We began the day early by taking a Megabus from Birmingham to London where we were dropped at the Victoria Coach Station. The bus ride took longer than its stipulated time and we reached nearly at 10.00 am. On arriving we walked from the coach station to the nearby London Victoria train station.
Just outside the Tourist Information Center exit stood a Big Bus Tours' City Sightseeing bus, where we bought our Hop On-Hop Off tickets. Interestingly along with that they also sell you fast track entrance tickets for some key attractions like Madame Tussaud's Museum, London Eye, London Sea Aquarium, etc. The advantage for you as a tourist is a direct entrance without having to stand in a long queue for buying the tickets at these places and long queues there are on account of their popularity. This Hop on-Hop off tour covers every sight you can possibly think of. At every stop there were the Big Bus Tours' guides to help. You could buy your fast track tickets with them too. The first stop where we got off was Madame Tussaud's Museum. When you step out of the lift you are given the red carpet treatment with cameras flashing at you and you feel like a star yourself. Inside there are hundreds of wax works of all possible celebrities.
Among actors the ones I remember were of Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, Johny Depp, Daniel Radcliffe, the latest heart throb James Patterson (of the Twilight series), Marylin Monroe, Nicole Kidman, Bruce Willis, Jim Carrey, Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Morgan Freeman and Arnold Schwarzenegger and many more.
There was also a section of Indian film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan.
Then you have the Royal Family. Sadly there was no Princess Diana replica. There were also various political leaders known through history: Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, and John F. Kennedy. A wax work people seemed to enjoy was that of Hitler. Some hailed him and most bashed him. In one part they had modeled the President's Office in the White House with Obama standing. The fun part was me sitting in his chair. My husband's favorite was posing with his idol Michael Jackson. Call it peas in a pod, my best photo came out with Einstein. We were both equally happy to stand next to our master blaster Sachin Tendulkar.
The last leg of the tour was a horror section where you had scary live people, no wax works, come at you. I was totally scared and clutching my husband's arm tightly who in contrast was totally cool. In the end we sat in a London Taxi model toy train and journeyed through London's history and came out smiling.
In all Madame Tussaud's Museum was fun. Only thing is, it was too crowded with everyone wanting to hog stars as if they were real. Despite that I wouldn't mind going there again. It is a place which could cheer anybody up. Even if you don't pose seeing others around you doing all kinds of crazy things can make you smile.
By the time we were done with all the clicking it was nearing 1 pm. But the next bus was standing at the stop and so we got to into it. Since we were in a hurry we gave the close by Sherlok Holmes' Museum, which is located on 221 B Baker Street, the address where the fictional legend lived according to Sir Arthur Conal Doyale, a miss.
Our next stop was Leicester Square. This is one of those places my husband had been to in his first UK experience in 2005. So it was an incredible feeling for us to be there together. Another major attraction that we didn’t enter for lack of time on hands was the National Gallery. I told myself “next trip.” Since it was lunch time our stomachs were rumbling we went to the Chinatown area and ate to our hearts’ content. We returned back to our stop to Hop On again. This time the route took us past the Big Ben and Westminster Abbey to the London Eye. The London Eye for those who don’t know is a massive Giant Wheel which moves in slow motion. Instead of box seats you have glass cabins which can take in 8-10 people. Its location and height let you have a bird’s eye view of the city.
The only other similar attraction is found in Singapore. It is called the Singapore Flyer. When I had visited Singapore in 2008 for a conference, I had wanted to take a ride on it. But since I was alone and worried about getting sick after stepping into it and not being able to get off I did not attempt to go anywhere near the Singapore Flyer. I was then happy to see it from a distance. But for the London Eye I had no such fears. Having my husband next to me, all I felt was plain excitement.
Anyway the ride is so slow that at no point do you feel giddy. Within 30 min you complete a full circle and its over before you know it. The scenes you get to see are beautiful, particular that of the full stretch of the Thames River with Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.
Right at the London Eye is a pier from where you can take a river cruise. We got a free river cruise ride with our Big Bus Tour ticket which we were allowed to board or disembark at the Westminster Pier, Tower Pier or Waterloo Pier. As we wanted to next head to the Tower Bridge we decided to cruise our way to it. The boat ride was about 20 min. We passed many sights on the way, which were pointed to us by the guide. I was disappointed by the London Bridge. For all its fame thanks to the nursery rhyme it was nothing to boast about.
I thought the London Tower Bridge was quite pretty. It is not a modern bridge and so not all steel. But for me it was still a pleasing sight. If the Tower Bridge was a person I would describe him/her as cute and sweet or cutely sweet or sweetly cute. We spent some time in its vicinity when we recalled that the bus driver had told us that the last sightseeing Big Bus would depart at 5 o’ clock. It took us some minutes to figure out where the stop was, so by the time we discovered it the clock hands had moved beyond five. There were some other tourists standing as well which was a comforting sight. We were just beginning to have some misgivings when soon enough we found one bus coming.
Once again the guide in the bus was very friendly. He asked everybody where they would prefer to be dropped off as this was the last bus because from there on the tourists would be on their own. I got excited in between when he announced that one of the stops was Buckingham Palace. I thought I will be able to see it while still on board. But sadly the rule doesn’t allow vehicles to go in front on the Palace. Anyone wanting to see it would have to get off a distance away and then walk towards it. So another sight was marked to be seen on the next occasion whenever “next” would be.
We reached London Victoria train station around 6 pm from where we made our way to the Coach Station Departures. We still had a lot of time to kill as our return bus was at 9 pm only. So we relaxed there for a bit, then went on a stroll outside and ended with a Fish and Chips dinner.
On our journey back to Birmingham I thought that the reason we could accomplish the many things we wanted to was because of the Big Bus Tours’ efficiency. I would definitely recommend them for those wanting to do sightseeing in London especially for the manner in which they took care of the tourists riding with them. They were courteous and ready to give directions.
Personally I would want to visit some of these sights again in evening time. I am sure the London Eye, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben would look more grand when all lit up. If I had a lighter schedule I would have liked to walk over the Tower Bridge, spend hours at the National Gallery, see the Changing of the Guard Ceremony and take the Harry Potter Film Locations Walk revealing the seven London locations which have featured in the Harry Potter Films. The latter two are provided free with the Big Bus Tour ticket.
Even with a few things left undone, I will still say that in all it was a great London Day.
1 comment:
Wow! What fun! I liked your pictures with Obama and Einstein.
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