I just came back from Europe. This will be the first of my 2 blog entries on my trip. We'll start off with London. I never wanted to go to London, cos well..it's like USA. I never had a thing for USA, and neither did I have any for London. But when my Spain trip was axed, Angela and I decided to do a free and easy to London and Paris. London was her thing, and I have always wanted to go to Paris, so it was the best for both of us. And both cities were really near to each other, so it was all set.

And London did not disappoint! I love it there! So vibrant. I love the culture, the weather (it was nice when we went, about 2-4 degrees, but got a lot of colder as we were leaving for Paris.), the sights were breath taking, the buildings, the architecture, the scenery in winter. And the shopping was just amazing. We spent 6 days in London and out of the 6 days, we managed to see a lot of things- St Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Big Ben, Westminister Abby, parliament houses, saw the changing of Guards at Buckingham Palace, Notting Hill and its Portobello Market, shopping at Oxford Circus and Covent Garden, managed to watch a musical (Grease) @ Picadilly Circus, did a day trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and the ancient town of Bath. It was a really good trip, and I had a blast in London. Very liveable city....urgh...don't give me ideas....

The room we stayed in. We stayed in Millenium Bailey's Hotel. We upgraded to a Deluxe room, with breakfast.. And we paid like S$1600 for 5 nights, about S$320 pernight per room. Costly? Yes. Convinent? Yes. We were just across from the Tube station. And breakfast in the morning was so great, and the manager of the restaurant was so nice, and catered for vegetarian sausages for me!! Every morning. So the additional cost was worth it, I reckon. :)

St Paul's Cathedral. Our first full day in London, and we went to visit the cathedral, as well as the Tower of London. We actually took a London bus from St Paul's to Tower of London. Very exciting! lol!! Wanted to take pictures on the bus but decided against it...Didn't want to attract too much attention!!

 The Tower of London. I love it here. Cold, but not too cold. Had a hot chocolate here, and sat down basking in the sun before shopping at the Souveir shops.

The Tower Bridge. The London Bridge was just opposite it but I didnt bother taking a picture cos it was so SAD-LOOKING! Like some bridge over a longkang! I swear!

 Shopping at Oxford Circus. So many shops here! All the mainstream brands: ZARA, MANGO, NEU LOOK, HNM, TOPSHOP (HUGE 4 STOREY HIGH), MASSIMO DUTTI, MISS SELFRIDGE, DOROTHY PERKINS....And these are the only ones I can remember. I bought a Dorothy Perkins dress, a Zara dress, cute Mary Janes, a winter coat (This was only 15 punds!!).....Urgh....In one day...

We took a train down to Notting Hill on Sat, where there was the Portobello Market, supposedly a very famous market in London. And it was such a quaint, cute place! The houses, trees, cafes...It's like I was in a movie set!! Love it! So much vibrancy here, the colours, bread, flowers, food, crepes, paellas, antiques, vintage stores....We spent hours here!! Got myself a vintage dress!!! It was like at least 2 sizes too big for me, but cos it was inky 5 pounds, I had to buy it!! Went to alter it back home!

 The tube in London. We took it everywhere we went. A 6 day stay in London cost us like 32pounds...thats about S$65. Crazy expensive but better than walking in the cold, and getting fleeced from the London cabs!

Our day trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath Town. Beautiful, beautiful places. Here, the temperature dipped to -1. I was frozen. But thank God for my Michellin Man jacket. I look like a fridge...lol!! A cute fridge though!

This was at Windsor Castle, one of the 3 residences of the Queen. Huge palace with countless of rooms...Very beautiful.

Stonehenge.Stayed here for 45 mins. Saw the stone structures, almost slipped cos of the snow, nose kept running, freezing cold, ran out, grabbed a hot apple cider, and went back up the coach! lol!!

 The Roman Baths in Bath Town. That's steam coming out from the Baths. It was bloody cold despite the steam. Don't be fooled by it.

 The view over Bath town. I have to say this was my favourite place in London. It was just stunning, like something out of a fairy tale....In medieval times...With the snow covered grounds, and the branches of the trees, and the orange and purple hues of the trees and skies....definitely my favourite place here.

And on our last day in London, we went round the whole city of London. We saw the Buckingham Palace, where the changing of guards took place. It was so bloody cold. Colder than when we were at the Stonehenge. My toes were frozen.

 From Buckingham Palace, we took a walk down James Park to the Big Ben and Westminister Abby. Love love love the reds and greens and yellows and oranges!!

 Parliament Houses by the River Thames.

 Big Ben

 Trafalgar Square

 Shopping @ Covent Garde

 And this was us, waiting for the Euro Rail which would take us to Paris.

So yup...this was my London leg of my Europe trip. London is just so much fun. Helps that they all speak English, it is bustling all through the day, and night, people were friendly, and there is just so much to do and see here! Next time, if I go back to England, I wanna go back to London again and include Wales, Scotlnd and Ireland!! Yay!!! Will update my blog later on in the week for my Paris trip!