On Thursday, I caught the train from Gloucester to London Paddington Station. The train trip was easy and once again I enjoyed the scenery of the English countryside. My apprehension was over the use of the London underground. I grew up in the country. We drove a car whenever we needed to get anywhere. There was no such thing as public transit in Acton as I was growing up unless you count the tractor pulls at the Acton Fall Fair or the various seasonal parades. Nonetheless, I was able to get from Paddington Station to Aldgate East (my underground stop) without a problem at all.
The flat that I am staying in is an old German School. It is located directly around the corner from the underground station. Very easy to find. Check in time was 4pm and I was unbelievably early. Anna met me at 4pm and let me into the flat. There are 2 locked gates and 2 locked doors to enter before you actually get into the flat. Located at the bottom of an internal, concrete staircase, is the studio flat. The flat is decorated with a lot of different London and United Kingdom themed items. It was a relief to know that I would not need to be packing up again in two or three days and that I could settle down for a bit.
I headed down the street to bring in some groceries so that I could cook my own dinner! When I got back to the flat I did laundry, made food, had a bath, and walked around in my underwear. Bliss.
Friday morning I walked down to a Hop on Hop off Bus stop which was located just outside of The Tower of London. The Tower is one of the major places in London that I have always wanted to visit. The grounds are huge. The side walk that runs around The Tower is up high and I was able to look down to the moat. There is a very beautiful and moving installation occuring right now. As it is 100 years since the start of World War 1, over 880 000 ceramic poppies are being "planted" around The Tower of London representing the number of British who gave their lives during the war. Many have already been positioned. Some of the poppies are hanging down from corners of the tower. The poppies are meant to represent the blood shed during WWI. To see this installation is very moving.
I hopped on the city sightseeing bus and prepared myself for the two hour tour. I made sure I got on the bus with the live commentary. There were only two other riders on the bus. As soon as they exited the live commentary suddenly stopped. After a few stops, I headed downstairs and asked if I should switch buses. I think that the commentator didn't realize that I was still onboard but he told me his mic was no longer working - somehow that didn't seem right to me. As I had joined the tour near the end of the route and we were heading to stop one, I decided just to stay on this bus to get the full tour. Many new people joined. We got a new commentator with a new mic, that worked a charm.
The new commentator was very engaging. He was an elderly gentleman who obviously had a real love for London. As we toured around the city, he pointed out the major landmarks and regaled us with history and stories. The bus tour allowed me to get a feel for the city and to figure out if there were any places that I specifically wanted to visit. Before arriving, I knew that I really wanted to visit The Tower of London, other than that, it was all up in the air!
I stayed on the bus for the entire tour in order to listen to the gentleman guide. He was way too good to miss by hopping off at any point. At the end of the tour, when I did hop off, I meandered around and made my way to Westminster Abbey and The Houses of Parliament. Part of the bus tour ticket included a ride on a foot ferry on the Thames. So I hopped on the boat and listened as a tour guide took us along the Thames to Tower Bridge. This was my stop and off I got. Just a short walk back to my flat and so ends my first full day in London.
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