A trip to London Part II

So, we arrived in the wonderful and characterful Borough Market. Held in the perfect setting, just a few yards away from the River Thames and underneath the Railway line. The atmosphere was buzzing as people bustled around the market searching for their Christmas groceries. Each stall slightly different, with sweet and savoury aromas wafting through the air.

I hold no apology for including so many photos of Borough Market, as it was such a wonderful place. I whole heartily recommend to anybody planning a visit to London to include a trip to Borough Market on their schedule.

After a couple of hours walking around the market, sampling the wares of the stalls and enjoying a glass of hot ginger and honey tea, it was time to pull myself away to take a walk along side the River Thames.

Just around the corner of Borough Market is a street called "Clink Street". This is named after what is believed to be the first men's prison in England, dating back to the year 860AD. The existing building was built around 1106.

I didn't visit the Clink prison, as I have been several times before. But I do recommend you make a visit there when you are passing, as it is an important part of England's past - and it is also very interesting to see what types of "tortures" that we bestowed upon prisoners of the past. Perhaps there would be fewer crimes around now, if some of these contraptions were still used today.

That evening, we decided to take a trip up on the London Eye.

It was a clear and dark night and the views were going to be amazing... We queued up and made our way into one of the cars. Our journey began....

The ride came to an end after 45 minutes. We climbed of the London Eye and made our way across Westminster Bridge, past Big Ben and through to China Town to grab a bite to eat. I always forget the name of the restaurant that I always frequent. I love going there as the food is great but the service makes me laugh. It is a kind of fast serving restaurant and they try to get you in, sat down, fed and out again as quickly as possible. I always enjoy going there and taking my time. If the food wasn't very good, I'd probably find somewhere else (after all, China Town is fully of great food places).

So, day two came to an end... it was back to the hotel to grab a few hours sleep before my last day. The next morning I awoke and decided to go somewhere different for breakfast, so jumped on the underground and made my way to Notting Hill. Now, I am sure none of you need an introduction to "Notting Hill". This was the area made famous by the Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts film of the same name.

The house used in the film is situated on Portobello Road. At the bottom of the road is yet another market. I will spare you more photos of markets at this time, but nontheless it was a lovely place.



I stopped half way down the highstreet and found a Bistro to have breakfast. It was delicious and it was fun watching the world go past as I enjoyed my "Full English".

Time was now fast running out. There was just enough time to wander over to Buckingham Palace, where the Elizabeth II Queen of England was in residence.



The whole area was alive with tourists, and it was as much fun watching them as it was viewing the Palace itself...











Finally, I took a brisk walk through Hyde Park before returning to the Hotel to collect my belonings and head for the bus.....







A week later, I was back in London. This time I was with my family and we had booked a visit to the Royal Albert Hall to enjoy a festival of Christmas Carols.

We arrived early on Saturday morning, dropped our bags off at our hotel enjoyed a yummy chinese buffet in China Town before making our way to the hall. When we arrived, the queues were already beginning to build up outside...







We made our way inside and to our seats. We were situated in the perfect position, high in the circle and directly facing the stage. This provided us with the perfect view of both the choir and the audience around us.














The show was fantastic. Two hours of joyous singing of all the favourite christmas songs is enough to bring a smile to anyones face. But to do this in such an elegant place as the Royal Albert Hall is simply emotional. Chrsitmas had finally arrived!!!!! I would like to add, at this point that attending a concert at the Royal Albert Hall used to be one of the things I wanted "To do before I die". Over the past three years, I have seen a couple of Classical performances put on by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. I truly recommend that, if you get the opportunity, you try and visit the Royal Albert Hall at least once. It is the most amazing experience!!!!

That evening we made our way to Hyde Park to visit the winter fair. There was everything from amusement rides to stalls selling their wares, to Ice Skating. Perfect for the time of year...





















After wandering around and absorbing the atmosphere (as well as enjoying a warm cup of hot chocolate), we left Hyde Park and made our way back to the hotel, stopping off at a few places on the way. Including....

A return visit to Fortnum and Mason.



(If you remember back in my first set of photos, the store was crammed with people. Well it was now 9pm, and it was almost empty. So much easier to look around at this time of evening.).













We then continued down the road towards Piccadilly Circus...







Past "The Ritz"...






Past Birlington Arcade, in its full splendor.





We finally found our way back to Covent Garden for a meal before retiring to bed. I couldn't resist taking a few opportune photos before going to sleep...







Sunday morning soon came. We had breakfast in the hotel before catching the undergound to Borough Market. We then took the pleasant walk down the side of the River Thames back to Westminster Bridge. This time the weather had changed. The fog had decided to close in as a warm front blew in. I had never seen London look so spooky yet so beautiful. It was like a scene from a movie...















My second weekend in London had now come to an end. It was time to head back Paddington Railway Station for the journey home...







And I couldn't resist a quick photo of the famous Paddington Bearbefore I left...


Alas, there ends my lastest post. I hope you found it interesting and that it provided you with a small flavour of some of the sites and scenes of London, England's capital city.


There are a few more photos from both of my trips to London on my Flickr.com site. Please feel free to visit it if you, by clicking on http://www.flickr.com/photos/getty72/ .


Cheerio for now!