London City Walk - A Long Walk I Would Never Forget

We left Kent at around half passed 10 in the morning, it was quite a bad day really - miserable day I should say and there were some rain showers since early morning that day, but we had to push through because we have had booked an overnight stay already in a hotel (in Paddington), can't remember the name of the hotel and it was quite good hotel though. Anyway, we traveled by train (an hour tour), also my very first experience, lol. Sometimes you wouldn't think the possibility of turning a bad weather to be good, and just a few kilometers away from London, we started seeing the sun (it was almost 12 noon). What a lucky day for us, because it really turned out to be a beautiful sunny day when we got to London. So, we went to checked in at the hotel, had lunch and started walking. We knew that this hotel was very close to 'Hyde Park' but we weren't sure which direction.

Hyde Park is the largest park in London, it is a wonderful open space to relax favoured by tourists and Londoners alike. Covering just under 400 acres, Hyde Park is divided up into a series of sections ranging from the Serpentine to Kensington Gardens. This is the setting for many outdoor concerts during the summer months which have recently included the G8 Live Aid concert in 2005.

I tell you what, you would gonna laugh with this, "I was wearing a 1" shoes" while walking around London City, without realizing that we were going to walk that far. I was warned not to but I just didn't listen to them. Not even after an hour of walking, I started feeling pains on my toes!, but I had no choice, so we carried on walking until we reached the 'Kensington Gardens', the Gardens with their magnificent trees are the setting for Kensington Palace, William III and Mary II's London home. Also located here is the Serpentine Gallery is one of London's best-loved galleries for modern and contemporary art and architecture, attracting 750,000 visitors a year and admission is free.
We walked around the 'Serpentine', took some photographs and within this area is 'Princess Diana's Memorial Fountain', a memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales was opened by Her Majesty The Queen. The fountain contains 545 pieces of Cornish granite - each shaped by computer-controlled machinery and pieced together using traditional skills. The design aims to reflect Diana's life, water flows from the highest point in two directions as it cascades.

Then we went passed the 'St. James Park', is at the very heart of London and covers 23 hectares (58 acres). With a lake harbouring ducks, geese and pelicans. It is also home to the Mall, the setting for many ceremonial parades and events of national celebration.

Then we headed straight to the 'Buckingham Palace' - serves as both the office and London residence of Her Majesty The Queen, as well as the administrative headquarters of the Royal Household. It is one of the few working royal palaces remaining in the world today. "We stayed here to a while to get some rest, while I was suffering a lot with my achy feet"..
Imagine we've had managed to visit loads of nice places in just few hours, and while walking down the street from the 'Buckingham Palace', we already saw the 'London Eye' and the 'Big Ben'. It was already almost 4 o'clock in the afternoon when we reached at this magnificent 'Westminster Abbey' and the 'St. Paul's Cathedral'.

Westminster Abbey is England's main religious building which originally built in Saxon times in the 7th Century, its real importance dates from 1065 with Edward the Confessor setting up his throne here. Since that time the Government has always been centered on Westminster, with commercial activity centered on the City of London to the east. The cathedral, also known as the London Cathedral, was the masterpiece of the architect Sir Christopher Wren. The present building is the latest in a series of churches to have occupied this site. The classical dome dominates the city area of London of which it is part. St. Paul's is the UK's premier religious cathedral, if there is a royal wedding or major memorial service, this is where it will be. Many of famous England's famous historical figures are buried here.

We did stop here for a couple of minutes to rest and had some ice cream, thought it would help to ease the pains on my feet, well, at least it did. Then we headed straight to the 'House of Parliaments' and the 'Big Ben' itself. AMAZING!!! Really, an ABSOLUTE BEAUTY!! We took some photographs and headed straight to the 'London Eye' direction, took some photographs down the road with its background, showing the river at the back of the 'Big Ben' and the 'House of Parliament'.

By this time around, my feet were so sore that I could barely walk, so we had to stop and decided to have some food to eat before riding this famous London Eye, it was nearly 6pm anyway, so its to eat after 5 hours of walking around the city. Imagine we had to move fast not to waste time, so right after we went straight off to see its huge and luxurious capsules, we saw lots and lots of people around, so we were not sure if we can be able to have a ride that afternoon. But then the horde didn't stop us from going to the booking station to see if would have gotten a slot. YES!! I said to myself when we did, what an experience really, that everything turned out to be absolutely fabulous!! Look at us on top of this icon.

As you can see on the photos above (upper portion), showing off my beautiful smile to have had experienced that wonderful ride and to have also seen the beauty of the city itself. INCREDIBLE!! But my feet were extremely painful but then it didn't stop me of putting smiles on my face...LOL...
Just about 8pm we were crying for food, a proper one this time. Lucky that they have this TUBE an underground transport, that you could get to where you wanted to in just a couple minutes, well only if you know which direction of the train you are going! I tell you what, we've had missed several times to catch trains and went backwards and forwards, to have had been gone to the wrong train...hahahaha, but it was funny really.. So we went to the Piccadilly Circus, at the heart of the West End in London, this is the meeting point of some of London's most famous streets. Piccadilly, Regent Street, Shaftesbury Avenue all lead off from Piccadilly Circus with its brightly coloured lights. Behind Piccadilly Circus are a variety of well known sights, including London's China town and Leicester Square where London's film premieres take place throughout the year, and we had our dinner date here. We were about to arrive at the restaurant at the Leicester Square, it started raining. We had a wonderful food there, afterwards, it was almost 10pm, we had to look for a shop where we can buy a pair of sandals for me, because I wasn't able to walk anymore...

Sad but happy at the same time, to have had experienced those... went to the hotel, straight to bed without taking off our clothes and not even cleaning anything LOL (you know what I mean), because we were extremely worn-out.

I will be writing about our trip the following morning to the 'Twin Towers' and the 'Tower of London'. Please see more pictures here and here of our spectacular trip as ever!!