London : The City (Part 1)

The city, London…. the city which lived upto my expectations, and then much more….A city people love to hate, and which I can’t but love!!! Where do I begin… given the first three years of my working life were spent there (and what times!!!).

(Warning: It will be a very long post, since difficult to compress three fun filled years into one article, but still trying! Have split the whole article into four separate pieces to keep it to a reasonable and readable length!!)

Let me first start out with the touristy stuff to do in the city. Most of the places to visit are located in the central part of the city and you can just walk from one spot to another and cover them all.
If you are short on time, a good way to visit all these places efficiently is to take the London Sightseeing tourist buses that take you through all the spots in the city. You can take a day pass, and hop on and off the bus, depending on which place you want to spend time in and which just cruise through.

The same bus company also operates some duck-shaped buses, which can drive on the road, as well as float on water! So the same vehicle even takes you on the Thames, which should be an interesting experience!! Taking the sightseeing tours is good if you don't have enough time with you. Plus the guides on the buses give you interesting trivia about the history of the city, as well as what all went into making it what it is today. Many of the guides are college students, and its fun listening to them.

If not the bus, and if you have time, then the best way to explore the city is by walking. It’s the perfect place to walk around, given the pleasant weather in London (when that happens that is..!!) and the pavements present across the city for pedestrians to walk comfortably. Here's an itinerary which I followed quite often while showing my friends around London. It would be one very long walk, passing through most of the famous spots of the city, history, party, culture, everything! By the end of the day, my guests would be all tired, but would have got a very good view of what London was.

The start of this long walk is generally at the Tower Bridge. It’s this majestic bridge in blue, over the Thames river (which is actually the lifeline of the city and along which are located many of the places to visit around the city). Just walk across the bridge, taking in a view of the skyline around, the south side, St Paul’s,the City as well as the Tower of London. Stop there on the bridge for sometime and wave to the people passing below in the ferries on the Thames. I’ve done this at least a hundred times, and still feel like I am flying in the air when I stand there,everytime!! If the weather is good, you will absolutely love it.

This bridge is also the image of London that is seen quite often and in
fact, most people often mistake this to be the “famous” London Bridge! The bridge actually can open in the middle and let big boats on the Thames pass through. If you are lucky, you may actually catch a glimpse of the bridge opening too.

Just next to the Tower Bridge, on the north side of the Thames is the Tower of London.
It was the original castle in London, and it has a very long (and gory) history. The public hangings used to take place here, as well as a lot of famous prisoners were housed in the Tower. Now its been turned into a museum, taking you through London's history. The tower is also the place where the "Kohinoor" along with the other crown jewels are housed.

Am sure, a lot of Indians would definitely like to go and take a look at it. The entry ticket to the Tower is about 22 pounds or so, and I don't think its worth it for sure! But still if you have spare time and change, you can go and take a look at it.

The guards at the Tower are called beefeaters and are well versed with the history of the castle and act as tourist guides now. Near the Tower on the north side itself is an area called the St Catherine docks. It’s a residential area, with a couple of pubs here and there. If you have time, you can take a detour, and walk in this area. It is a very pretty walk, with small canals here and there, and yachts and boats parked there. Have a beer at the pub there if you have time to sit and enjoy the view outside. I always found it a good stop, especially if the weather was cold. To stop and have a coffee there, as the water in the docks would make it even colder and even more fun to have coffee!

From the Tower, you can either walk along the north side of the Thames or the south, depending on your preference. On the north side is the “City of London”, the name given to the square mile of the (old) financial district of London.

If you walk along the Thames for 10-15 minutes, you would reach St Paul’s: a huge cathedral in white (and which has been undergoing massive restoration for as long as I can remember!). You can’t miss it, and it’s another of the images of London you would always see.

Its one of the most massive and grand cathedral I have seen,
at least from the outside. Have never seen it from inside though as there is a ticket for entering it and I never could get myself to buy a ticket to visit a place of worship! Actually, if you can land-up at St Paul’s on a Sunday morning at 9 am for Mass, you can get in free! I always wanted to do that, but well… “Sunday morning, 9 am”, it’s a sight I have rarely managed to see. So guess someday it might become a possibility, hasn't happened till now:).

Anyways I would suggest that you walk on the south side of the Thames and just take a detour to visit St Paul’s and then back on the south side.
The best view of the London skyline is seen from the Thames itself, especially the South Thames path. The South Thames Path runs all along the river and is quite an interesting walk along London's history. Alleyways, museums, cathedrals, theatre, markets, eateries, exhibitions, graffiti, theatre, street artists: it has everything!

The East India Company warehouse is located on the south side of the Thames, you may cross it while you walk. The Southark Cathedral is also on the way, a huge brown church, never been inside again!!













A famous old ship, the Golden Hind is also
preserved and kept somewhere on the way. There is a market located just on the path, where there are eateries selling roadside food stuff. You can taste some tasty and inexpensive fare there [forgot the name of the market though].







There are a couple of museums on the path, the Oxo, Tate Modern, Dali Museum etc. Tate modern has some very interesting pieces of modern art if you are interested in them, gets very confusing though if you are not! You will also pass the Shakespeare Globe theatre on the way, where they still stage his plays and the structure of the theatre is as it used to be in the olden times, with the open air theatre, the covered amphitheatre, plus an area near the stage where the commoners can stand. It’s a pleasure to watch a play there, though you may have to read up on the plays performing there before you go, to understand the Shakespearan English!

You will also see the multiple bridges across the Thames while walking along this path, the Cannon Street Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Lambeth Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Millenium Bridge, Westminster Bridge etc, as well as the “famous” London Bridge!

The London Bridge is in fact quite unimpressive, just an ordinary bridge. Its in fact a major let-down given that we’ve grown up hearing about the London bridge, in the nursery rhyme,” London bridge is falling down... “, and I think most of us have always pictured it as something like the Tower Bridge. Only once you go to London once, is this misconception cleared.

The Millenium Bridge is a new bridge, which connects the Tate Modern to St Paul’s. It has a metallic grey look and is only used by pedestrians.
It’s another of the popular images of London and is often nowadays portrayed in movies. You can take a quick detour to St Paul’s from here and then back to the south side. Other than that, each of the bridge has its own history, which you can get to know if you are taking the London Sightseeing bus.

The path along the Thames takes you through under bridges and over bridges; and alleys, up and down. As you walk along, you will pass across many more such places, where you can spend time : The Clink Museum, the London Dungeon, the National Theatre etc.
Its upto you, how you want to spend your time there. Reading about history, eating tasty food, spending time immersed in art or just sitting there and vegetating, you have all the options, make the most of it!!

There are also many exhibitions happening in this area, just next to the Thames. In the open air, there generally are a lot of the paintings and photographs just exhibited there, for all to see while you walk. The entire area is just very lively most of the times with something or the other happening. You can see kids practicing rollerblading and skating, graffiti on the walls, street artists sitting in various costumes and of course the rest of the people just enjoying the sun, where there is some!!

In the summer, there are festivals held in this area. Once when we were walking along, there was an Irish dance festival happening there.
Different groups coming and showing their performances. They also have beach parties in the summer there, with some sandy part of the Thames being used, for loud music, lot of alcohol and people having a ball:). If the weather is good, it’s always a fun to spend time there, just lazing around, sitting in one of the multiple pubs, eating a burger, sipping on pimms and just soaking in the views around. And many times, you may even catch a Hindi movie being shot there, given that London has become such a popular destination for Bollywood nowadays.

There are a couple of great eating places on the way. One of those is Nandos, which is located in an old warehouse building. It has one of the best spicy food in London and a great lively South American ambience also. At the end of the walk, near Embankment is the Mexican restaurant, Las Iguanas. One of the best Mexican food in London, fun ambience and great music!

You would also pass through a couple of Eateries on the way, don’t remember the names though, but is fun to explore and discover these eating places there, in every nook and corner. As you walk along, you would reach the London Eye.
The London Eye does not gel in well with the feel of London, a huge structure of metal stuck within the old world charm that London exudes. But still, if you want, you can take a ride in this “monstrosity on the London landscape”(as its called) to get a good view of the city:).

The best time to do this would be in the evening, as during the first half of the round, there is daylight and you get to see the city below, while during the second half, you see the lights of the city. Just next to the London Eye, you have some green spaces, where people would always be out during the summer time.
There would be street artists dressed up standing there and entertaining the crowds, someone showing a magic show, someone a dance performance, and someone playing an instrument. Here is one such photo of a street artist.....
P.S. Sorry for the terrible and incomplete photos. Somehow a place where you stay, you take the least photos as it seems everyday stuff to you. Only once you leave do you realise, it's not everyday anymore:)

(continued...)

London: The City (Part 2)
London: The City (Part 3)
London: Things to do