Trip to London - Jan 8th 09

To be quite honest, I had a bad feeling when leaving the house that very day. Probably only because it was so early in the morning. Too early even for my taste, but I had to catch that airport bus at O'Connell street and to walk to get there... Anyhow, I was ill-starred that day. I queued at the Ryanair check-in counter only to be told to please pay the check-in fee at another desk. I did as I had been told and returned to the counter, received my boarding pass (after waiting again for ages!) and walked to the security check. I must have looked distressed, because one of the security guys said that now everything would be fine. It wasn't. After I had collected all my staff I read my boarding pass stating the name of a friend who had decided not to go with me. I had to go back to the counter where first of all nobody knew what to do; then, after returning to the woman who handed me the wrong boarding-pass over, she walked away, returned after quite a while and then asked me even more unfriendly than everybody else at this Ryanair check-in had been before, whether I had check-in earlier with her colleague. Well, obviously I had without knowing. However, I finally received my proper boarding pass and walked back through the security check.
The flight was fine, I even found the Stanstead Express Train without any further trouble and was happy about that fast journey to Liverpool Station. Then, I asked for the best traveller ticket for 2 days sightseeing in London; again the woman was neither friendly nor very keen on helping and sold me an expensive ticket too. I was so confused that I forgot my Visa card at her counter. I only noticed that 15 minutes later when I tried to pay the entrance to the Tower of London with my Visa card. I had to head back (luckily I managed to stay calm and composed, don't know how)... They found my card and I returned to the Tower.

Sightseeing was about to start... When we had landed at Stanstead it had been so foggy like in these old London crime movies, so foggy indeed that we all were surprised when we hit the ground. And just then, the fog lifted...

Before entering the tower however, a security guard had to search each bag...





There were quite a lot of old towers surrounding the White Tower in the middle (the old main building). Some of the towers were prison towers and graffiti had been carved in the stone walls.

And you could see a lot of ravens on the castle grounds. These birds are fed and well looked after, because it is said that if the ravens die, the monarchy would end...








After having had a small lunch next to the tower entrance, surrounded by pigeons, I tried to find Temple Church. Instead I found the Royal Palace of Justice an amazing 19th century building. I had to get my bag checked again and was not allowed to take pictures. (I wouldn't have walked through the security check, but that nice guy saw me admiring the height of the entrance hall and made me go through. His colleague, less impressed, pointed out to me again that I weren't allowed to take pictures, and the nice security man confirmed that to him on my behalf. Cute.)
This building really was awesome. From the main hall you could follow different directions each bringing you to different parts of this massive complex with its empty court rooms and offices. I could imagine this to be a wizard's school as well.


It was almost 3pm, so I decided to have a look at Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, although I knew I would return there on Sunday. But anyway, I couldn't wait to see it again...
I took the subway (I really learned to love transportation that is faster, driving at shorter intervalls and more reliable than Dublin bus). And had a short stroll over the bridge to get a good view on Big Ben and the London Eye.