London for A Friend

I was tidying up my folder on my laptop when I found this letter. I wrote it for a friend in VHL. She had a plan to go to London in May and she asked me about the places I visited when I went there last February this year. Instead of writing down the lists, I decided to make it into story.

Wageningen, 12 May 2014

Dear,

London has been my dream for years (14 years, to be exact) and it felt awesome that I finally went there. It’s like I want to jump to the past, meet 13-year-old me, pat her shoulder and say, “You made it, Kid!”

Anyway, London is always busy. You will meet many tourists there. Everywhere. If you meet Asian couple wearing couple t-shirts, chances are they are from South Korea. If you meet people that look like me, talk like me, they may be from Indonesia, or Thailand.

I have been to some places in London, but my favourite is South Bank and Portobello Road.

South Bank is actually an area adjacent to Thames River. You can start walking from London Eye to Tower Bridge. It’s a long walk, but if I could do it, I believe it will be easy for you.

London Eye

You can enjoy a ride on London Eye for experience

What I love about South Bank is the ambience. It’s really a nice place to walk. You can see some street performances there. If you are tired (I doubt it, but it can be), you can sit on a bench while having ice cream or popcorn (like I did). You can do people watching or simply enjoying Thames River before your eyes.

One of the street performances I enjoyed

If you go further, you will see second-hand bookstores. This is also another reason why I love this place!

Heaven!

You will pass some bridges (oh yes, London has many), starts from Hungerford Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Millenium Bridge, London Bridge and Tower Bridge, the landmark of London!

People mistakenly think this is London Bridge, but no, this is Tower Bridge

So, that’s about South Bank. My second favourite is Portobello Road. Have you ever watched Notting Hill? The setting of that movie is in Portobello Road. But I love that place for different reason.

Portobello Road is…what can I say…classy. And antique. And also creative. First you will see colourful building.

 

Yeah, it is only a small road

Then you will see antique stores. They sell things like the market we visited in Barcelona. Remember? But Portobello Road is way nicer with the better quality products I guess. I also found creative stores there. They design their own books or t-shirt, they create inspiring words. The atmosphere is so positive I think I can spend the whole day there. Well, this may be just me. Maybe you have different opinion haha!

That’s my favourite place.

Now I will tell you about must-visit places in London: Big Ben, Parliament House, and Westminster Abbey. 

They are close to each other. In fact, Big Ben is a part of Parliament House. Remember the South Bank? It’s only a walk away from these three places. 

Parliament House with iconic Big Ben

Then since you go to a kingdom, you also must visit Buckingham Palace.

Tourists..tourists.. everywhere

In front of Buckingham Palace, there’s a park where you can sit and enjoy the day. It was sunny when I went there. I know you will love the sun. 

And oh, you also can enjoy pancake or french fries or ice cream. Talking about ice cream (again), I still owe you ice cream. Let me know when you feel like you want some.

If you are lucky, you will meet this little guy

From the palace, you can go straight to Trafalgar Square and National Gallery. The good news is it’s free to enter National Gallery.

National Gallery, in the same area with Trafalgar Square

Enough for the must-visit places.

However, if you still have plenty of time, you can go Picadilly Circus and Oxford Circus. There’s nothing there. Well you can find branded products in Oxford Street but that’s just not my thing. I went there just because it’s famous circus (road junction) in London. 

Near Picadilly Circus, you can find China Town. This place is important for me because I found Indonesian restaurant there.

I went here twice only to eat Indonesian food

Picadilly Circus

I also went to Stamford Bridge for Chelsea FC, but I don’t think you like football. So you can skip that. I went to Camden Market as well. People say the price there is cheaper if you want to buy souvenirs. But I think it’s the same with any other places, only Camden offers more variety with more shops.

If you love Harry Potter, you can go to King’s Cross Station to see that famous Platform 9 ¾. There’s also Harry Potter shop near the platform. I almost – almost – bought this gorgeous Gryffindor sweater but it’s very expensive. So I bought the pin instead hehe..

People are queuing for Platform 9 ¾

I also went to Madamme Tussauds Museum. Actually that’s the first place I wanted to visit in London. The 13-year-old me read an article about this wax museum from a magazine. There were two pictures: one was the real actor, the other was the wax figure. The reader must guess who the real person was and I got it wrong. I was amazed with the detailed of the wax figure. Then I told myself that one day I would go to this museum to see it myself. 

You know, I can go to Madamme Tussauds in Amsterdam, or even I can go to the nearest in Bangkok. But what I want was Madamme Tussauds London, so there I went to.

When I think about it, it’s funny that a dream can start from reading an article in magazine.

If I can go to London again, I think I will love to go to Windsor Palace. I heard it’s nice and you can enter it, unlike Buckingham.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay in London. I know you will. The places I mentioned are only my preferences, I’m sorry I can’t tell you the best place to have a big glass of beer or the coolest place to dance haha!

Cheers,

A