windsor castle 

windsor castle 

Winsor Castle 

guards marching 

Buckingham Palace 

spectacular view 

a view of London 

Big Ben 

the Eye of London 

that's the Tower of London not London Bridge 

Siying and I 

Trafalgar Square 

London - Part 1

The last stop of the trip was London. We had to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to catch our flight and some of us were a little late. When we arrived in London, I felt slightly bored as half of the original group of 31 has been reduced to a mere 13 (because those who have chosen the 13 days package finished their trip in Paris).

The day started with a tour around the city and we had breathtaking photo-stops. London is simply a tourist playground, transport systems are efficient, no language barrier, rich history and a friendly city. Although the currency is ₤1: S$3.12 but the things here are much cheaper than Paris. Clothes are a real bargain too but services are much more expensive like cab fares and tours.

My first night in London was spent watching the musical Chicago which has lots of dark humour in it so my Mum and Aunt couldn’t quite understand the plot. The story tells of female prisoners who killed their unfaithful lovers or husbands and the notoriety they got from the murder case. They all had this same lawyer who tends to use the media to gain sympathy from the jury by distorting and exaggerating facts. Thus, they rose to stardom and some get offered acting contracts therefore the women will tend to try to outdo one another in terms of publicity. Ironically, when the main star of the show was acquitted, she was rather unhappy as news of her case died down and was no longer a “celebrity”. (This kind of reminds me of a recent case on the news but I shall not mention which)

2nd in London was kind of a shopping day so nothing much happened but on the 3rd day, my mum and I went on a full day tour to Windsor castle, Stonehenge and the City of Bath.

Windsor castle was truly a dream come true as I love the medieval times where Kings and Queens rule the land and stories of chivalry of the knights just overwhelms me. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed within the castle so that experience has been etched in my memory for eternity. It was more of a viewing gallery as the place is still being used by Queen Elizabeth II which she spends most of her private weekends at. What fascinates me the most was Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. Can you imagine that everything in it is as real as it can get? The food and wine are edible; there is electric lighting, hot and cold running water and even flushing lavatories. It’s simply a masterpiece on its own because everything are real stuff made miniature and it was made quite some time back. The Doll House alone is worth going all the way there to see it. The rest of the castle shows the lavish life of royalty and the humongous state apartments.

Stay tuned for the 2nd part of the London trip which is also the last post up on the blog.