Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Day 4 & 5 - London trip (Buckingham Palace, Westminster Cathedral, Big Ben, Greenwich & British museum)

On the next day, we travelled by tube to catch up the Changing of Guards ceremony. On our way, I can’t resist to snap with the illustrated wall with mini tales at the underground station.


We were enthralled to watch the Changing of Guards ceremony at Buckingham Palace. It’s worth the wait despite just afew glances from far (Due to our lateness!) and limited view. You will need to be at Buckingham Palace at least an hour before the ceremony starts (Starts approximately 11am), as Changing the Guard, does attract a large numbers of visitors, if you want to grab one of the best spots namely next to railings, stairs at Victoria monuments and the road opposite the palace.


The beauty of the ceremony is to showcase the old guards handover to the new guards and the process of old and new guards ‘present arms’ (A symbolic gesture that that transfer the responsibility for the Palace’s security from the Old to New Guard) and handover the palace keys. Really salute the guards who can’t eat, stand easy or sit during their tour of duty.


Well, it’s another group posey photo again! #^_^# 


One of the most vivid images of our London trip is none other than the iconic - Big Ben. Despite the gloomy weather, we were elated upon reaching the famous London landmark. It’s a lovely thing to see how people going about their daily routines here while enjoying the view of landmark which is rich heritage. Big Ben is indeed a legend in its own time. ∩__∩y


Don’t be deceived by the four clock faces of Big Ben as there are actually 5 bells in the clock. Every hour the hammer will strike the time on. Say if it’s five o’clock, the hammer strikes it five times. As for the other 4 bells, they will chime every fifteen minutes. Citizens going about their business like it’s no big deal that they live among such historical beauty. O.o






Pretty awesome view.


Transforming aesthetic into something #realcool (2nd pic is the elaborate carved church frontage of Westminster Cathedral). 

During our fifth day in London, we went to visit Greenwich – one of my favourite touristy destination. Located in the South-East of London (Not too far from central London), this lovely place is rich with history and combined with modern attractions - translating the heritage and craftmanship into a modern language. The town gave us a sense of close community with rich naval history! 


We went inside Old Royal Naval College and were mind-boggling with Renaissance arts and its intricacy.



It was absolutely stunning – all four of us just stood in awe…
Reignite that feeling for the luxury nobility experienced in years past.


The Neo-Gothic element.


We passed by the National Maritime Museum for another nice photo! ;)

Not-to-be-missed the Royal Museum Greenwich with the striking Nelson's Ship in a Bottle. Amazed by the designer’s laborious effort into crafting this complex replica O.o


We had our leisurely stroll on our way to Greenwich Royal Observatory Deck.

                                         

We climbed up the hill from the museum to have our first view of Prime Meridian captured here ∩__∩y


If you’re wondering why it is my favourite place of all in London, it’s because I’m intrigued with astrology’s history which can only be found in London’s only planetarium (Just saying!). Plus, Greenwich is home to the Prime Meridian of the world, at 0° Longitude, meaning the rest of the world is measured here or so to speak. Well, at least we tried to stand astride, with one foot in each hemisphere : northern and southern hemisphere.




With our £9.50 ticket, we explored several galleries full of telescopes, clocks, and historical gadgets designed to measure longitude at sea. We ended our Greenwich trip with a panoramic scene of the beautiful park and museums.


                                     

After studying the origin of time and literally star-gazing, we continued our journey with British museum.  There were so many museums here in UK and we were overwhelmed with the choices for which type of museums to go to as each offered different interest altogether. We finally decided to go for British museum as it is highly recommended due to its top collections, award-winning architecture, amazing arts and artifacts to marvel as well as great restaurants in the museum (Yes, we were hungry!).


Having a penchant for antiques and interest in Egypt (Since we will not have a chance to go there…), we were awestruck with the Rosetta stone (An ancient stone which is the key to deciphering hieroglyphs on the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs). The ironic thing is it is housed at British museum instead of Egypt) (-.-III Well, on a side note, perhaps it had made easier for tourists to travel to London compared to travelling to Egypt for a look. 



This one looked particularly awesome so I snapped it!



After a heartening meal, we moved back to the city for shopping. I was drooling over the hippy items and quirky souveniers. I was thrilled to discover a handmade soaps shop which offers variety of different soaps ranging from fruity flavours to sweet ones (Mind you, the soaps are not edible!) (*^@^*) And I can’t resist but to buy them as souveniers! That’s all for a tiring but informative yet fun Day 4 & 5 (´`)**


XOXO
sassycat