Two seniors in London

Two seniors in London by ferny forner Rita and I wanted to treat ourselves to a slightly long weekend and we thought of going back to London, we had already been there in 2012. As always we organised everything on the web well in advance, reading many travel diaries. In short: We leave with Ryanair from Turin to London Stansted on 8 May, returning on 13 May with Easyjet from Luton to Malpensa, total cost 90 euros return Train Stansted-London Liverpool station, cost for 2 people 14 gbp.

Oyster card to travel on all London transport for 7 days gbp 66 (2 people) Bus transfer for the return gbp 4.40 for 2 Train London-Salisbury return for 2 gbp 47.20 Salisbury-Stonehenge return 30 gbp, entrance to the site 33 euros Reem hotel double room for 5 nights gbp 483 Restaurants: Strada, on Belvedere road, and Brasserie Cote, in Christopher Place, good, fair prices, both with a website with menu and prices. May 8 We arrive on time at Stansted, checks almost non-existent, we take the train at the airport, comfortable and clean, in 30 minutes we arrive at Liverpool Station, it is very large, it looks like a shopping centre, we top up the Oyster cards from 2012 (they never expire) at the automated kiosk (no front office services), however there are assistants who go around the station and solve any problems.

Light lunch at the station at the restaurant The merchant and Bishopsgate where we have veggie nachos and chicken burger, it's not haute cuisine but all in all it satisfied us. We then reach the hotel, it is in a quiet area, near Queensway, a very commercial street, with three metro stations and many buses. The room is on the fourth floor (lift), rather small, there are no wardrobes, spacious bathroom, TV without Italian channels, air conditioning, electric water heater, cups and sachets of herbal teas and tea, we place the trolleys on a shelf, but leave everything inside.

We begin the visit by reaching the London Eye, the great Ferris wheel, located along the Thames, the area equipped with large landscaped gardens (Jubilee Garden), many children playing in the dedicated areas, but there are also kiosks for refreshment, benches, many young people jogging; from the river banks you can also enjoy a nice panorama over Westminster and Big Ben, while on the Southbank there are many enormous buildings and, in my opinion, of little architectural value; unfortunately Southwark is a big building site. We reach Waterloo Station to collect the train tickets for Salisbury from the machine, we insert the credit card used for the booking, then we enter the code, all ok We remember that in the area there is a restaurant of the Strada chain; walking we find it on Belvedere road, a pedestrian street along the Thames.

The place enjoys an enviable view, also because of the glass walls on three sides. On the way out, a breathtaking view of the London Eye and Big Ben lit up; also remarkable is the Shard skyscraper by Renzo Piano and the Swiss Re Tower, by Norman Foster, better known as the pinecone or the cucumber for its shape, though at night the upper part stands out making it look like a baseball. Tuesday 9 We start the day with a walk through the crowded luxury streets starting from Piccadilly, Regent Street and surroundings. We reach Trafalgar Square, with the very tall column topped by the statue of Nelson and at the base four great bronze lions, which recall the battles he had won; at the side of the square the National Gallery, rich in 2400 masterpieces of world painting, the building in neoclassical style with a wide colonnade. Then the church of St.

Martin in the field, also in neoclassical style, with a portico of columns and a fine spire, the interior is baroque, a bar-restaurant in the crypt; I must say it didn't enthuse us. We enter the Gallery to visit the rooms we had noted down, without queuing, we pass the quick checks; the entrance is free, a fact that allows you to return without breaking the bank. The Gallery is one of the largest in the world; the works are displayed (from the Middle Ages to 1900), in chronological order in large rooms. It was the first in the world to open its doors to all citizens, children included, and to allow them to enter in any clothing. Many masterpieces of every era, among all: Leonardo, Caravaggio, Van Eyck, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Turner. We lingered on the Arnolfini Portrait and the Madonna of the Rocks, then lunch at the gallery bar.

We leave promising ourselves to return to complete our visiting programme. In the afternoon a visit to the British Library, the national library. The building is in red brick, very large, in a modern style arranged on three sides around a large courtyard with a space equipped with benches and a bar; on one side the monument to Newton.

You enter a large hall, surrounded by wide balconies, on the 4 floors of the reading rooms, furnished with bar-style tables and chairs The Library is not only a library, but also a rich museum that contains one of the largest collections in the world of ancient books, historical and literary documents, manuscripts, ancient maps and much more; they are exhibited in a section on the ground floor in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery; the rooms are rather dark, only the glass display cases that contain the works are lit; according to the designer the display was meant to highlight the emergence from darkness of these fundamental works of human thought; it is a true jewel, we admired among all: Greek papyri, a Bible from 1455 printed by Gutenberg, one of the 4 remaining copies of the Magna Carta, the Codex Sinaiticus, a Greek Bible from the 4th century, the 4 Gospels owned by Charlemagne, a Koran f

rom 704 AD, ancient books and manuscripts illuminated or decorated, then scores written by Handel, Mozart, and much more from every part of the world; we didn't expect so much richness; last note: no photos. We go out to go to Piccadilly Circus and Soho, where we spend the evening.