Saturday 17 May 2008

London Trip - part 1

My trip to London was of work + fun :)

I took Etihad Airways, which mean a stop over at Abu Dhabi at an ungodly hour - about 4am (Bangkok time!). Boy was the airport security strict (at least going to London) - they had to check my Malaysian ID and return ticket. Some unlucky folks had to have their shoes scanned too!

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Abu Dhabi airport - trying to stay awake and not miss the connecting flight

Reaching London early in the morning, I didn't waste any time. Its a walking trip around London and Trafalgar square.

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Lots of pillars

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And even more statues

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Some pigeons

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Trafalgar Square 

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Fountain in Trafalgar Square

And when my colleague said that I could easily take money out of any hole in the wall in England, I didn't know she meant it literally!

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Hole in the wall

Day 2 was a trip around the Inns of Courts and the Royal Courts of Justice

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Royal Courts of Justice

Followed by lunch and some people-watching in Camden Lock/Market - one of the more unusual places to visit in London.

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Its cool seeing the water go up and down for the boats to pass through. Closing and opening the gates were still done manually - gasp!

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One of the usual shops in Camden Market

And then seeing some busker do their thing in Covent Garden

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Covent Garden

Next day we had a tour to the Cotswolds - which consists of visiting a few little towns/villages. Funny, a town or a village is defined by whether it has a church/cathedral or a market place, not by its size.

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In Bibury, beside the little trout-filled river. And of course, plenty of ducks too.

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A church in Burford

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Where there is a little graveyard

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And where we had a picnic for lunch - beside the little stream

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Another view of the churchyard - littered with gravestones

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In Bourton-on-the-Water, there's a little place where they made a miniature of the village.

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It made people 'Monster size' - think of Godzilla

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And of course, there's the miniature of the miniature. If you look closely on the upper left, there's a miniature of the miniature of the miniature.

On the way back, we had a bonus stop in Rollright to see the King Stone and the King's Men which is actually his knights which formed a stone circle. Read the myth here - very interesting.

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The circle of Knights

London trip - to be continued.

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