Good day Readers!!!
Our final stop brought us to London, United Kingdom (For your information, London was 8 hours behind Singapore time when I was there)! We took a domestic flight down...
Train to Pisa Aeroporto
We bought our Train Tickets to Pisa Aeroporto from the Ticketing Machine. It costs us €7,80 per person. There were quite a lot of tourists and some locals standing around waiting for their train to arrive. There were local beggars carrying a cup, walking around asking for donations. I personally saw a kind lady donated some money to an elderly man and shortly after that more beggars approached her. My advice is don't donate. Pretty scary when you do.
Some of the scenery I took while on the train...
Domestic Flight to London
We reached Pisa Aeroporto an hour later. This was our first time taking a Domestic Flight so we arrived earlier to the airport being typical "kiasu" people. The airport had very few shopping areas, and as we were too early, we literally sat on the bench chair and people-watched for an hour or so.
We were starting to feel a little hungry and we have a few Euros left. We pooled our coins together to purchase a Viva la Mamma (as per advertised on the pillar) at Panperfocaccia and shared a Tortellini. Our first time eating a "Maggie Tortellini". Why did I label it as a "Maggie Tortellini"? Because similar to a maggie mee, it's instant made Tortellini. The counter staff heated the Tortellini for us.
It was pretty interesting as we boarded the plane from ground floor. Food was not provided but if you are hungry, you can purchase food on the plane, but it doesn't look cheap.
While we were up in the air, I saw clouds that looked like cotton candy. So pretty and fluffy, and the colours look really pretty. It was prettier if you can see it in real life! It made me want to jump on the clouds :P
At the other side of the cloud was dark and gloomy, and yeah... peek of London!
We reached Gatwick Airport about 2 hours later. Did the usual stuff of getting the passport stamped and reclaiming our luggages.
Prior to arriving to London, we had made arrangement for the Hotel's shuttle car to pick us up and drive us to the Hotel. As we had 3 luggages, we had to book the bigger MPV car and it cost us £140. We kept a lookout for the driver and we saw him with our names written on a white board. He helped us with the luggages and led us to the carpark where he had to make payment for the carpark and to the parking lot where parked his car.
It was only 7.20pm London time and it was so dark already :( We learnt from the Shuttle Car driver that during the winter period (i.e. Feb) day time is shorter and night time comes faster.
Hotel
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel London
Address: 7 Pepys Street, London EC3N 4AF, United Kingdom (Tel: 44-020-77091000)
We reached the hotel about 1.5 hours later. The staffs were very professional and courteous as they assisted us in checking in. 4 stars hotel indeed :D
Before we left to our rooms, the staffs gave us each a cookie as a welcome gift :) Awesome!
The Room assigned to us was really clean and cool! The bed was well made. The room was even furnished with an apple TV! Their mini fridge had mini beverages which the staff told us we could help ourselves and it's free... Awww so cute :D
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| Crabtree & Evelyn soap! |
Breakfast was also buffet style, with more varieties than the other 3 hotels that I stayed previously. They had eggs, sausages, bacon, beans, pancakes, mushrooms, fruits... etc. I loved the food here for the wide choices <3 The staffs were attentive and polite.
Trains
Tube
Trains in London are known as Tube and the cards are known as Oyster. This Oyster card can be topped up when the value in the card ran out. Probably one of the easiest mode of transport around London. What I liked about Tube is that they have cushioned seats!
The Original Tour
We followed the directions given by the Hotel Staff to the bus stop where we could purchase bus tickets to hop onto London's Tour Bus. It was about 10 - 15 minutes walk from our Hotel. There were sales personnel from "The Original Tour" and "Big Bus Tours" waiting for tourists to buy bus tickets from them. Our initial plan was to purchase tickets from "Big Bus Tours" but when we arrived at the bus stop, only "The Original Tour" sales personnel was there to sell. In the end, we bought from "The Original Tour".
As it was during the low peak period, the ticket was valid for 2 days (i.e. 48 hours). We can hop on and off any of their buses, and there were also the free walking tours and a free trip on the cruise!
For more information, visit :-
http://www.theoriginaltour.com/tour-information/tour-info.htm?ID=4
Walking Tours
Changing of the Guard Walk
We were to meet and gather at The Original London Visitor Centre at 10.30am where our guide would be there to meet us.
Our guide arrived on the dot holding a yellow flag. There were quite a few tourists waiting for him. In a chirpy tone, he greeted us and we proceeded with our walking tours....
Along the way, our guide would stop and explained to us the histories behind the buildings and landscapes :)
We were so excited when the band marched in and began playing songs on their instruments. Lovely! So when the band marched down the road to the place where the changing of guards would take place, the crowd practically followed them!
There were too many people, so I did not manage to take pictures of the changing of guards :( After that, we followed our guide back to The Original London Visitor Centre. Along the way, we took some pictures!
When we purchased the tickets for the "The Original Tour", there was also a free cruise included! Yay! The place to board the cruise was located within walking distance from our hotel. We got the direction from the helpful hotel staff :) It was very cold when we arrived at the pier.
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| Look at the mist at the top of the building >.< |
Finally, we boarded the "City Cruises". As it was during the low peak period, there were not many tourists who boarded the cruise. We sat at the first floor and after a while we got bored and headed up the stairs where the sceneries were so much nicer but due to the weather it was so much colder. We stopped around Big Ben area :P
Some of the pretty scenery on board "City Cruises". And yes, there was also a commentary to accompany us as we sailed through the river...
Finally, we saw the London Eye, and we prepared to alight from the cruise :) Fun!
London Eye & Madame Tussauds
We were queuing to purchase the tickets for London Eye when this promotion caught our eyes. We just needed to pay £34.50 for 2 iconic attractions (i.e. London Eye and Madame Tussauds). To visit Sealife, just add £10. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to visit Sealife, so we decided to forgo it.
London Eye
We were pretty excited to take the London Eye, as the other huge flyer is being located in Singapore called the Singapore Flyer! London Eye is slightly smaller than Singapore Flyer. We were pretty excited to try out the London Eye, as we could have a bird eye view of London. The whole ride took slightly more than 30 minutes.
The sky had a very very gloomy look to it. Some of the view I took on board the London Eye...
Do remember to smile as a picture will be taken!
Included in the promotion is the Wax Museum also known as Madame Tussauds. Similar to that in Hong Kong, they have many famous celebrities, politicians, religious leaders and cartoon characters. Do drop by to take some pictures with them! Here are some of the pictures taken in the Wax Museum.
Celebrities
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| David and Victoria Beckham |
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| Twilight: Edward & Jacob |
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| Madonna |
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| Justin Bieber |
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| Michael Jackson |
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| Christina Aguilera |
Disney Characters
Sports
Politicians
Religious Leaders
After that, we enjoyed a short show on Marvel Super Heroes 4D! There are wax figurines of the super heroes!
Big Ben
We visited Big Ben which is also known as the great bell of the clock located at the north end of the Palace of Westminster! It is one of the most iconic landmark in London.
Stonehenge
We arranged to buy 2 tickets to Stonehenge from The Original London Visitor Centre which costs us £64. This included a two way drive to Stonehenge and back to The Original London Visitor Centre, as well as the entrance fee. The coach would picked us up at The Original London Visitor Centre around noon.
I always wondered how the Stonehenge came about. In the past, there were no machines to lift up the heavy stones, and yet, the stones were so nicely stacked up.
The journey took about 2 hours 30 minutes. It was really cold when we arrived at the destination.
We had to queue for the free audio guide, and there was a staff giving out the audio guide to the tourists.
And after collecting our free audio guides, we started on our Stonehenge tours! Yay!
Despite the cold weather, there were still tourists taking pictures of the Stonehenge.
There were shops selling souvenirs, and also food and drinks. We purchased a hot beverage to keep ourselves warm...
Before we left, we saw a write up on The Stones... :D
Located at King's Cross station. There was even a photo-taking place for people to take photos! Cool!
You may take photos using your own camera but they have their own photographer taking your photo, which you can purchase at their Harry Potter's shop where they sells all sorts of souvenirs. Each photograph costs £8 which we succumbed to and bought it.
Tiny Pea
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