London (2012)

[Martin Hash]

I was leaving Great Britain via London but because my wife, Gwynne, had snuck into England (another story), avoiding passport control, she had to fly out the same way she came in, Newcastle to Dublin then home. We had been in London before; seen Big Ben, The Tower of London, London Bridge, etc. so she wasn't to bummed to start with until we found out the Summer Olympics were setting up simultaneously with the Queen's 60th Anniversary Jubilee. Turns out we just happened to hit the place during a once-in-a-lifetime frenzy, and Gwynne fits right into crowds. She would have loved it but she had to start her convoluted journey home, and so left me there. I must admit, it was a good time, but when I told her about it later, I just said it was nothing, really.

London Bridge s.JPG

Big Ben.jpg

Tower of London s.JPG

I had one of those cheap discount tickets that are non-refundable, which was slammed home when Gwynne was denied entry into England so missed her flight, and mine flight left out of Gatwick Airport, I decided to travel the 2 hours and sleep in the airport that night so as not to have any problems. I got to the airport just as the information desk was closing, and seeing them pulling down the bars incited me to quickly ask about my flight AND IT WAS A GOOD THING I DID. Turns out, my flight had been rescheduled out of Heathrow Airport, back in London, even earlier in the morning. Luckily, buses ran all night, so I was able to get back into London about 2 am. I didn't even sleep, just sat in front of baggage check-in, AND IT WAS A GOOD THING I DID because the flight was overbooked, and I wasn't on the list. Only because I was the first one in line, and I wouldn't move, did they assign me a seat. I never since bought another cheap ticket, preferring to always buy directly from the airline, though I do use the flight crawler apps to show me what tickets to buy. It doesn't even cost any more money most of the time.

2012 Summer Olympics s.JPG

Queens 60th Jubilee s.jpg

[Montegriffo]

I was lucky enough to go to the games. Tickets had to be allocated via a lottery as so many people wanted to go.
An Equadorian I was working with got two tickets to see GB in the basketball and invited me along.
So armed with my team GB t-shirt and enough Morrocan hash to last us the day we got on the train.
The atmosphere was fantastic, people from all over the world come together to celebrate sports.
The basketball arena was packed solid and the noise was like nothing I'd experienced before or since.
The whole day including shirt, train, food and ticket cost me less than £80.
A fantastic day out that I really recommend if you ever get the chance.
Oh and the match was won by Brazil by 3 points. The loss didn't spoil our day though.

[K@th]

London is definitely on our bucket list. We actually had the trip booked two years ago, but had to cancel due to schedule conflicts.

[Montegriffo]

There's a lot to see in London. You would need at least two weeks to do it justice.
The Tower should be a priority, you won't find a better preserved Norman castle in Britain.
Very busy in the Summer. I would recommend early Spring for a trip to London.