The finale-London

So, to end of my short weekend in London, we all decided to visit the British museum on the last day. We're spending the whole day there because its so big and there is so much to see. Ever since I was young, I'd always wanted to go to the British museum because I'm so fond of history and artefact's etm. Its completely free to get into the museum which is great, and there wasn't a queue either. But we'd  just checked out of our hotel and had our suitcases with us. So we had no choice but to leave our baggage in the cloakroom, and the queue for the cloakroom was really something else;and the costs were too. The probably make about £300 in profit each day from the cloakroom alone!
There is no real structure for your visit inside the museum.There is an information desk, covered in leaflets with a few staff members, who aren't too sure whats going on.' The history of the world in 100 objects' exhibition was on during out visit there, and to be honest, I wasn't too impressed with it. The woman at the information desk circles a few numbers on a map which was extremely confusing. it was a floor plan with numbers in orange circles and numbers in grey circles, which meant NOTHING to me at all! So we went into each of the rooms. Room one was impressive with a replica of the Rosetta stone. But after the first 5 minutes, I lost interest completely. There are too many exhibits in each of the rooms, nothing attracts your attention very well. Also there isn't much to attract children either. There is no computer screens with relative games on, or dress up clothes relative to the time period: consequently there is just a lot of children either running around or complaining, and I don't really blame them to be honest. It was a complete let down for me. My parents (49) both enjoyed it very much, but perhaps that's just because of their age. It wasn't really for me, there was too much to take in, and too much reading to be done, and nothing to stand out completely. I did enjoy the fact that photography was allowed inside though. Normally in museums like this your banned from taking photos, so this was a welcome change.

               If your going for the day, I advise you take your own packed lunch. As the queues are miles long, and the cost of the food is, as much of the things I've found in London, are too over-priced! When you have bought your lunch, your pretty much clueless on where to sit and eat. There are several long metal tables, all with about 20 metal stools. Just like school canteens, only your sitting with people you don't know. And those tables fill up pretty quickly, so you have to find your way through gangs of families all hoarding together on the floor. So I suggest, you go on a nice sunny day and either bring a packed lunch and eat it outside on the museum grounds, or eat your lunch before going into the museum!

London-part 3

We got the tube from bank to oxford street at around 5pm to go for tea, seeing as there was no where to eat near us. Even at 5pm Oxford street is busting with people! We try to avoid the largest of the crowds, and go straight to our desired destination; I advise that if you choose to go and eat out on/near oxford street that you decide where you are going first, otherwise its a constant battle with crowds. My parents chose to eat in Gavindas-the oldest vegetarian/vegan restaurant in London. Its tucked away on a quiet corner in Soho.
                  I wasn't that amazed at Gavindas if I'm honest. The style of serving there wasn't my kind of thing. There is a big refrigerator for drinks, and then beside that there is a buffet style food counter. there is no waiters there that show you to your seat; your just go in and sit down, and there isn't a menu on your table, you have to go back to the wall by the drinks to view the menu stuck to the wall. Then you ask the tired looking men behind the buffet counter what you'd like, and you pay for it there and then, and take it back to your table on a tray-much like a school canteen. Also, the atmosphere you go to look for in a restaurant wasn't there. There wasn't the bubbly friends meeting up, or families going out to celebrate a birthday dinner. just a handful of people.

                    After dinner we walked through China town to Leicester Square. The streets of china town were absolutely wonderful! There was a red ominous  glow coming from the street as the red,orange and yellow lanterns were zig-zagged  throughout the street. Outside restaurants, you could even taste the crispy duck in the air. The smell of the food and the hustle bustle of the streets were absolutely amazing and i didn't want to leave!

After all the excitement of china town, Leicester square had to be fabulous to live up to the expectations. Now, it was kind of dark, so I probably didn't get to see Leicester square in all its glory. And also there were big boards up around what I presumed to be the main square, they said "getting London ready for 2012" but I didn't see what they were trying to get Leicester square ready for. There can't be any games there, its in completely the wrong environment and its too small. So the only thing it could be for would be to look nice, but still I don't understand why they are doing that a year early! Anyway, there are several cinemas in Leicester square, all of them rather large. And they all are showing practically the same films, noting there at the moment took our fancy. So at the last cinema there was we decided to buy our tickets. Its not like an ordinary cinema though, its more like a theatre, you buy your tickets from the box office outside, and they're only showing one film in the extremely large cinema. The tickets were WAY too over-priced, it was £60 for 3 of us to go and see 'Paul'

                   I really enjoyed Paul, I still think the tickets were too expensive but the quality of film you saw was immense. I think the cinema was an old theatre, because there was a large stage and a safety curtain. Paul was a good film. I wouldn't say amazing because it wasn't that funny. There was a lot of swearing in it, and it was funny in some places. Just not the style of funny I like. Its more for the people who like comedies such as 'borat' I think.

London-part 2

After finishing Madame Tussuad's my Mum and I went on the tube to Baker street. The whole underground tube system absolutely amazes me, every station is decorated differently. Baker street has benches in an old fashioned style whereas Tottenham court road has walls all covered in murals. Its absolutely amazing how everything runs smoothly.
                 Upon arriving at baker street tube station we went to a nearby boots for a snack, there is defiantly no lack of cafes on baker street though, its almost overwhelmed by the amount of 'eat','subway' and 'pret a manger's there are. It just seems like an ordinary street to me, nothing much interesting there. We got to 221B baker street and there was a queue of about 14 people trying to get into the 'museum'. Its ridiculously over-priced and I think it should be free. Its exploiting people. So in the end I just had my photo taken outside.

Club Quarters-Gracechurch Street

                 Got the tube to Bank-the nearest one to our hotel. Saw the bank of England and the Royal exchange, they are both quite impressive buildings! As we walked up the desolate streets i realised the lack of people was due to the fact that we were staying in the financial part of London, so going at the weekend caused our hotel to be cheap. We were staying in 'Club quarters-Gracechurch street'. It was nice and quiet although the hospitality that you would want from the staff wasn't really there, we only spoke to one member of staff, and its all very quiet there-so it wouldn't be good for young families. But, if like me, you enjoy smart, stylish and classy hotels, this is right up your street. Although the initial part of trying to find your room is rather challenging-there are several corridors to go down which is terribly confusing, but once you've got used to that it was perfect. Our room was well decorated, and had sufficient facilities. A decent TV-although i did struggle to work it at first, an alarm clock/ipod docking station, and a kitchenette complete with microwave and mini fridge. The bathroom was small, and cramped but well cleaned too. Overall I did enjoy the room, although the tea making facilities were to be desired. The milk they provided was UHT milk, which in my opinion ruins a cup of tea. And there was no other shop to go to where you could buy some food. All the shops were closed because there main customers weren't at work.

London-part 1

Sitting on the train to London. Not much is happening and this is the reason why I dislike going standard, there is a small child crying and the mother talking really loudly. I wish people would take notice of the fact that other people do not want to be sitting in their cramped seats and listening to their conversations. The train is nearly at Euston now though, slightly over heated and grumpy, perhaps what waits for me at Euston will bring me joy.

                        It didn’t. What was waiting for me? My sister. My sister who thinks the world revolves around her. My sister that complains all the time. My sister who takes my money. No, i was not glad to see her, but I had to act like I was otherwise she’d start crying, or something ridiculous like that. We sat in Prêt A Manger for almost an hour listening to her whining about how confusing her life is and whether she should get the 4:40 train or 4:55. I just sat there and ate my sandwich, interfering with her moaning would then cause me to have to listen to more of it. Eventually, left Helen and Dad to go to the Tate. I’m having a much more exciting day with mum going to Madame Tussards.

                    Madame Tussauds is really impressive; the scale of the whole thing completely over whelms you. Upon entering the highly decorated building you go into the ‘A-list’ room. Filled with models so lifelike it’s unreal. It’s not just me who is impressed either. Tonnes of people of all ages, grasping onto their role models. From Jonny Deep and Robert Patterson to Cheryl Cole and Miley Cyrus. If you’re famous you’re in here. And as Madame Tussauds once said herself “you’re not truly famous, until you are in Madame Tussauds”. The whole system is fabulous, and has clearly had thought put into it. You start off in one room and go round in your own time, progressing through several different rooms filled with waxworks. Film stars, royalty, pop stars, world leaders, Bollywood stars, cultural figures, fashion, Hollywood stars, Sports men – just some of the rooms you can experience. There is something for everyone here. Small children can meet Shrek, and the older people can have their photo taken with Andy Warhol. One of the best things about it is the laid back atmosphere, there are practically no guards there and you are free to touch the models as you wish. 

                      The only thing I wasn’t really fond of inside Madame Tussards was Scream-inside the chamber of horrors. There are no waxworks, the lights are all turned off and you walk around a maze type thing, and actors dressed up jump out of dark corners. I came out with a nervous disposition!