A half-day trip to London

While we were travelling to the United Kingdom with my friend, we had the chance to visit the capital of the country. Even though we did not have a lot of time to spend there, I was quite excited that I was finally going to see this huge city and the Buckingham Palace.

The city of London was quite ancient and was found by the Romans around the first century. The first Roman settlements were around the river Thames so that the people can easily grow their crops and have a fresh source of water. However, around the fifth century, the Romans abandoned the city and the Vikings overtook it creating their own settlement there. However, during the Middle Ages, the English people took it and made it one of their most developed city.

Nowadays, London is a huge megalopolis, full of lots of things to do and visit if you have lots of time. That is why you will not be bored in London at all. Actually, you will be quite confused about what to do first.

Things to visit in London

Below I will share with you my half-day trip to London and what I managed to see there. I will also include some useful information for the landmarks, which might be of use to you.

The famous Big Ben in London

We arrived in London at its main bus station Victoria coach station, exactly in the city center, thus we could easily walk up to the landmarks. Consequently, in half an hour we were exactly at Big Ben, which at the time was closed for reconstruction.

A fun fact is that the real name of Big Ben was the Clock Tower, but it was later renamed to Elizabeth Tower in honour of the queen. The Clock Tower was finished in the nineteenth century and had the biggest clock in the world and uses the Victorian mechanism to count the time. Big Ben is truly the symbol of London, as you can see it on every postcard or advertisement for a trip to London.

Honestly, I could not see its famous clock, but the tower was very fascinating and huge, compared to any other tower I have seen recently. It was built in that typical for the English buildings Gothic architectural style and could be seen from afar.

Later, we continued a bit further to the Westminster Bridge, which was built in the eighteenth century, in order to connect the two sides of London. However, from there we could also see the London Eye, which was a famous tourist attraction, but we decided to skip it, as we did not have time.

The Westminster Abbey

Then, we continued to Westminster Abbey, which was the most famous church in London. The Westminster Abbey was built around the tenth century in entirely Gothic architectural style, which can be seen from the outside of the church. It has a lot of pillars and columns on the outside, along with lots of statues of saints along the walls. In addition to that, it has three main doors, but the biggest door is usually opened when there is a procession.

An interesting fact about Westminster Abbey is that it is the place where the monarch would be crowned when their time comes. However, it is also used as a burial place for the monarchs of the United Kingdom. In addition to that, most of the weddings of the royal family members are held there, such as the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William.

Saint James's Park in London

Walking further, we found Saint James’s Park, which was also called the park of the royals, as it was close to the Buckingham Palace. We went there for a walk around the lake where lots of pelicans have gathered. However, while eating some nuts, some squirrels came to us begging for some food.

Honestly, at first, I thought that they were trying to be friendly and nice, but eventually, they started going around us trying to steal a nut. Thus, we gave them some, as they seemed quite hungry. Those squirrels were the sweetest animals I have encountered in a while.

The Buckingham Palace

After going up a bit further on the road, we found the Buckingham Palace, which was right next to Saint James’ Park. To go to the Buckingham Palace we had to cross a bridge over a little river and we found ourselves in front of a huge garden.

On the right side, there was Victoria Memorial, which was a monument built in loving memory of the queen. On the left side, there was the Buckingham Palace, which was humongous and resembled the architectural style of the palaces in Viena. The palace was protected by huge steel gates so that people don’t get inside of it and had some gold plates ornaments on it.

Even though I did not have the chance to see any member of the royal family I had a very nice experience exploring London and its landmarks even so little time. Since I could not see a lot, I was quite sad, thus I decided that I will make sure to come back soon, so I can explore more.

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