Settled myself in there, took a well needed nap and had a bite to eat. I really wish I liked beer as even here it is much cheaper to drink then wine, so that will be my last couple of glasses of wine with dinner until Italy of course....have to do it there.....lol. I, of course logged onto my puter to get some information and booked my hostel for the next 4 nights in London, Earl's Court.
Day 2-Wed Apr.22...got myself up and gathered all my things and got back onto the shuttle to the airport to get to London. I got my ticket on the Gatwick Express and off I went, me and my backpack....was only a 30 min ride with lots of construction scenery but all good. Arrived at the Victoria train station in London and grabbed all the information I needed to get to my hostel and so I proceeded to the underground tube, caught the District line train to Earl's Court, got off,
Here is a pic of Earl's Court station
took a quick walk up the road and found my new home for the next few days.
Earl's Court Hostel
my room, me- bottom bunk,second beds and the view from my room
So this is the first hostel I am staying in. I am on the third floor and it is 4 floors high, so let me tell you by the time I get up to my room, after six flights of stairs... I am exhausted. There are lockers in each room for each person and a sink, then there are showers and toilets separate but private. There is 2 lounge ares, one up front with a tv and one in the back which is much quieter. Also, a kitchen so we can store our own food and cook, etc. There is a nice Garden area out back to chill. All the staff are very nice and helpful with information.
My first set of roommates for the first couple nights, was Vanessa, from South Africa, and one woman I didn't get to meet as she was sleeping the first day I got there and then arrived home the one morning at 8am, not sure what her story is, and another younger girl traveling with her boyfriend, Mandy, pretty quite and never got where she was from. Now I have 3 ladies from Malasyia, they are on some travel tour, they just got back from Amsterdam, interesting. It is definitely strange staying in hostels and something you have to get used to but I will survive as the price is right.
So, I locked my things in my room and went for lunch at the "Gourmet Burger Kitchen" ... far cry from Mc.Donald's or Burger King......lol, was tasty. Then I caught the tube and headed out on an adventure to see what I could see.
Here is a few random pics I took in Victoria.
This is Victoria Train Station............obviously a toilet, on the street...lol
Here are a few cool shots in the underground tube...
that is obviously not a full car, and man can they get full.
I decided to head to the Tower of London and see if I could get in, that was one of the things I missed years ago when I was here. So I got back on the tube and headed to Tower Hill station, and walked to the Tower of London, I was too late to get in, so that is a tour for another day. But I did get a pics of it and of the London Bridge.
I headed back to the hostel, grabbed some groceries and started planning for tomorrows big tourist day.
Day 3 -Thur. Apr 23.....got up early and headed out on my tourist day. I was smart and packed some snacks for the day...granola bars and peanut butter wraps, need that protein to keep going...lol So I caught the tube and headed to Knightsbridge station and got off to so see the famous European department store "Harrods"....wow, there is floor upon floor of everything you can think of, there is different sections in the fashion departments for designers merchandise, there was an HMV music section that was interesting. I took some shots of the fossil department and te lighting department..........I know a bit odd, but I will add some here and the light fixtures were crazy prices, the one large chandelier was 21 ooo pds, the black one was 12 000 pds and the ball was 10 900 pds and as for the fossils, the green sphere was 7650 pds and the petrified wood was 23 500 pds. Craziness....who could afford them and why would they!!! Man working in that store, the commissions would be great, but I have to say the customer service was lacking......(just the retail in me...lol). Tons of security at every door and every escalator.
so here are some pics..........I know strange choice of pics, but thought they were neat.
So from there, I headed off to see Buckingham Palace......and of course it was packed with tourists. I just missed the changing of the guards, but I still got some pics.
So as to not look like a tourist, I took a walk around and of course it became a long walk to get back to a train station but I found one and continued on with my adventure to go see Kensington Palace....where Princess Dianna stayed, I walked through the Kensington Park and on that journey, there was a police helicopter training course going on, so got pics of that too.
Kensington Palace and Gardens outside the Palace
Kensington Park and Carved tree in the Princess Dianna playground
I took alittle break in the park to eat and chill for a bit, lots of walking.....so definitely getting my exercise. It is interesting how many people, tourist and locals that just chill out in the parks around here.
Then onto another location.....House of Parliament/ Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, again loaded with tourists...so I just took some pics of each and walked around and took pics across the River. I just couldn't bring myself to pay 12pds to go into a church and they say it is free to go in and worship and well once your in there are you allowed to walk around after you worship? I didn't think so....just just took pics outside. The architecture really is amazing here.
Big Ben House of Parliament
Westminster Abbey
look at the detail.........wow!!!
Truly amazing!!!
the Eye of London, takes a 1/2hr for one full turn and the aquarium/ and Dali school
Westminster Bridge over Thames River Hungerford Bridge/Harbour
