London part 1

(Madarin & English)

倫敦，聽說是全歐洲最大的城市之一，也是許多人夢想中旅行的城市之一。今年趁著在歐洲有便宜機票的機會，從西班牙回來之後的第三天，我便啟程前往這個遠富盛名的城市了，時間是11月4日到9日總共6天的時間。但由於11月初的表訂行程過多，以至於現在才有機會跟各位分享我在倫敦的一些趣事。(10/31回到里昂，11/9從倫敦飛回里昂之後11/11又前往巴黎參加AIESEC的全國大會)
London, one of the largest city in European Union, dream destination for lots of traveller. And london is also famous for the budget airlines such as easyJet or Ryanair, which are kind of friendly to us students. Right 3 days after the wonderful roadtrip, I kept my journey to London for 6 days (from 4 to 9 of Nov.) But until now that I had the time to blog my trip there.

接下來的紀錄，我將會以spot by spot的方式敘說我在當地當時的感覺，有別於以往流水帳的紀錄方式，其實也希望能夠在記憶還沒有被完全沖刷之前把當時的記錄下來。很可惜的是，由於本blog有許多外國遊客，我即將用英文進行以下的寫作，請各位把Google Translator準備好，然後原諒我可怕的英文能力。
The blog afterwards will be written in spot by spot, I’ll try to make my best to finish the dairy before the memory flushed away…

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easyJet

My first time budget airline was dedicated to easyJet from Lyon Saint Exupery to London Gatwick, this journey took 2.5 hours of flying, and actually I was a little bit of nervous about my hand hold luggage and visa issue. I had a huge Jansport Odyssey backpack carrying all my stuff with me, that I was afraid of the pack was too big to fit in the limitation cage, and I didn’t prepare anything for visa, even had not get my OFII sticker yet. Thankfully things turned out to be OK and the transportation was safe and sound, no surprising or inccidents occured during the flight.

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Underground and Oyster

The transportation in London is quite famous, since the local Londoner kept criticizing the route and raggy trains, but I think it is quite clear for tourists to know what bus or train station to transfer during first 5 minutes of studying the map.(in comparison to Paris, London is way better!) People call the metro system “Underground” or “Tube”. The city was connected well with circumspect metro lines and better yet the bus system just complement the whole mass transportation system. I have to give a big applaud to the night bus system of London. On the other hand, Oyster is a must-buy when you travel around the city, you can save quite a lot of money in this card, especially if you were a tourist for 7 days or more, recharge your Oyster with 7 days of Travelpass and it’s so convient and carefree to use mass transportation system. For more information, pls click Transportation for London for more info.

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Big Ben

 
I used to named myself as “Ben” before Eric. Then I’ve decided to change that name since the pronounciation of Ben in Madarin is similiar to “Stupid”.

Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and is generally extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well. Some believe this extension to be incorrect, but its usage is now entirely commonplace.

To me, big ben was the first clock tower I’ve seen in Europe, and I didn’t know any history of it. The only thing I knew was it’s quite famous in London and everyone said that you must pay a visit to Big Ben.

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Westminister Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to popularly and informally asWestminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in Westminster, London, England (UK), located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English, later Britishand later still (and currently) monarchs of the Commonwealth Realms. It briefly held the status of a cathedralfrom 1546–1556, and is a Royal Peculiar.

OK, here’s the other spot you MUST GO when you visit London, and we didn’t make it to enter the inside of the church :/

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St. James's Park

The next spot was St. James Park and I was totally falling in love with the park, maybe part of the weather was nice and the time was near sunset and people ramble on the sidewalk or just lay on the grassland. Many squirrels jumped here and there, back and forth try to find food for winter. OK, if I had the time I’d rather grab a novel and pay a whole day here.

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Buckingham Palace

I didn’t expect too much on the palace itself since I remembered the guard exchange in Monaco was crappy and don’t wanna spent too much time on seeing the building outside of the fence. Alison told me that she spent 2 hours standing in the chilly wind and saw the not-that-interesting exchange of guards, she’s kind of regret.

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a rallying point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and crisis.

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Royal Mews

The Royal Mews is the mews (stables and in recent times also the garage) of the British Royal Family in London. They have occupied two main sites, formerly at Charing Cross, and since the 1820s at Buckingham Palace. The present Royal Mews is in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, to the south of Buckingham Palace Gardens, near Grosvenor Place.

And at the royal mews next to the Palace we found the stand-still guards and as always, tried to took pictures with them. As I was in the army and I know that standing in the bloody cold raining without any movements will drive me crazy. Let alone wearing this funny dress and being shot by millions of tourists all over the world. If I were part of them I would be pissed off. Interestingly, the helmet they wear was eye-covered, so that they are allowed to close the eyes. (To prevent flashlights? haha)

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London Eye

I used to think London eye was something that famous for historical events but it turned out to be a disappointed roller coaster. I don’t really understand why it is so famous?

The Merlin Entertainments London Eye (commonly the London Eye, or Millennium Wheel, formerly the British Airways London Eye) is a giant 135-metre (443 ft) tall observation wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames in the British capital. It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually.

Maybe you’d like to see the panorama view from London eye here.

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China Town

I have to admit that I was crazy for China town and spent most of my lunch/dinner over there. My first time Chinese buffet was in Mr Wu and paid 5 GBP for a meal, which is extremely cheap. And they provide 4 kinds of meat including sweet and sour pork ribs!!

The name Chinatown has been used at different times to describe different places in London. The present Chinatown is in theSoho area of the City of Westminster, occupying the area in and around Gerrard Street. It contains a number of Chinese restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets, souvenir shops, and other Chinese-run businesses.
The first area in London known as Chinatown was located in the Limehouse area of the East End of London. At the start of the 20th century, the Chinese population of London was concentrated in that area, setting up businesses which catered to the Chinese sailors who frequented in Docklands.

Best of all, this area is right next to the Picadilly Circus and SOHO, so if you wanna grab something to eat after the musical, it’s the right place for cheap food and night life.

(To be continued)