London - Memories that will be treasured for life

Here's some of the highlights.

1/ The pubs on a Sunday for a roast dinner and a pint. Every pub is unique,if you ask the locals they all have their favorite.

2/ If you're there and the Nottinghill Carnival is on, go. The mass of colour, dancing and people is awesome, the costumes are extravagant and the atmosphere is electric.

3/ Visit the markets if you have the time. The bars near the markets are interesting to visit on market day. The better markets were:
The Portobello Road market, Nottinghill.
The Camden Street Market, Camden.

4/ My fav attractions were:

The Dungeon of Horrors at London Bridge, full of scenes of torture, means of killing people, all things to know??!!??

Madame Taussauds.

The Hard Rock Cafe, plenty of tasty delights and atmosphere.

Convent Garden, the musicians, the markets and the atmosphere.

A walk in Hyde Park, you can take in Speakers Corner, the Serpentine Lake, just laze around on the grass and at weekends there's a market near the Lancaster Gate area.

Quick Tips:

A couple of the best pubs to visit at nights were "The Ashes" in Bayswater on a Tuesday night and "The Globe" in the vacinity of Madame Toussauds.

If you're a real party animal, there's a place called "The Church" held every Sunday, you'll have to try and locate it as it changes venues regularly.

If you're going to the Hard Rock Cafe prepare to wait in line. If there's a number of you, take it in turns and while one waits the others head to the pub. That goes for all the busy venues.

Always keep an eye on your bag. Like every major city, London has it's fair share if pickpockets. If you've got a daypack, always wear it on the front of you. It might not look cool but at least you know where your money and other items are.

Check with the tourist information offices as to the events that are happening at the time of your visit so you don't miss anything.
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Best Way To Get Around:

The city of London is packed full of Public transport:
- There's the underground that's easy to use
- There's the double decker buses
- There's the London black taxis
All the above are London attractions anyway, so use them.
- For the day sightseers there's the sightseeing double deckers buses where you buy one ticket and can get off and get back on the bus at as many sights as you wish. This is a handy ticket to get.
If you're into walking, London's central attractions are pretty close to each other, so if it's a nice day, why not?

This is a German Youth Hostel but is not as budget as the international youth hostels.

There are two types of rooms available. The hotel style rooms, housed in the newer wing, (more expensive) and the cheaper twin or triple share rooms, housed in the old wing (more like hostel accommodation). The Rooms within the old wing have shared bathrooms, while the more expensive hotel rooms have their own ensuites.

All the rooms get served daily.

The hotel has a restaurant that serves delicious english breakfasts and there is an in-house bar.

The closest tube (train) stop is Lancaster Gate or Paddington Station.

If you like American food such as hamburgers, BLT's, and similar dishes this is a great place to come, the food is always great, they do serve drinks and you can be as rowdy as you like.

This is a venue where you have to cue for a table, the bigger the group, the longer the wait. The advantage of going in a group is that you can take turns at standing in line while the others go to the pub across the road.

This place has plenty of atmosphere and you munch on your food while the docile tones of rock-n-roll are being played through speakers. Do not go to this restaurant for a quiet romanic dinner.

Closest tube stop Hyde Park Corner.

It's a place to venture to to escape the concert jungle.

It's a place where kids can race around, kick a ball, get some exercise, or adults can take a few minutes to relax, read a book in the sun or have a quiet picnic lunch, whatever you fancy.

What's good is it doesn't cost a thing.

If you are on a sightseeing trek you can use the park as a way to reach the many different attractions in London, but be warned- some of them are quite a distance.

There are street markets located at the Lancaster Gate side of the park during the weekends. The stalls are mostly Arts and Crafts stalls.

Harrods is located at the opposite, Knightsbridge side, Speakers Corner at the Marble Arch corner and Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace at the High Street Kensington side.

You will have to check with the London tourist information office as to when this event is on.

It is a street parade, held at Ladbroke Groove, Nottinghill, and a great cultural experience, it is a miniture version of what I would imagine a South American street carnival would look and be like, having not actually been to one, but hearing all about them.

If you are in London, when it is on, it's a great day out, full of vibrant colours, loads of fantastic costumes and music from many different nationalities.

What's great is you get all this for the cost of the train or bus ticket to Nottinghill Gate.

When we went we spent the day, moving and dancing along the sidewalks, following the parade.

Don't take any valuables with you to this venue and only take the money you think you'll need, as with other popular events, pick pockets are out in force.

These gatherings are numerous and usually rotate around the main events on the kiwi and aussie calanders, such as ANZAC Day, Xmas Eve, New Years Eve, etc.

Although they are advertised as Kiwi/Aussie Events, people from all warps of life and nationalities are drawn there to help them celebrate.

Be warned, these events are not for the people who want a quiet night to catch up with old mates, there is plenty of drunken partying going on.

Live Kiwi/Aussie bands usually play at the venues, and if it's outdoors there's usually a B-B-Q and plenty of sausage sandwiches to go around.

Camden Market:

This colourful weekend street market is great to wander around and take in the sights as well as the wide range of wares that are available for purchase.

The available range of wares vary from jewelry to clothes and shoes.

A highlight for a trip to the markets is a visit to one of the pubs in the area, which are interesting and are usually very busy.

We used to go to the markets on a Sunday and then venture to one of the pubs for a Sunday lunch and refreshment.

Portobello Road Markets:

This street market is great for those who want to find an antique item at a reasonable price. There are three main types of wares that can be purchased from this market, antiques, fruit and veg and the usual items such as clothes.

The bottom end of the market, near the Nottinghill Gate Tube stop, is reserved for the antique stalls, while the middle section is reserved for the fruit and veg and finally at the top end of the markets there are the clothes stalls and the usual items you would expect to find at any markets.

Saturday's the best day to go.

One Monday my flatmate, Claire, asked me if I'd like to go to Falmouth, Cornwall and stay at her Grandparents house.

Having never been to that part of the countryside I decided it would be a great idea and glady said "yes".

So the following Friday we packed our weekend bags, they were a bit smaller than our travelling packs, and got on a train in London heading to Penzance and changed at Truro to get to Falmouth. Claire's Uncle was there at the station to pick us up and take us to her Grandparents house where they were both waiting for us.

The following day Claire's Uncle and Grandfather wanted to take us sailing, as her uncle had a small yacht and couldn't wait to take us out.

What a way to see the sheltered harbour of Falmouth than on the water. We went across to small isle that was in the harbour where we climbed ashore for a brief look around and found an old church. The rest of the day was spent tacking backwards and forwards across the small harbour just having a ball.

Claire was busy the next day with family matters, so I asked if I could be dropped of at the coastal walkway that wound it's way from the Black Swan Lake, a lake that dates back to the prehistoric times, located just south of Falmouth, to Pendennis Castle which is located on Pendennis Head near Falmouth. The walkway took me along the cliff tops, down past the small beaches and up along the cliff tops again until I reached the castle. The beaches weren't the best, but it was great to get the fresh air and nothing is more relaxing than a walk along the ocean.

Pendennis Castle, a castle built by Henry VIII, was open for visitors when I arrived but I didn't go in as I had to get back to the point where I set out from at a certain time and I was running out of time fast. The view was fantastic though.

Apparently the castle houses a walk through diorama display of gunners arming the guns and shouting orders.

Unfortunately, no sooner did the weekend seem to start it had ended and we were back on the train back to London again.

One Saturday Claire and I were just sitting in our flat, in Lancaster Gate, London, wondering what we were going to do for the day as it was that great outside. After throwing a couple of ideas about we finially came up with the decision to go to Bath, by train, for the day.

So we got some warmer clothes on and heading of to Paddington Station, where we got on the first train to Bath.

Once there we located the tourist information office, near Westgate Street to get a map and information on some of the sites. The time was now approximately 11.30am so we didn't have a lot of time and we were walking.

We wanted to do the trip as cheap as possible so we decided to wander up past the Pulteney Bridge, via the Roman Baths and Pump Room and up to the Royal Cresent and we had to get food and drink as well.

The first port of call was the Roman Baths and the Pump House. The admission fee was 6 pounds and it was worth every cent of it. Bath was an old Roman Spa City and the baths were later reconstructed in the Victorian Era. It is interesting to look around at the pools and find out how the Romans actually heated them.

After leaving the Baths we headed towards the River Avon, along North Parade Road. Once at the river we followed Pierrepont Street to Pulteney Bridge where we stood for a while watching the water and took a couple of photos.

From here we found our way, through a maze of streets to the Royal Cresent, via the Circus, along the rows of houses that had been inhabited by the likes of Jane Austen and David Livingstone.

One of the houses on the Royal Cresent was having a painting Exhibition and was a museum, where you could pay a admitance fee of 6 pounds, and wander around and view one of the magnificent homes. Not a bad life style at all. I wish.

A friend, John, who hails from London, picked us (Sharon and myself) up in his car one day and took us on an excusion out in the South West English Countryside.

Our first stop for the day was at Stonehenge, on the Salisbury Plains. It was a misty morning and the Stonehenge stones had an eerie appearance as they peeked out through the mist. This added a certain mystic to the place and you could have almost conjured up visions of ancient druids and ceromonies that would have taken place there in the past. Alas though the entire site has been fence off so you can't get too close.

We then went to Salisbury and Winchester, where we went to the Salisbury and Winchester Cathedrals. Within the Winchester Cathedral, mounted on the wall, is a piece of ancient history. It is the original King Authurs table. We had a hard time believing that so many knights could squeeze around such a small table, but you just never know.

From Winchester we headed to Bournemouth where we went to the beach to sit in the sand and have lunch and took photos in front of the quaint little beach huts.

Then it was on the Lulworth Cove, home of fossilized trees, which can found on the coast line, after a short stroll. It is also home to a great winery, sorry the name remains a blank at this stage, but it is the only one there, where we sampled some of the fabulous wines and ciders and bought a few bottles to take home.

After purchasing our goods we were on the home straight, but not without a stop off to view the futility giant, Cerne Abbas. We weren't game to see whether it is true or not that you can get pregnant if you sit on him.

The last stop of the day was at Avebury, where we had enough daylight left to view the two large circles of stones that surround the entire village. This was great because you can actually get to touch these stones and walk amongst them. We stopped for dinner and a couple of beers at the pub, great meal - roast dinner, cheap too.

John, out of the goodness of his heart, offered Sharon, Leanne and I another outing to the English Countryside. Who were we to turn it down as this trip offered us a once in a lifetime opportunity - no-one will ever see this again.

He took us to an ceremony to celebrate the finding of King Alfreds Corner Stone - the corner stone of the three counties Sussex, Somerset and Dorset, if my memory serves me correctly.

We arrived at a small pub in a unknown corner of Sussex County at approximately 10.00am, on Saturday morning, where we had a couple for the road. There were a few people milling around but nothing prepared us for what we saw next.

We then walked a short distance into the woods and were greeted by people dressed in old Medievil clothing, who were there, dressed especially, for the ceremony. We wished someone had told us, we didn't mind getting dressing up, if the occassion called for it.

The ceremony involved a few words being said, then everyone had to go up to the stone place your hand on it and walk around it, either anti-clockwise or clockwise, not sure which, but we did it.

What a great start to an eventfull day, which continued in We Return to the English Countryside - Installment Two.

After the events of that morning, what else could we do to follow it up?

A return trip to Stonehenge and the stone circles of Avebury, that Sharon and I had visited on the first day trip, was on the cards as Leanne had never been and they were pretty close to the area where we started of in. This time Stonehenge was completely visible and many photos were taken both here and at Avebury.

We then ventured to see an ancient burial mound, Old Sarum, where we actually ventured inside. Sharon didn't like it and said all her hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. Needless to say she didn't last in there long. John told us stories about how he and his friends used to stay in there over night and from the candle wax on the ground I'd say there were a few others that did also.

From there it was to see the Midhurst Abbey, which is in ruins, but is on a lovely piece of land. Great photo shots.

Our last adventure, before going home, was to go to the Aldershot Stockcar Races. It had been a while since any of us had been, so we enjoyed every minute of it, although we were freezing our butts off. We didn't go dressed for the cooler temperatures at night. We stood on one of the corners so if there were any accidents we'd get a birds eye view, but the proceedings were uneventful.

The parents of the head barmaid in the bar I worked at in London were the care takers at a small castle, called Chiddingstone Castle, in Kent, so on one of my days off I decided I would go and visit the castle as it was open to the public.

I boarded a country rail train from Victoria Station to Tunbridge Wells, where I had to get a taxi to the Castle, which wasn't far.

Chiddingstone Castle was a residence of the Stewart Royals when they were in rule and, from recollection, Mary Queen of Scotts stayed there as have some other royals.

The castle is in no way the most grand castle I visited while in Europe, but was very pleasant to wander around it's grounds, through the woods, past a stream and through the Orangery out the back of the castle.

After paying a small admission fee I went inside for a look around. I couldn't go upstairs, as that is where the caretakers live, but I could view the magnificent staircase and the stained glass window with the families coat of arms. The fee also allowed you to have a look around the lower floor, with it's suits of armour, stained glass windows and furniture.

After getting a taxi back to Tunbridge Wells I had a quick look around the picturesque village before boarding the train back to London after a very pleasant day out.

One overcast day I was wondering what to do and it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't been to see Windsor Castle yet so I changed into some warmer clothes and off I went.

I caught the train to Windsor Station and walked up to the castle. The queues were quite long so I decided to walk down to the River Thames a see what was down there.

Across the other side of the river was Eton College so I crossed the small bridge a started to walk around the surrounding wall until I came across a small doorway which opened out to a large room that housed a museum dedicated to the college, it's previous students, teachers, punishments handed out over the years and the college's rooms. It was very interesting and well worth the visit.

After exiting I decided it was time to try my luck and joined the queue to enter the Castle. The wait was worth it, as the furnishings, artwork and paintings on display were fantastic and the extra I paid to go and see Queen Mary's dolls house (a small scale replica of Windsor Castle) was worth it and was most impressive. The extra that you pay to view the dolls house is given to charity, as requested by the Queen.

My last port of call for the day was to see the Madame Toussauds Wax Museum replica of the royal train station od Windsor, which is located adjacent the Windsor Train Station. This museum has life size wax figures of the royals, the royal staff and the guards greeting the royals as they are getting of a carriage. It also has a display of the Old Royal Steam Train that used to transport the royal family.