London Pt 3

9th January 2013
Despite missing my free tour of Greenwich, I decided to explore the area by myself. But first, I made my way down to Hyde Park.






Hyde Park was enormous and I got really bored walking through it after a while. I was contemplating renting the city bicycles however it started to drizzle and considering I hadn't ridden a bike in over 3 years, I decided that it probably wasn't a good idea.

I caught the Tube to Canada Water. I had some issues with the Tube, the main one being that I consistently got motion sickness. I wasn't sure if it was because I was sitting sideways or if it was the smell of the cleaning products or the speed, I just felt nauseous 99% of the time. London was also the first 'big' city feel in terms of public transport. Perhaps I just missed out on the rush hour crowd in NYC, but it always felt quite relaxing. But being crammed into the carriage was another experience in itself. I also loved how there were repeated announcements over the PA at the escalators which reminded people to stand on the left hand side. Now, that is something which bugs me in Sydney. Far too many people don't abide by this rule and it frustrates me when people don't walk on the right side of the footpath. I digress.







Finally the skies cleared up and the first blue sky since I landed in London! From the station, it was a 40 minute walk to my final destination of Greenwich Park and it was quite lovely walking through a residential area of London. It reminded me a lot of my feelings when I was in the US; continually I would think to myself, 'wow this looks just like it does in the movies/ on tv'.











Greenwich is famous for the Royal Observatory, or more specifically the prime meridian line.


The walk back to Canada Water was equally lovely, especially with the setting sun. This was my last day in London.

My Overall Thoughts
London was amazing and has such a big-city feel. In some respects, even moreso than NYC. It is so cosmopolitan and just incredible. It has such a lovely vibe and it is a place that I could see myself living in (like so many other Australians). Oddly enough, it felt a lot like home, but not quite. I am not entirely sure where the sense of familiarity comes from considering physically, it is quite unlike Sydney and yet there is something there that I can't place my finger on.

Would I re-visit?
Definitely. I definitely didn't see enough of the city. That being said, I am not sure if it will be on my list of destinations for my next visit to Europe since there are so many cities that I would love to visit.