London!
As I sat near my departure gate at the Austin Bergstrom International Airport, my thoughts veered towards my final destination - London. My sister studies in London, and since I had absolutely nothing to do, except for playing Winning 11 Soccer on the Playstation, I decided to visit her. It was going to be my first ever trip to Europe and needless to say, I was excited.
I reached London, after a 10 hour flight where I got no sleep, and was greeted at the surprisingly underwhelming Heathrow airport by my sister. The thought of breakfast quickly vanished as I checked the price of a ‘baguette’, and so following my miserly instincts, I bought orange juice and got on to the train that would take us to my sister’s dorm. London has a pretty efficient metro system, but the names of some of the lines and stations are quite funny. For example, you could take the ‘Piccadilly’ line to get to ‘Cockfosters’.
Amitabh Bachchan looks approvingly from behind
Anyway, soon after I dumped my stuff at my sister’s alarmingly small but comfy room, we went on an open-top bus tour which was made even more special , thanks to the cold and wet English weather that was well complemented by my jetlag. I did, however, get to see some of the renowned sights of London - the Big Ben, the Buckingham Palace, the ‘British Airways’ London Eye, and of course the restaurant where the tickets to the Titanic (the ship, not the movie) were sold. The restaurant is, surprisingly, called ‘The Texas Embassy’.
The next day , I went to the Madam Tussuad’s Wax Museum for the sole reason of proving my friends wrong. I had told them that I was taller than the beautiful Indian actress Aishwarya Rai, and I took a photograph next to her life size wax statue as proof (yes, sometimes my life can come across as sad).
The following day, I decided to head to the Lord’s Cricket Ground. There are only two sights that have ever given me goose bumps. The first one was when I saw the Taj Mahal at night, and the second one was when I looked out from the dressing room balcony at Lord’s, at the hallowed grass that has meant so much to everyone who has had the privilege of walking on it. It was one of the best moments of the trip – I took in the silence, wondering how a Cricket ground can have such a uniquely inspiring aura.
Court No.1
It was from one sport’s spiritual home to another, as I walked about a mile and a half from the metro stop to get to the All England Tennis Club. The tour of the tennis courts wasn’t as special as the Lord’s tour, but still was well worth the walk and the entry fee. They were just setting up for Wimbledon and so most of the courts did not have nets, and the Center Court was cordoned due to construction.
There was only one more thing to cross off on my London Check List and that was walking across Abbey Road, à la Beatles’ style. I’m pretty sure I angered the motorists in my ‘few’ attempts to have my picture taken while crossing the road, but I didn’t care.
Overall, it was a great trip and I’m sure I will go back to London in the future – there are just so many things to do there. The trip made me realize how awesome it is to visit new places and people. It also inspired me to start saving up for a backpacking trip across Europe as soon as I graduate…hmmm, it might be a while.
Photo Courtesy: flappingwings
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An excellent way to see the major sights of London are the New London walking tours (http://www.newlondon-tours.com/). The tours are free (guides work for tips) and very thorough.
(And no, I don’t work for them! Unfortunately Niyantha did not get to take one of their tours in London, so I thought I’d recommend them here.)
[Reply]
Travelling and meeting people is in itself an educational experience, though in a fun way. The travelogue is quite humorous and witty.
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Hi nice post, i read your blog from time to time but i was wondering something. I also run a blog on a similar topic, but i get 1,000’s of spam comments and emails every day does that happen to you.. Any ideas to stop it? I currently have commenting disabled but i want to turn it back on.. Thanks!
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Interesting article. Where did you get all the information from…
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I usually do not comment on blog posts but I found this quite interesting, so here goes. Thanks! Regards, P.
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I saw a similar post about this on another blog so it just goes to show you that it is a small world after all (I hate that Disney ride).
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And what about Platform Nine and Three Quarters?!!
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VJ Reply:
June 7th, 2009 at 1:21 am
Closed for maintenance.
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Niyantha Reply:
June 9th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I forgot
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:O So mush Info :O
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Thoughtful post and well written. Please write more on this if you have time.
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Care to exchange link with me? hit me back if you’re interested, thanks.
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I liked reading your blog…keep up the good work.
[Reply]
I liked reading your blog…keep up the good work.
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Ich in der Regel nicht in Blogs zu ver?ffentlichen, sondern in einen Blog mich gezwungen,
[Reply]
Hi there I like your post.
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