and boarded the bus there.

The bus first did a western loop, going around Parliament Square for the first hour or so.

We then passed by Ebury Street, an intriguing street because a number of very interesting people lived there ... Mozart, in 1764, and composed his first Symphony; Ian Fleming, Alfred Tennyson, Michael Caine, etc.

Across the Thames from the Houses of Parliament, we passed by St. Thomas' Hospital, named after Thomas Becket. The original hospital was built in the late 1100's and also houses the Florence Nightingale Museum.

We then drove east, passing by the Royal Court of Justice and St. Paul's Cathedral, past City Hall and over Tower Bridge, before returning to Westminster Bridge.

Thames Cruise

In the afternoon we took a cruise from Westminster Pier to Greenwich. The red color of Blackfriars bridge is associated with the House of Lords, and the green colored bridge is because the House of Commons' color is green. The old wharfs are in pretty bad shape.

Greenwich

We mostly spent time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, due to lack of time. A pity, because we heard good things -- especially about the National Maritime Museum. What we didn't capture was the walk up to the observatory, somewhat steep uphill ... not too bad under normal circumstances, but pushing the stroller made it exhausting.

And here we are, at the Prime Meridian.

Day 2.

Madame Tussauds & Baker Street

We took the Bakerloo line up to the Baker Street Station. Close by, to set the mood, was a statue of Holmes. We wended our way to Madame Tussauds museum, where we were able to zoom in because we had fortunately purchased the advance vouchers, thereby not having to suffer the long waits of the unprepared saps who had not the foresight to do so.

Finally we were in. The rest is just one massive photo-op.

Vijay finally finds some statues which are more his size.

We next went to Baker Street (passing by some literary landmarks) where we visited 221B.

The British Museum

We had been hoping to see the First Emperor exhibit (Shih Huang Di). Unfortunately there was no advance booking possible and the tickets (4500/day) were sold out by early morning. People were lining up from 7 am to get in. Pity. We started in the lobby, which was a treat in itself.

Egypt

The first stop was the Egyptian section, and the exhibit right past the doorway was the Rosetta Stone. Huge crowd, bit like the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Took ages to get a decent photograph.

On the way from the Egyptian to the Greek exhibits, we passed by the Assyrian & Lykian sections. We didn't go into the Assyrian section, but the entrance has a couple of amazing, intact, statues of winged lions, from ~800 BC (read all about it here.)

In the Lykian section, the entire room was mostly dedicated to the Nereid Monument, a Lykian Tomb in Xanthos, Turkey.

Greece

We then entered the Greek section. It was mostly all about the Elgin marbles, although to be PC there is only one small reference to Elgin, and it's referred to as the sculptures of the Parthenon. Really amazing, the detail on the larger statues, like the folds of the clothing, etc. are just incredible. The photographs don't do it justice.

After a coffee break (Vijay liked the wide open spaces) and a brief detour into a section which looked vaguely South American/South Pacific (guessing by the Easter Island statue), we went Asian.

India

The Indian exhibits had a large section of statues, carvings, etc., and a separate section just on the Great Stupa at Amaravati.

China

Last stop, China.

Day 3.

The day of the long bus ride.

Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral was built between 1220 and 1258 by the River Avon. It's old, well preserved, and has the best (of the four) copies of the Magna Carta. The outer facade is impressive.

Inside, the stained glass windows, high ceilings, etc. were gorgeous.

Finally, we went to see the Magna Carta. A perfect copy, unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs; so the best we have is a picture of the entrance door.

Stonehenge

Nothing much to say about Stonehenge, other than we saw the monument, the burial mounds (first couple of pictures below), the Heel stone, and then took in the wide open Salisbury Plain all around.

Bath

Bath is a bit underwhelming -- the city itself seems promising, but we didn't get a chance to go around at all. The Roman bath is interesting, but wears thin after the first few minutes. Also, it was the third leg of long journey so we were all somewhat tired at this point.

Vijay & Meera did have fun, running around the bath and feeling the hot, bubbly water (just before they were ticked off by the guides.)

One fun thing was the curses that were found at the site. Copies of these were mounted on the walls.

The abbey next door and the church and recessesd gardens (also close by) looked good, but we'd had our share of culture for the day.

Day 4.

We started off on Eastern side, the Tower of London and St. Paul's Cathedral.

The Tower of London

We reached the Tower bright and early, only to find out that there was a funeral (a warden of the Jewel House?) and visitors would only be allowed in from 10:30 am. So we walked around the entrance, hung out at the gift shop, and took pictures of the Beefeaters.

As we (finally) entered the Tower, we first passed by the Bell Tower where many prisoners were housed, including Elizabeth I, Thomas More, etc. We then passed by Traitors' Gate, the gates of St. Thomas's tower through which many prisoners accused of treason were thought to have entered.

After that we entered the main complex, and the main buildings are Jewel House (where the Crown Jewels are stored), and the White Tower (the original, main, building and the current site where the armory exhibit is).

The section around the courtyard had some Tudor residences and the area where several executions had been carried out.

We saw the crown jewels in the Jewel House, but no photographs allowed. We then went into the White Tower and walked up. The main exhibits there are the armories.

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's is gorgeous, both outside and inside. The interior is just overwhelming, huge and beautiful. Unfortunately no photographs allowed. Maybe that's just as well, because it's not clear how the grandeur could have been captured. Priya & Vijay stayed outside, and Meera & I went in and also climbed up the 259 steps to the Whispering Gallery. We then climbed another 119 steps to the Stone Gallery where we could go outside and we took some pictures (see collage). At that point the Golden Gallery was another ~200 steps up. I called it quits, much to M's disappointment. I now wish that we'd gone all the way.

London Eye

To round off the day we did the London Eye. To get there, we walked from the bus stop along the Thames. Lots of street performances, some of it good, but the costumes were quite striking.

Here, again, the ticket counter had a much shorter line that the "voucher exchange" line. We got in our capsule, and good view -- though primarily of the Houses of Parliament and its surroundings.

Finally, a good one of the family with Big Ben as the backdrop.

On the way back was probably the best part. We stopped by the street performer who used a small stick held in his mouth to play with a ball. We put some money in his till and were walking away when he called us back and asked Meera to toss him a ball. Nicely caught, and he played with it. Fortunately I was able to capture (mostly) the moments.

Day 5.

Over to the west side, then to try and go to Hogwarts.

Buckingham Palace, Changing of the Guard, & Westminster Abbey

We set off bright and early to try and catch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Got a reasonable spot, but had an interminable wait and it also rained quite a bit. In spite of that, did get to see the whole thing. Overrated, I really fail to see what the big deal is. Anyway, since it took up half a day it deserves a mention, some photographs, and a video clip.

After it was all over, we stopped by Buckingham Balti House for lunch and then went to Westminster Abbey to take a look. Again, no photographs inside. But it was worth it, the royalty buried there and also Poets' Corner and the scientists' section where Newton, Darwin, etc. were buried.

King's Cross Station

Last stop was King's Cross Station, where Meera almost caught the train to Hogwart's.