5 days in London, England, part 1

It's my 2nd trip to London, but the 1st trip was like 15 years ago plus it was with tour group(you know the one that rushes to as much tourist spot as they can in 1 day) so i guess that one doesn't count. Who knows that 5 days in London can have soooo many pictures.

There are many flights to London(Stansted) from Leipzig, sometimes when you are in luck, you can even find as low as 14Euro flight ticket (one way) which is super cheap. I can't remember how much was it that we bought but i think it's not more than 50Euro /pax for round trip.

From the airport(Stansted) we took the bus(terravission bus ---->; http://www.terravision.eu/london.html) to London Victoria Station cost about 9GBP

Our hostel  Safestay. It's not bad. Clean, includes breakfast(buffet style), informative staff, well some..hehe. It's not really cheap, about 22-26Euro/ pax for dorm (4 pax) but it's acceptable

the location is at Elephant and Castle(yeah i know) isn't really in central but it's quite convenient with Tubes and buses

we bought the 1 day ticket which cost 7GBP(off peak time) so with this ticket from 6:30am - 9:30am and 4pm-7pm you are not allow you use it because it's the peak hour

time to roam London :D

Tower of London

the area is massive

the entrance fee is quite expensive, 20.90GBP/ adult. So we decided to skip it

This castle and fortress played a prominent role in English history, besides being a royal residence, it was also an armory, a treasury, a menagerie, a public records office, a prison. Now, it's a tourist spot and a World Heritage Site

from here we even saw the Tower Bridge

side exit of the castle and also the famous Traitor's gate

for November in London, we were pretty lucky to have this weather

Tallest building in UK and also in EU, The Sharp

us with Tower Bridge

panorama view of the riverside, indeed a lovely autumn afternoon

most popular snapshot of the Tower bridge

slightly dark but i like the tone in the picture

us on the Tower Bridge

love it!

fat pigeons

amazing view from the bridge

sorry i couldn't stop snapping pictures of the Tower Bridge, it's just too gorgeous 

finally we found someone to help us to take a picture....he took 5 shots of us in total and let just say this is the least blur :P

from World Heritage site to modern buildings on the other side of the river

good old London Bridge. I wonder why they have a song about London bridge but not Tower bridge?

the English does like sharp things

Southwark cathedral

it's really nice to walk along the river and taking random pictures

Southwark bridge

Millennium bridge. Did i mention that London have alot of bridge? Yea! They have a lot of Bridge 

Boon @ Millennium bridge

i think the bridge looks awesome after sunset, looks more futuristic 

view from the bridge

night view of Southwark bridge and Tower bridge

Panorama view from Millennium bridge

this reminds of me of something.....middle? finger?

one of my favorite shot of St. Paul Cathedral

I don't even know there is such a street name exist

St Paul Cathedral, we went in during evening service so, no entrance fee. But during normal time there is a Entrance fee you'll need to pay. 15GBP /adult and 6GBP/ child. The cathedral is really big but it's not really that impressive in my opinion

from St Paul we then took a ride on this old style double Decker. Love it!

A must do in London. The new ones are great but the feeling is different, if you get what i mean

one of my favourite shopping district, Piccadilly Circus

Chinatown, just 5 minutes walk from the Piccadilly Circus underground.

We came here alot for dinner and sometimes lunch..hehe Dimsum was pretty expensive but really authentic flavour. The must haves are the roast pork belly, roast duck, roast chicken....etc. I would recommend the Four Season restaurant. The queue is pretty long during dinner time but it's worth the wait. It's not really fantastic but if you are Chinese like us who has been abroad too long and crave for authentic Chinese food, i would say the food is above average Europe standard

after a nice dinner, time for more shopping :D

Big Ben!!! if you've not seen Big Ben, you have not been to London

the bridge beside it is the Westminster bridge

The Palace of Westminster or commonly known as Houses of Parliament. Also a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Big Ben and i

Westminster Abbey. A Must Visit!!! Entrance fee : Adult 16GBP

*there is even a tombstone of Sir Issac Newton and many other famous people

couldn't take picture of the interior but it's ok for the back yard

visit completed

this is for the Remembrance day, on the 11th November to recall the end of hostilities of WWI on that date in 1918

it is also known as poppy day

Chinatown during the day, back for more yummy  food

Houses of Parliment @ night

Big Ben and London eye

Christmas market along the riverside

Waterloo station

off peak hour in the tube

like the graphics

These are many interesting markets to visit in London, but we only have time for 2 markets. As we are more of a foodie, Borough Market is a must go!!!

the market has 3 sections, my favorite is the Green market

OMG! who can resist these brownies 

they really are not stingy with the ingredients :)

something for everyone

BBQ pork sandwich. We were full even from the food samples :P

another thing i love about London is that many museums are Free!!!

like this National Gallery

there are also few great paintings from Van Gogh and Monet....amazing!!!

random pic

another market worth a visit is this Covent Garden Market

even in November the Christmas decoration was already up and everyone was in the mood

alot of nice cozy cafes and restaurant there too

us @ Covent Garden Market

a nice place to shop too :D

we were thinking to skip Buckingham Palace but it's just not right not to visit the Queen :)

Green Park though it's not so green now

Buckingham Palace

us in front of Buckingham Palace

the weather wasn't good, it was cold and misty

time for dinner @ Chinatown AGAIN!!! 

on our way to dinner, we came across something chocolatey

this 4 levels of fun, is FUN!!!

felt like a kid again

end the day with something sweet :)

London can be abit pricey in terms of their transport, food, and some entrance fees but 

other than that alot of things are FREE, like other museums and gorgeous parks(not during winter), alot of really nice artwork, statues and sculpture scattered everywhere in London, and best of all, it's convenient, they speak English!!!

I wonder why we didn't  thought of swinging by London earlier...i will write the 2nd part later about Greenwich!!! I love Greenwich, so much to see and it's not too far away, still within the Zone 1 and 2

~ later ~