My Britain : part 3 - London is the capital of Great Britain
In Gatwick, passport control was carried out by typing: some were let in immediately upon seeing the invitation, some were interrogated. There was an impression that female officers were more loyal. And for people who do not know the language well, they just put stamps and that's it : ) The airport itself was a little upset at first. Going out into the street, we saw a bunch of cigarette butts scattered on the asphalt, just like at home. When we were flying back, a man in a suit, an airport worker, met us near the scoreboard, asked which flight it was and escorted us to the check-in desk. Hand luggage was weighed (the first time I saw it! , if this had been done on departure from Dubai, it would have been expensive), but only the main bag could be weighed, and “small” handbags could be ignored.
After a thorough search for packing luggage for my white suitcase, they did not find one and managed with cling film stocked in advance : ) During such a “packaging of luggage”, a crowd of curious kids gathered near me. Where could they see this, if not among tourists-students from Ukraine?
London met with a bright sun, friendly people and ...left-hand traffic. It took several days to learn how to cross the road correctly. The problem with accommodation was solved economically and comfortably. Apartments are better than hotels, they mostly cooked themselves, which they saved on.
Transport is very, very well developed. You can even get to Heathrow by metro, everywhere is clean, employees will always tell you in which direction to go, metro maps are everywhere. I have examined almost all branches, including DLR and Overground. Big and fat five.
Visited many interesting places with the London Pass. Great item, I recommend it.
You need to pick it up at Regent street, Picadilly circus station, in the tourist center, where you can get a bunch of useful maps, brochures and entire guides not only about London, but also about many regions of Britain. I liked the Tower (there are all the crowns of the rulers behind a very massive door, but tourists are allowed in), a tour of the Tower Bridge, the Monument (and its 311 narrow steps), Westminster Abbey, bridges, London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Royal stables, Big Ben, Building Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral ...but I will not talk about this - well-known facts.
The warship "Belfast" left some kind of terrible feeling, I did not feel well there, and the wax figures - I dreamed at night. The pungent smell, the narrow steps, the closed space, the barely perceptible pitching… all this is not for my seasickness…. wow. But it's still interesting to see the whole city on the ship.
Impressed by the parks and the cleanliness of the streets. So clean that you can sleep on the pavement.
If each of our citizens were taken there for a week, we would be cleaner. Upon arrival, I forgot what it was like to put an empty pack of cigarettes under the car and drive away. It was nice to "lunch" lying on the green grass, admiring the Tower Bridge. Thrifty Tip: A sandwich from home and a bottle of water not only save money, but also valuable sightseeing time. Basically, all places of interest are open until 17:00-17:30. Well, after that you can go to the famous Oxford street and relax in endless shopping. The shops are different, everyone will find something for themselves, but I don’t advise you to go there on Friday and Saturday - they can just blow you off your feet, and traffic jams in the metro and getting out of there at this time is a long process.
We visited the Docklands area. As a failed geographer, I wondered what the British had built in the East End.
Even while looking for housing, I saw enough photos with luxurious houses, but I note that we made the right choice (in our case), that we did not rent apartments there. It would be difficult to get to Victoria Station with suitcases, and I won’t say anything about West Brompton, from where the bus to Gatwick departed. And so, we go out to Canary Wharf and the first thing that strikes is the height of the skyscrapers and the number of people near the pubs. Working hours ended, all the offices were empty and the street was filled with a crowd of people in suits with glasses of beer and champagne. We took a few pictures of the Millennium Dome (aka O2 Arena), admired the Thames and the docks, right above which this wonderful area is located. By the way, the station was built in 1999, and the DLR (Docklands light railway) trains are high-tech computer-controlled vehicles. Since the area is not quite touristy, it was not worth staying there for a long time. Next stop is Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich on the same DLR.
On the way there, the fare control was carried out (even if you have a travel card, but you didn’t “light it up” at the beginning of the trip, a fine of 50 pounds). Greenwich surprised me with its silence, so calmly, one could sleep. There is the zero meridian, which was not strong enough to reach, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory. Unfortunately, everything was already closed. Very beautiful University of Greenwich. A friend who studies there said that it was near him that Pirates of the Caribbean - 4 was recently filmed (it seems, or what part should there be? ) and, attention to Johnny Depp fans, he is not as handsome as on the screen. Some little
Thames tunnel. Good people, if someone has such manic tendencies as I do, don't go there anyway! ! ! It's cold, it's scary, I haven't run like that in a long time. All the time it seemed that the Thames was about to break in, and there was also a crowd of fans, loudly shouting for no reason.
Even guidebooks don't advise : ) 370 meters of unpleasant sensations.
Chelsea Stadium. And who knew that on this day there would be football? It was not destined to get on the stadium tour, but after taking a few pictures and eating a mega delicious burger for 5 pounds, we moved on……. To Wimbledon...
I will say that you still need to trust guidebooks, and not associations with station names. Instead of Southfields, we went to Wimbledon Park, which we regretted. We walked for a long time, it was hot, anger overcame our consciousness ...The tennis museum is very attractive, there are also tours of the stadium, but we did not have time. I do not advise buying souvenirs in their company store: not only is it expensive, it is also of poor quality. I bought a keychain (3 times more expensive than the real price), printed it out at home, and it all fell apart.
The Design Museum is the most uninteresting museum I've ever been to. The visit took about 7 minutes, no more.
Exhibits: a bicycle, a jacket on a mannequin, a wheelchair ...things that are completely unrelated.
The London Zoo is clean, beautiful, the animals are well-groomed, no one rushes about in search of food. But somehow it didn't work. I expected more, but the Nikolaev zoo turned out. A beautiful collection of fish: a piece of the Red Sea in London. I would recommend this place for a full day visit with family and a picnic basket.
And, be sure to include the Millennium Bridge (opposite St. Paul's Cathedral) in the program - the photos are awesome. It became the final point in our tourist foray into the metropolis, and Scotland was waiting ahead ...
I am ready to answer all questions, I can talk about London endlessly since childhood. Thanks to everyone who endured and read this literary opus to the end!
