London trip
January 19, 2008 | Category: Conference, Life | 3 Comments »
I got invited to another London trip by ‘the one’ Elton, to the race of champions in Wembley stadium no less. I actually hated London but that was before I actually visited. The last time I went was probably I believe Sept, or Nov last year. I caught a train from Leeds down to Kings Cross. Then the tube station to Covent Garden.
It was late in the evening and I was catching the lift out of the Covent Garden tube station to the main streets. That is when I fell in <3 with London, or more accurately Covent Garden. This late in the evening in my home town the streets would have been dead even in the center. But as I came out onto the main streets, I was like wow where am I. The streets where well lit, people walking all around and the air filled with music playing. I walk down the cobbled road and there are restaurants, bars, shops etc all around. Brilliant atmosphere.
It was my first time there so I called the hotel to ask them how to get to the Strand Hotel. I was given instructions but I have to admit I couldn’t figure out which way I was to go. I caught a rickshaw, these are driven by a guy on a cycle who took me there. I figured later it was only a few minutes walk from the Covent Garden tube station.
Anyway this time round I didn’t need to stay a few days and I decided to have a go at driving there rather than catching the train. I wanted to find out the cost difference and also how easy it is to do. Well my findings showed that price wise it costs more, this is mainly due to the cost of fuel. Parking is incredibly very affordable at Cockfosters railway station, its only a few pounds for 1 days parking. The convenience factor of driving can’t be beaten, although tiring. I was able to leave London very late without worrying about missing the last trains when changing.
On my arrival we were to meet up at Baker Street. Since I was over an hour early. I headed straight to Covent Garden : ) I’m quite a pro catching the tubes. Yes I know its simple but I know how to get around thanks to the expert guidance of Londoner Elton. Even if I do catch the wrong train, I can quickly re-coup and get on the right track. I’m quite confident making my way around. Walking at street level is a different matter. As long as I’m near a tube station I’m ok. I have to admit I don’t know the shortcuts at street level to get to another place quicker.
When I arrived at Covent Garden station I was listening out for the languages people speak. I’m quite intrigued specially when traveling, listening to accents and the different types of languages and trying to guess where they are from. German and Dutch I struggle with, French, Italian and Spanish I can figure out, oh and Polish, don’t get me wrong I haven’t a clue what they’re saying but I can roughly guess country of origin. Its fun when traveling through European airports and works well in London due to the tourists who visit.
Exiting Covent Garden station the streets were full of people, it was a Sunday. All the shops were open, music was playing in the streets. As I walked around the smell of food from the restaurants was aroma in the air. I noticed tourists ranging from Germany to Japan. I noticed a French family too. Lots of things where happening around, there was a market in the main square selling lots of over priced things. I saw a cheese stall there too, it had all sorts of cheeses. I was surprised to see that some of the stall holders were accepting credit cards, well I suppose it is London.
It was a cold day and I knew as the day went on it would get colder. So I visited a few shops. Finally I found something quite kewl, in the GAP store. Funnily they couldn’t serve me as the store didn’t open its till on Sunday’s until 12. Which I found very unusual. I had to leave it behind as I had people to meet at Baker Street.
