That’s right, not every Englishman has been to the nation’s capital, and even more people have never taken the time to actually go site-seeing or even stayed in one of the famous London hotels. I am in the latter category, but one day decided it would be cool to be a tourist in my own country and just go for it. I am from the south-coast, so at least wanted to see how the fish and chips compared.
I started my day with the relatively short train journey into Victoria, I had my cameras, hat and travelling bum bag all ready to go, I’d like to think people would place me from Sweden or something, on account of my blonde hair and tall stature – it was important to me ‘outsiders’ did not confuse me for an American, they must be the worst tourists – in my opinion.
As I got off the train at Victoria I got on the underground and headed for Covent Garden for a morning beer, in a small cafe in one of the lesser known London hotels. It was good in Covent Garden, lots going on. One tip I have to let you know is to use the lifts out of Covent Garden Underground – I don’t think I have ever been up so many flights of stairs and was convinced one rather large man I overtook was genuinely having a heart-attack, but I was too busy thinking about my beer and raced passed to the top.
Here is my itinerary for the day and I walked to all of them:
- Pineapple Dance Studio;
- Buckingham Palace;
- Tower of London (outside);
- Nelson’s Column;
- Fish and Chips;
- The London Eye;
- Tube back to Victoria.
Now this is the order I found these landmarks and I did get rather lost on more than one occasion. If I was to give one piece of advice it would be plan your route in a logical way BEFORE you go, although just winging it as I did was just great fun. My highlight of the day was probably checking out Buckingham Palace, I studied History at Uni and that and the tower of London really interested me, even though I didn’t actually go inside either of them!
The Fish and Chip Test
I found a suitable fish and chip shop called The Laughing Halibut. I am used to award winning fish and chips in beautiful Sussex. However, I have to say, I was quite impressed with the standard. Like comparing your new girlfriends cooking to your mums, I have put myself in an awkward position – but would still have to go with the fish and chips back home!
Matthew writes about his travelling experiences on behalf of clients in the travel industry.
