London Sightseeing Day 2

Wow…now today was a crazy day. My flatmates got back into their work weeks starting today so I knew that I would be spending the day by myself. I decided that today would be a good one to venture into the heart of the city and see some of the major sights and sounds. I got up at approx. 10:30am, showered, dressed, and hit the road (on foot) to the Collier’s Wood tube station to begin my journey.



I decided to only take the tube as far as Elephant and Castle in order to walk into the main city area as opposed to just being in it. I really enjoy walking and London definitely plays to this. I ended up walking over towards the London Eye (Millennium Wheel) and having look around there first. Along the way I stopped at “Ned’s Noodle Bar” and picked up a veggie stir fry in the most stereotypical Hollywood Chinese take-out container you could possibly imagine. I brought it with me and sat down directly underneath the Eye beside the Thames overlooking the Parliament Buildings and Big Ben…..no big deal. After I finished my delicious yet painfully greasy lunch I continued across the Queen’s Walk towards the Parliament Buildings.



It was at this point that I realized this is tourist central!! People in groups, tours, cameras everywhere, streets jumbled….it was crazy. I’m just one person which definitely made it easier because I could just dart through the crowds of people without much trouble. I managed to get some good photos of the buildings including Westminster Abbey along the way. I also saw a piper on the Queen’s Walk and gave him £1 for his performing.

Next stop on the trip was Buckingham Palace. I passed by some really nice architecture along the way and many different shops with themes alluding to the palace and royalty. When I first turned the corner at the palace is was quite surreal I must say. I’ve seen many of these sights in photos that Dusty and Melissa took, my parents took, Scott took, and in countless books….and to be standing there in front of them it almost felt like I was just looking at a photo. Only when I actually walked up and touched things and knew they were tangible and right in front of me did it sink in. I sat on the monument facing the front of the palace for quite some time just observing and taking in everything around me. I have been picking up the habit of carrying a notebook around with my to take points of what I’ve done through the day so I don’t forget as well as to make notes to myself. I felt a bit inspired to write up some poem ideas…just rough stuff. I’m no Bobby Frost but realizing just how amazing that moment was for me and how it probably wouldn’t faze a person who lives in the city to see these sights. It felt good.


At this point I continued towards St. James Park and walked from one end to the other. The sun was peeking out at this point and it made everything gorgeous! I played the aspiring photographer through the park and tried to get as many good looking shots as possible. All of which can be found on my Facebook page.



Once through the park I continued towards Picadilly Circus. A hustle and bustle centre for sure. People everywhere and cars too. I would be so frightened to navigate these areas in a vehicle but people do it every day! I stopped into Lillywhite’s because I was told this was an important place to go by Dusty and Scott ha ha ha. It’s a store dedicated to all apparel and equipment for sports. I headed up to the 3rd floor (the football floor) and browsed for a little while. I saw some things I’d really like to get…but alas, not yet. I did pick up a pair of Liverpool kit shorts though for running because they are super comfy.


At this point I left Picadilly and headed towards Oxford Circus. This area is where all of the fashion and clothing stores are located….hello shopping! I managed to limit myself only to Topman however (my new attire of choice) and picked up a £100 suit. I definitely needed this for the beginning of my contract. I’ll add to my wardrobe eventually….but not until I have a regular pay cheque. I continued on down Oxford Street and popped into O2 to check out phones. It turns out that the SIM card that Protocol provided for me is a really poor pay-as-you go plan. I opted to just say “screw it” and went to a store to get the Blackberry unlocked that Scott gave me. I bought a Lyca SIM card and topped it up with £5 and there you go. Lyca is a great company that allows you to call internationally REALLY cheap. I can call Canada for only 4p a minute! Needless to say I just talked to my parents at home for over a half hour and it cost me just over £1. For those of you who are now screaming at their computer screen and thinking how dumb it was for me to not bring my iPhone with me since I did end up going this route….STOP! I was over analyzing it a bit too much (as I usually do) and opted not to deal with it…it would have been fine but for what I’m going to be using the phone for I don’t need an iPhone to do. Plus, it just made Scott so happy :P.


What did I do next?.....oh! I decided that I wanted to head to The Maple Leaf pub in Camden for dinner. This is a Canadian themed pub in London that serves Canadian beer and food along with the usual English pub fare (hello Ceasars and Poutine!). The rest of my family had all been there and made a fuss about it so I figured that’d be a good thing to do this early in the trip. I ended getting Fish and Chips…but beer-battered with Sleeman and a Moosehead for old time’s sake. Immediately followed by a Young’s Gold Ale….for new time’s sake.

I was getting pretty tired at this point and I decided it was time to call it quits. I headed down to Trafalgar Square for one more sightseeing opportunity before heading home. I hit there right at dusk and it was beautiful! That had definitely been my favourite moment of the trip thus far! Pictures below.



I hopped on the tube back to Collier’s Wood and now here I sit….tired as hell. I have my orientation with Protocol tomorrow and then I need to pick up some black shoes. I think I’ll head over to Wimbledon Town Centre to check that are out to pick up the shoes and I need to do some serious grocery shopping as well. More on that tomorrow I suppose!


Cheers, Love, and Rock The World!!

Erik