25° in London

25° in London

22-04-10 sun and hot Despite the chaos created by the volcano, at 11.05 we land at Stansted airport, perfectly on time, and right on time the driver of Easy Transfer, Italian, welcomes us with a big smile and takes us to the hotel Sidney (at Belgrave Road 68-76) and during the journey he gives us all the tips for visiting London. Immediately London appears beautiful to us, but chaotic, everyone is in a hurry, on the pavements there are rivers of people quickly going everywhere, just like in the films. Arrived at the Hotel (very nice, simple, small room and bathroom, but……………..fundamental, very clean) we treat ourselves to a quick snack and, given the time, also a nap to recover from this morning's early rise. We go out and the first thing we do is visit Westminster Cathedral, which is only 600 m.

from the hotel, it is very beautiful, small and cosy, climbing the bell tower is worth it for the view it gives us over London. Then we go, through Green Park, to Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus with its numerous and glittering theatres, then Soho and Chinatown teeming with little shops and typical restaurants that we observe curiously, unfortunately it is an open building site and so it spoils the view a little for us. Next we go to Buckingham Palace, beautiful, but we expected something more, we have seen other better royal residences in other European cities; on the other hand the square in front appears very colourful and scenic, with flowerbeds full of colourful tulips, and beautiful and decorated for the occasion is the avenue (the Mall) that starts from it.

Next we go to Trafalgar Square and to the National Gallery which we have to settle for seeing from outside, because it is now closed. We go down into the underground to buy the Oyster cards, we top them up with a few pounds, these will allow us to use various means to move around the city, but we also walked a lot, because London is easy to visit on foot too. The day can be considered over, today we have had our fill of wonders, now a stop for a good and not expensive dinner at Zizzi and then off to bed, tomorrow awaits us.

23-04-10 sun and hot

After an English breakfast (with juices and slices of toasted bread, which they distribute drop by drop, plus various little jams), we take right in front of the hotel bus no. 24 to go as far as Goodge Street and then no. 390 to Notting Hill. A splendid neighbourhood with houses of a dazzling white, with blossoming trees all white, it looks like a postcard and yet here we are, right here, I could even live in a place like this, but how do they manage in a city so full of smog to keep the houses so clean? Mystery!!! Since we are in the area we make a quick stop to see the famous Portobello market, well we expected better, it's a market like many others, nothing amazing; but in that neighbourhood, in a Moroccan shop I finally find a leather backpack, which I had been looking for for a very long time, well the walk was worth it.

Crossing the street of the embassies we reach Kensington Palace and then we cross Hyde Park and given the time we stop at Strada for an excellent pizza. After lunch a quick stop at Harrods, my dear department store, very beautiful things, but what prices…..we like nonetheless to note that we find something Italian everywhere, indeed something from Mantua, like Corneliani clothes and in the food department our exquisite Levoni cold cuts. In every city we visit we never miss a visit to the Science Museum, but this one is not among the best, it could also have been skipped. The day is almost over, we sit at a table of the Texas Embassy for an exquisite dinner based on Texan dishes; today is St George's Day and as in our country it's a holiday, so the places are all full. Now after a nice shower we can rest, see you tomorrow.

24-04-10 sun and hot

This morning the breakfast is richer and we allow ourselves it more calmly, because there are fewer people. With the usual bus no. 24 we go to Westminster Abbey, very beautiful with many cloisters and chapels where the sovereigns of the Kingdom are buried. Then we go to Big Ben and the Parliament, both splendid; we cross the Thames on Westminster Bridge, walk along the river as far as just below the London Eye where we take a boat that with a mini cruise takes us to the Tower of London passing under the most famous bridges such as Waterloo, Blackfriars, Southwark, London and of course the Tower Bridge which is the most famous, but also the most beautiful of all. We visited the whole Tower of London, truly splendid with its collection of the crown jewels. Below the Tower Bridge there is a truly nice and characteristic place called St.

Katharine's Dock with the docks, boats of every kind and size, naturally we stop here for lunch at the River Rouge run by Neapolitans and, for a change, we eat Italian. After lunch a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral, very beautiful outside, but bare inside; we watch the newlyweds come out, complete with a Scotsman in a kilt accompanying them playing the bagpipes. We wander around the city a bit more, passing again by Parliament Square, Victoria Street, stopping here and there to browse the shop windows, stopping to buy biscuits and English tea and then we return to the hotel for a refreshing shower. But after a short break we are out again looking for a restaurant for dinner; among so much choice we opt for a Scottish restaurant, Scotch Steak House, and we enjoy some excellent meat, accompanied by the cheerful chatter of the owner of the place who speaks Italian quite well.

The last London day too has come to an end. Good night London 25-04-10 Waking not very early, breakfast calmly, today it is drizzling, we are sorry to leave London and it knows it……… we have been very well, we have seen splendid places, eaten very well, met people who put us at ease, making an effort to speak Italian, enjoyed sunny and warm days; and to think that they had told us that in London we would starve and spend a fortune, get a lot of rain, have a lot of trouble making ourselves understood…………none of all this, I would say we were truly lucky and even my husband Luciano and my son Diego who accompanied me almost reluctantly, have changed their minds, almost, almost they too are sorry to leave so soon, but maybe we will return to see other wonders that we didn't have time to visit.

At 11.00 the Easy Transfer arrives taking us back to the airport with some difficulty, because today is marathon day and so there is a lot of confusion and several diversions, the sun comes out again and we leave London at 14.00 perfectly on time. Good bye London Graziella, Luciano, Diego