| Day 1: May 27, 2001, Sunday – Depart USA: | ||||||||
| Flight with Continental
Airlines via Virgin Atlantic Airlines CO 4048 LAX: 5:30 pm (10 ½ hours flight) Airplane: c/o Virgin Atlantic airlines – good size plane, fully booked, has individual TV consoles and different. Channel selections Dinner served: Chicken Breast, Pasta, Salmon Breakfast: scrambled egg, roll, bacon roll |
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| Day 2: May 28, 2001, Monday – Arrive London: | ||||||||
| 12 noon – Arrive Heathrow
Airport in London. Weather: low 80’s F, humid, hot and sunny 12:30pm – Welcomed by Trafalgar Agent after baggage claim. Arranged airport transfer to hotel via hotel link. Lunch in airport (sandwiches and drinks). Also used internet café ( £2 / 6 min.) to contact US to inform of safe arrival.1:45pm – Leave Airport to go to hotel and picked up other passengers from other terminals. 3:00pm – Hotel arrival. Paragon Hotel. Hotel newly renovated Formerly Earl’s Court International (which we stayed at 5 years ago). Hotel Located near West Brompton Station along District Line of Underground Subway system. Unpack quickly and just brought necessary things. 3:30pm – Left Hotel. Headed to West Brompton Station and got 1-day Travelcards cost £4.60 (unlimited access to the subway). Took District Line to Embankment Pier. Transferred to Northern Line to go Northbound to Tottenham Court. Information: Exchange rate is US$1.5 = £1 |
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4:00pm – British Museum. Visited Sections of Display and Exhibit for Egypt, Rome and Greece. After that bought Souvenirs from Fancy That Shop for magnets, collectibles, and books. The British Museum in London, England, is the United Kingdom's national museum of antiquities, containing more than 6 million objects. Founded in 1743, the museum has occupied the current building, shown here, since it was completed in 1847. The building was designed by English architect Sir Robert Smirke, a leader in the use of the Greek Revival style that incorporated elements of classical Greek architecture into early 19th- century buildings. |
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| 5:30pm – leave Tottenham
Court to Waterloo Station along Northern Line (Southbound). 6:00pm – get tickets for the British London Eye. Tickets cost £9 each. Fall in line (queue) and met family travelling from Ohio.
6:30pm – British Airways London Eye. Finally boarded the big Ferriswheel which is located along Thames River opposite the Parliament Building. Spectacular views of the city: Big Ben, Thames River, Westminster Abbey, and St. Paul’s cathedral and other buildings within the vicinity |
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| 7:30pm – 8:00 pm - Left
London Eye to go back to Paragon Hotel to freshen up and unload souvenirs and other items
shopped. 9:00pm – Left Hotel. Took Picadilly Line to Hyde Park Corner to go to Hard Rock Café Store, and bought Hard Rock Souvenirs. The Hard Rock Store in London is the original branch of this Franchise which is celebrating its 30 year anniversary. 10:00pm – Hard Rock Café – dinner. Ordered Tuna Steak and Chicken Breast. The waitress attending to us is originally from USA (Brea, California). The restaurant is smaller compared to other branches here in California or US for that matter. 11:00pm – Head back to Hotel to Freshen up, write journal, and retire from a very hectic day. Still jet lagged |
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| Day 3: May 29, 2001, Tuesday – London Sightseeing | ||||||||
| Weather: Sunny yet breezy. Very
pleasant day. Temperature around high 70’s F to low 80’s (20’s C). 6:30am – Wake-up Call. 7:15am – Breakfast in hotel. Included Croissant, bread roll, butter, cereal, coffee, milk and juice. No ice or water served. 7:45am – Leave Hotel. London Pass was purchased in advance online which included a 1-day travelcard and access to most museums and attractions. Cost £22 if purchased online. Included a small travel guide of all included attractions to this pass as well as maps and locations of each attraction.8:00am – Picadilly Circus. Strolled along this avenue where most recognizable places are: TGIF, Planet Hollywood, Fashion Café, Movie Theaters, and other stores and shops.
9:00am – 12:00pm – Original Tour (Hop-on, Hop-off). This is a double-decker bus (open topped) with a live guide which goes around the city and gives a general overview of London, the buildings and its history. There are 3 lines: Yellow Line (which is the Grand Tour) which we took, as well as a blue line (Kensington Area) and the Red line (for the Madame Tussaud’s area). An adult ticket costs £14 and its good for the whole day with the option of getting on and off anytime along their route. |
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Views of the city included: Trafalgar Square, Wellington Arch, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral (where Prince Charles and Princess Diana got married). Also saw the Monument which is the point when the big fire of 1666 swept London and killed thousands of people and also eradicated the rats of the city caused by the big plague the previous year.
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Got off Westminster stop to take pictures of the Parliament and Big Ben near the Westminster Bridge along Thames river. Then back to the Grand tour to go the rest of the tour in the city. Went under Tower Bridge and then got off the Tower Hill Stop |
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1:15pm – 2:30 – Kensington
Palace
Home of some of Britain's most famous kings and queens and the setting for many great events and dramas in royal history. This is the last place where Princess Diana resided before she died in the car accident back in 1997. We visited the State Apartments. Regularly, the cost of entry is £8.80, but this is included in the London Pass where they just swipe the card to validate the entry. We saw the different fashion back in the royalty in the 16th to 17th centuries, and also Diana is also famous for her good taste of clothes which were also shown in this exhibit. Some of the rooms were also open to the public for display. |
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| Across the Kensington Palace is a park. Very surprising to see a lot of people just relaxing by the park. Since it’s a good sunny day, people like to spend and relax in the park during their lunch break or some children for their field trip. It is common in London for it to rain, so people are making the most of this good weather. After the visit, we headed to Queensway station to take the subway again to head to one of the most famous attractions in London. | ||||||||
3:00pm – 4:00pm – Buckingham Palace – this is the official residence of the queen and her family. Unfortunately, they only open this to the public for visits during the months of August and September. The changing of the guards occurred earlier in the morning at 11am so we did not see this exchange, although it was a good time to see the palace grounds and the park because of less people. Strolled along the Mall, and Green Park. The setting is very similar to Washington DC where there is a park by Lincoln Memorial. Again, very noticeable is the number of people spending time in the park |
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4:00pm – 5:15pm – Tower of London - The most popular castle in England, serving as an armory, royal palace, prison and fortress. This is located by Tower Hill Station. Included in the London Pass so we did not have to fall in line but regular admission is £11.00. Visited Crown Jewels and Medieval Section. The Tower of London, located on the northern bank of the Thames River, was built about 1078. It was used alternately as a fortress, royal residence, and state prison in its early years. Today, it is maintained as an arsenal with a garrison, and is open to the public. The well-preserved Norman and medieval structures cover nearly 7.2 hectares (18 acres). |
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Also saw magnificent view of the Tower Bridge from here and took lots of pictures from one of the walls in the medieval section. Tower Bridge spans the River Thames just below London Bridge. It is the most distinctive of London's bridges and its construction was a masterly engineering achievement. The building of the Tower Bridge came about because the development of cross-Thames traffic had far outstripped the capacity of the existing bridges. The bridge was opened on June 30, 1894, having cost about £1,000,000 sterling to build, a remarkably small sum for such a bridge in such a position. The total length of the bridge, including the approaches, is half a mile. The roadway has a width of 35 feet and on either side of it is a footway 12.5 feet wide. |
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| 5:30pm – 6:30pm – London
Dungeon – This is also included in the London Pass and would normally cost
£10.80. We did not take any pictures here since this is a very "gruesome,
gross" depiction of London during the 17th century when the great plague
hit London and killed thousands of people. Most of the people upon showing signs of the
illness are left to die in the dungeons, sometime by the river. Also depicted the great
fire of London in 1666 and the terrible serial killing of Jack the Ripper back in those
times. Included the river of death ride as well, and most people are in costumes and scary
make-up. Very scary and eerie experience because this actually happened. 6:30pm – 8:00pm – Picadilly Circus – Pizza dinner at one of the small restaurants in the vicinity. Lots of people in this area. Also went to Planet Hollywood to buy souvenirs (shirts, pins, etc.) |
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Picadilly Circus
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8:30pm – 9:30pm – Catamaran Cruises – River Thames – Took the subway to Embankment Pier where we took the river cruise. £7.00 for Circular Cruise from Embankment Pier to Tower Bridge and Back along the river Thames. Orientation of the different landmarks seen along River Thames such as Cleopatra’s Needle, London Eye, Big Ben, and the Tower Bridge. It was still bright even though it was this late of the day, nice early evening with nice breeze. Time to relax after a heavy meal and one last look of London before leaving the city the next day. |
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9:30pm – 10:00pm –Harrod’s – This is the most famous shop in London which is owned by the Fayed family (whose member Dodi Fayed was killed with Diana in the car accident). This is an upscale shop, unfortunately, we were not able to go inside since the store is already closed, but was able to see the store well lit outside and took a few pictures. 10:30pm – back to West Brompton Station to go to the Paragon Hotel, which is 5-10 minute walk from the station. Prepared postcards to be sent to family, coworkers and friends. Also prepared for the next day as we leave the city and meet the tour director to join the rest of the group and start the tour. Time to rest and get some sleep after a very long and hectic day. |
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| Geneva | Nice | Florence | Venice | Rome | ||||
