GO ON A TOUR OF LONDON'S MAJOR ATTRACTIONS AT NO COST

 

We started the following day by hearing Palm Sunday massat Westminster Cathedral. Westminster Cathedral is actually a Roman Catholic Cathedral, which is the mother-church of England and Wales and can be found easily in the heart of London.  Do not confuse Westminster Cathedral with Westminster Abbey, as my friend and I did at first.  This cathedral is a short walking distance from Victoria Station of the London Tube.

The Westminster Cathedral was full that day and we saw several Filipino families who attended the solemnly celebrated mass.

While looking for a restroom, we discovered the Cathedral Kitchen in the basement of the church. This is where we opted to have lunch and join the parishioners instead of eating at McDonald's, which was just around the corner of the church.

We had Minestrone soup with bread on the side.  It was a simple but hearty meal although the soup was not warm enough as I would have wanted it.  But the young and good looking British guy who served us made up for this small imperfection in the meal : ).

After lunch, we decided to do the walking tour of the Buckingham Palace. Before doing so, we first visited a tours agency and tried to book an overnight tour to Scotland.  Sadly, we didn't find any with a schedule that suited other plans of ours. This turned out to be in our favor as we received news later on that it was snowing in Scotland during the day that we were supposed to be there. We could have been stranded and the rest of our London trip ruined! So, remember, do not fret even if it seems that things are not going your way : ).

We then passed by the place of Evan Evans Tours and tried our luck there.  Going through the many tours they offer and, Scotland being already out of the question, my friend and I settled for the tour of Warwick Castle, Stratford Upon Avon, the Costwolds, and the tour of Oxford.  Details of this wonderful tour (which was scheduled on day four of our London trip) in succeeding blogposts  : ).

After booking our tour, we then proceeded with the walking tour of the Buckingham Palace and upon seeing the Royal Mews Buckingham Palace Shop, we cannot resist not going inside as our favorite pastime is, of course, shopping!  The Royal Mews Buckingham Palace Shop is a souvenir shop where we found interesting novel items.  The items here were high-end and thus quite expensive but I was able to buy one pack of three lip balms, which was reasonably priced, as gifts for friends back home. 

After this very short shopping stint, we continued with our walking tour.  First stop was the Buckingham Palace.

The Buckingham Palace

The Buckingham Palace is the official residence of the Queen of England.  We wanted to have a look inside the palace but it was not open to tourists that time and we just assumed that the queen was in the palace.  We didn't notice it then, but it is said that if the Royal Standard flag is raised, it is the sign that Her Majesty is at home.  So, the closest we got was viewing the palace outside the gates.  We found out later that the best time to visit and have a tour of the palace is around August to September when the queen is likely to be somewhere else.  We also missed the Changing of the Guard ceremony, which is held at 11:30 every morning.  If you want to see this and make this a part of your itinerary, make sure that you come 45 minutes earlier as the crowd will turn out to be big.

The famous balcony where the ceremonial kisses of newly-wed royals are shown to the adoring and curious public

Across the main entrance to the palace is the Queen Victoria Memorial.  This white marble monument was built to honour Queen Victoria.  The gold figure on top of the monument represents victory.

The Mall on the edge of St. James Park leading to the Buckingham Palace

The London Eye as seen from St. James Park

 Further on, after the Queen Victoria Memorial, is the St, James Park, where we walked, took pictures, and got a view of the London Eye.  After this, off we walked to Trafalgar Square.

An interesting scene on the road leading to Trafalgar Square from St. James Park. You'll also get a glimpse of this in One Direction's video of their song, "One Thing."

The London Bus

The Trafalgar Square is technically the center of London.  As I later found out, it has become the social and political place for visitors and Londoners alike and is said to be the best place to welcome the New Year.  Right in the middle of Trafalgar Square is the Nelson's Column.  This is a 170-feet tall monument erected to commemorate Admiral Nelson.   Surrounding the Trafalgar Square are numerous buildings, most prominent of which is the National Gallery (more on this later).

The countdown to the London Summer Olympics in front of the National Gallery

The National Gallery is home to many artworks of famous painters like Picasso and Monet.  As with most galleries, the entrance is free.  However, we had to postpone our visit to the National Gallery. We went there in the afternoon to have tea and snacks at the National Gallery Cafe after an exhausting walking tour of the Buckingham Palace and St. James Park.

Hot Cross Buns sold in the National Gallery Cafe at GBP 1.50 @ or P 102.00 a bun

Hot cross buns! I thought these did not exist and were only figments of one's imagination from the nursery rhymes we sang in school. But, there they are and the reason why they are called such. I love the raisin variety. Dense, moist, soft and filling : ). They go well with tea or coffee.

From the National Gallery Cafe we headed to The Covent Garden. This time we rode the Tube as we had no more energy to walk. Our legs felt like jelly already. The Covent Garden is an area for boutique shopping and renowned for its famous covered piazza. We only feasted our eyes with the surroundings in Covent Garden as boutique shopping is not included in our budget : ).

The only thing we got from Covent Garden is a box of authentic French macarons courtesy of my friend with whom we stayed in London. My first taste of this Parisian delicacy and authentic ones at that!. Happiness : ). We all took a piece of the Calamansi flavored one and it was very nice. True to the flavor and we all loved the crumbly in the outside but chewy in the inside texture of the macarons.

Dinner was at Leicester Square which is only a short ride in the Tube from Covent Garden. Guess what we had? A Chinese buffet dinner haha...! Only two nights without rice and we missed it already. The buffet at Hongkong Buffet in Leicester Square was value for our money and we'll surely visit it again if given another chance to go to London.

No sign of exhaustion, even after a whole day of walking, on those smiling faces enjoying beer quite late in the night : )

Did you think we were ready to call it a day after dinner? Not yet. We just had to go and enjoy beer in a pub. This is in Approach Tavern in East London, which is very near the area where my friend's flat is located, and the beer we had was good. I love the very thick foam, which took a long time (almost when I  was only about to finish it) before it disappeared and the liquid is very light and not too bitter.

Ok now, we're ready to call it a day. That was a full day of exploring that we did. 

Tips:

1. Yes, you'll get to see some of London's major attractions for free by going on a walking tour. Bragging rights earned at no cost ; ). Cool, right? : ).

2. Maximize your trip by covering as many places as your feet and energy would allow you to. You don't know if you have the luxury of time to go back and explore a certain area again.