London Eye

7/04

We left the apartment at 10 (taking advantage of lower fares on the tube system after 9:30). We stopped at Covent Garden and walked to Trafalgar Square. We took a tour of the National Gallery that is on one side of the square. If you stand at the entrance of the Gallery and look down at the Square, you can take in a view of the Houses of Parliament, The Mall that leads to Buckingham Palace and the various embassies that surround the square.

We ate lunch at Leicester Square. We moped around looking for a ticket to one of the plays, but finally decided against it. We walked through the mall, through St James' Park. Took a detour and walked to Westminister. We ended up on Westminister bridge and decided to buy a ticket and get on the Eye. The Eye is a giant ferris wheel that has fascinating view of the London skyline. It was set up in 2000 to commemorate the Millenium. Londoners have stories about how the project was badly managed. But in the end, judging by the crowds that had gathered, it is a money making machine. The weather was perfect. After a wait of 45 minutes or so, we finally got our chance. W was afraid at first. She isn't too thrilled about heights, but I persuaded her and she relented. We took some great pictures. The ride lasted 30 minutes.

We walked back to Parliament and decided against going into the rotunda of the House of Commons. The line was too long. Big Ben tolled away endlessly every 15 minutes reminding me of the time I listened to the BBC growing up in India. We went to Westminister Abbey that was the site of Princess Diana's funeral. It was closed. But we wouldn't have ventured in anyway because of its steep admission price. The one frustrating thing about London was that every tourist spot charged a ton for admission. We were content to just see the sights from the outside.

We walked back through St James' Park and made our way to Buckingham Palace. The skies threatened to open up, but after a short light drizzle, the sun broke through again. We walked up Constitution Hill and made our way to Hyde Park. W was tiring and so was I. All the walking had led to some serious exercise. Just as we were deciding to call it a day, we saw a sign to the Speaker's corner in Hyde Park. Supposedly every Sunday, anybody with something to say about anything can come here and speak his or her mind. The phrase "Get off your soapbox" originated here. We walked up to the spot and stumbled upon Marble Arch.

We took the tube back after what was a hectic day. We took my cousin and his flatmate out to dinner at an Indian curry house. My cousin tells me that the most popular dish in England is Chiken Tikka Masala. We ordered fish curry, but it was unimpressive.

Watched the remaining of Bowling of Columbine. W vowed never to shop at Wal-mart again after learning that they sell gun ammunition.