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!

DSC_7854

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.

DSC_7863

Lots of pillars

 DSC_7872

And even more statues

 DSC_7882

Some pigeons

DSC_7887

Trafalgar Square 

DSC_7913

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!

DSC_7930

Hole in the wall

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

DSC_7951

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.

DSC_7974

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!

DSC_7955

One of the usual shops in Camden Market

And then seeing some busker do their thing in Covent Garden

DSC_8010 

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.

DSC_8070

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

DSC_8081

A church in Burford

DSC_8094

Where there is a little graveyard

DSC_8089

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

DSC_8091

Another view of the churchyard - littered with gravestones

DSC_8119

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

DSC_8131

It made people 'Monster size' - think of Godzilla

DSC_8134

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.

DSC_8177 

The circle of Knights

London trip - to be continued.

No comments: