Sunday 28 August 2011

#14:Visit England (again)

This was amazing. I visited England as a toddler but obviously can't remember, so it was a place that I really wanted to see and explore. Having done so with my family for 10 days, I can now say that it's now one of my favourite places. It's energetic, exciting, clean, filled with interesting history and has beautiful scenery. This is what I did, along with some of the photos I've taken:

The Great Court, British Museum
We visited the British Museum, which was huge (biggest museum I've ever been in). There, I saw the famous Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies and ancient art from all over the world. We spent a few hours there but only covered 2 of 5 levels. I'll definitely be going back one day to finish the rest!
Rosetta Stone

London Eye and Thames River

We also went on the London Eye, the world's third largest Ferris wheel, which allowed us to get amazing views of the city, including the Big Ben Clock Tower. It went really slow and did not feel like a Ferris wheel at all. It's pretty unique because it has large capsules that hold about 15-25 people.


Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus both reminded me of Times Square with their buzzing energy from the crowds.  They're just great and beautiful places to hang out, take photos or go shopping. Speaking of shopping, Oxford and Regent Street were filled with some of the largest stores I've seen. There was even a "National Geographic" store (1 of 7 in the world) and M&M (candy) World, which had 4 levels of just M&M products!


We took a trip to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guards. I thought it was really cool to see the band of guards marching along and performing this ceremony for an enormous crowd of tourists. I didn't get a chance to go into the actual Palace this time around, but I admired the flowers, golden gates and statues from the outside.

Buckingham Palace and crowd during Changing of Guards

St. Paul's Cathedral
The Monument, which was built to commemorate the Great Fire of London, was a mission for my sister and I to climb (more so for me). We made it to the top, 311 steps later, to get another great view of the city and the London Bridge. The Great Fire wiped out a Cathedral where the stunning St. Paul's Cathedral now stands. I wasn't allowed to take photos of the inside but it was beautiful; the painted ceilings especially amazed me.


Climbing the spiral staircase of the Monument


Madam Tussuad's wax museum was much better than I expected  (after having just been to a wax museum in Niagara a few weeks ago).  It didn't only have wax figures, but also a very cool ride that shows the history of England and a 4D movie.

Wax figure of Princess Diana

 I did and saw other things, but these were some of my highlights, along with going to Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station (Harry Potter lover) and meeting/hanging out with my second cousins. I had a lot of fun and will definitely be going back soon!

Platform 9 & 3/4