London (and Beyond) in 5 Days

28 August) A day dedicated to visiting the city's neighbourhoods. We saw the Soho district, very characterful, Covent Garden, where there are several souvenir shops and lots of street artists, very beautiful; Carnaby Street also rich in shops (London is suitable for those who want to spend money even on useless things...). Walk, walk, we arrive at the legendary Piccadilly Circus, beautiful just as you see it on TV... the only drawback the rain... but fortunately it lasted little. Having taken the ritual photos we went in search of a tea shop..Fortnum and Mason, we found it and having stocked up for a year we set off again. we entered the London Trocadero a mega arcade where souvenir shops are not lacking... lots of video games and other entertainments for the whole family. we just had a look...

Resuming the journey to discover a comic shop (Forbidden Planet) we noticed that when it comes to comics and DVDs they are decidedly ahead of us Italians...as usual. A fundamental stop for anyone going to London is certainly the British Museum... enormous, beautiful both outside and inside. We wanted to see or rather I wanted to see the famous Rosetta Stone... it's fabulous it's just as I expected. A must-have souvenir the miniature of the stele. We also saw the Egyptian, Greek and Roman collections. Unfortunately we didn't manage to see the whole museum we were worn out, out and about all day... we went back to the hotel. We went out towards evening to go to the organised Jack the Ripper tour booked from Italy on the site here you find many different tours you can do in half a day or a whole day. we chose the one of Jack the Ripper and another that we will illustrate to you later..

Unfortunately when we arrived at the Golden Tours office they told us that the tour we had chosen had been cancelled because we were the only ones signed up for that evening but they told us it was possible to do it on Wednesday and we booked it, so back to the hotel? of course not, we went again to explore the city we arrived at Big Ben, we crossed the Thames and we went to see the famous London Eye the largest Ferris wheel in the world it is 135 metres high we chose not to go up to save time to see the city live and not from above. however it must be a beautiful experience. On the way back we crossed the Jubilee Bridge.

29 August) a fabulous day. dedicated to the other tour we booked from Italy with Golden Tours. We went to see the most mysterious site in Great Britain: Stonehenge... I recommend it it's a beautiful and unique experience. you pay by credit card at the site and it costs 56 pounds per person... but it's worth it. we left in the morning at ten with a coach full of people. the guide a very well-prepared lady during the journey told us the history of Stonehenge (all in English, however even those who don't understand it can go quite easily because at the archaeological site there are electronic guides in Italian that explain everything). we arrive, park, the guide gets the tickets, they give us this kind of intercom/guide where you select the language and listen to the whole story.

during the guided tour of Stonehenge there are signs with numbers, you select them on the intercom and the guide tells a piece of history, very ingenious and interesting. anyway having taken this object we cross a tunnel and when we come up... a spectacle, you see these enormous monoliths stuck in the ground in a circular way... an indescribable emotion, it's just a shame that you can't touch them... there is a compulsory path to follow that wraps around the site... we stopped for 45 minutes even though we would have stayed all day to admire this marvel. we took a crazy number of photos.. they look the same but they aren't each one from a different angle... go you will be satisfied. After Stonehenge we set off for the Roman city of Bath, of which we only saw the baths. here too we waited for the guide to get the tickets and then we went in.

They again gave us those very useful multilingual intercoms, and we went to discover the baths. We had fun taking a dip into the past. The building is large and there is a recommended route to follow with numerous signs with numbers and each number corresponds to a different story. At the end of the tour the usual gift shop and then back to London. Our day ends early..

30 August) Again a whole day to dedicate to visiting the city. our itinerary today includes the London Tower, which we didn't visit because we didn't have time but we regretted it, we'll make up for it next time we come; the Tower Bridge, beautiful and majestic, we crossed it but unfortunately we didn't have the luck to see it open.. we did the whole riverside from Tower Bridge to the Millennium Bridge. During the walk we saw Shakespeare's Globe, it is a circular building that reproduces the original Globe Theatre where the famous writer worked. We saw London Bridge and a very folkloric London market. Arriving at the Millennium Bridge the view of Saint Paul's Cathedral is fascinating. Crossing the bridge it feels like crossing a walkway over the Thames.

Arriving at the cathedral (unfortunately under renovation) we wanted to enter to visit it but as soon as we crossed the threshold we find a cash desk to buy the ticket... in a church... what an ugly sight, you pay nine pounds to enter, in the end it didn't seem right to pay such a sum to see a church even if very beautiful. (I personally have never seen payment to enter a church..), so we took a tour of the neighbourhood, very beautiful and picturesque. A little further on is the Temple Church a very pretty little church built by the legendary Knights Templar. the whole complex is original it was the headquarters of the knights, now instead it is the headquarters of the offices of many London lawyers. Here too unfortunately the church was under renovation but you could partly see the interior because the door was open..

After lunch we set off to see Westminster Cathedral which is located near the Victoria metro stop. It is a very beautiful and particular church, and above all you don't pay to enter. It is built in a neo-Christian style and was built between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. After visiting the church we headed to the Golden Tours office because it was the day of the evening Jack the Ripper tour... having got on the coach it took us to the neighbourhood where the murders took place. the guide obviously speaks only English and if you don't understand it we advise against it. The tour lasted two hours and was beautiful and curious. If you happen to book I advise you to choose the tour with the actors, who reenact the scenes of the murders and of life at that time. Ours unfortunately didn't have them but you will surely find it on the internet.

31 August) Morning entirely dedicated to Greenwich.. to get to Greenwich you have to take the metro to Tower Hill, then you exit and take the DLR line that leads to Beckton, you get off at Westferry and take the connection for Lewisham (the connections between the different trains are fast you don't have to wait long), then we got off at the stop of Island Gardens because we wanted to cross the Thames through the underground tunnel they built, the tunnel is very strange, the idea of being under the river is unsettling... having arrived on the other side we took a nice walk to the park of Greenwich and from there we arrived at the Royal Observatory. There is also a cash desk here but the ticket is not paid there is a free donation. You enter and... the prime meridian is right in front of you... an imaginary line that finally you can see and cross...

the ritual photos and visit of the observatory with lots of clocks and telescopes. Back in London in the afternoon we visited the neighbourhood of our hotel... although there aren't many attractions.

01 September) unfortunately today our trip to London comes to an end... we leave early to arrive at the airport on time and to avoid endless queues at the checks and at check-in... The plane leaves and our holidays are declared over when from the plane we see the words "Orio al Serio International Airport"...