Day 5 in London…
Date: July 5, 2009
Checklist Item Crossed #14 — Buckingham Palace
8.30am – Woke up, almost late again. Took a quick shower, waited for Y to get ready; 9.30am – Trains still weren’t running from South Ealing, so we took the bus and a train from another station to St. James’ Park; 11am – Arrived at the Buckingham Palace, got a nice viewing spot….or so we thought….; 11.30am – Saw some guards marching past, including the cavalries. Took some pics of the procession as we saw the guards head towards the palace and entered the gates; 11.40am – Waited for the Changing of the Guards, took some pics of ourselves; 11.50am – Realized that the Changing of the Guards was actually taking place within the enclosed palace grounds instead of the spacious piazza we we stood waiting at….stupid!! 12pm – Walked to the palace gates, managed to get some lame shots of the guards in line. It was almost impossible to get a good view of the Changing of the Guards because the crowd that gathered around the row of gates to get a glimpse (GLIMPSE!!) of the event was so thick – we had to extend our arms above some people’s head to even take a lame pic of the guards, nevermind actually watching anything! 12.30pm – NOT impressed with the Changing of the Guards. Y and I decided to look for St. James’ Palace instead because my London Guidebook had said that visitors can take pics with the guards on duty outside the palace; 12.15pm – Could not find St. James Palace. Took some pics with Y at an unknown building instead.
My Best Shot
Checklist Item Crossed #15 — Embankment
1pm – Arrived at Trafalgar Square, took a train to Embankment. Linda, my ex-boss, insisted that I visit the gardens at Embankment when I travel to London, so there we were; 1.15pm – Discovered the comfort of Embankment’s park deck chairs. Apparently there was going to be an outdoor mini-concert later on, so the organizers were preparing the stage nearby; 1.45pm – Packed some lunch (I had Rice and Chili Con Carne, Y had some Chicken Curry thing) and headed back to the deck chairs at the park, on which we sat on while we ate and enjoyed an hour or so soaking up the Summer sun. Took more pics.
Me + Union Jack
Checklist Item Crossed #16 — Tower of London and Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge
2.15pm – Headed towards Tower Hill alone. Y and I parted ways because she had a colleague’s farewell picnic to attend later on; 2.45pm – Purchased my ticket to the Tower of London, watched a demo at the Siege exhibit; 3.30pm – Joined the Yeoman Warders tour of the Tower; 4.15pm – Checked out the Crown Jewels exhibit. That was impressive; 4.45pm – Checked out the Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill exhibition; 5.30pm – Tower closed for the day, walked out to see the Tower Bridge from a distance. Met Kim, a Korean girl, who helped take some pics of me with the Bridge and vice versa; 6pm – Kim and I walked to and along the Tower Bridge, took more pics. Too bad the Tower Bridge exhibition had closed for the day too.
Tower of London
Siege Exhibit
The White Tower
Checklist Item Crossed #17 — Hyde Park
7.15pm – Kim did not have any plans after visiting the Tower, so I invited her to follow me to Hyde Park — my last “Place-To-Visit” in London. She agreed. We arrived at Hyde Park after taking the train. I had an ice cream, while I waited for Kim to have her Hot Dog dinner; 7.45pm – Visited The Serpentine, Hyde Park’s famous lake. Oh, WOW….the view was absolutely breathtaking! Again, my camera battery had inconveniently died on me while visiting the Tower Bridge. Kim offered to take some pics of me with her DSLR camera and promised to email me once she got back to Korea a month later (I have yet to hear from her) Love Hyde Park, btw; 8.20pm – Kim and I parted ways. It was bad enough that the Piccadilly lines were closed, now the stupid train was not running past Hammersmith on District lines either. Took another train to NottingHill Gate where I had to change to the Central line instead; 9pm – Arrived at Ealing Broadway, took a bus back to South Ealing; 9.30pm – Arrived at Y’s place, checked my email, finished packing my stuff, took a shower, went to bed around midnight.
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Day 6 in London
Date: July 6, 2009
Leaving on a Jetplane
Y and I left her apartment early in the morning, she had to go to work while I was headed towards the London Liverpool St. Station, where I had to take the Stansted Express to the airport. I was leaving London for good. Y rode with me until Leicester Square and we bid goodbye when she had to get off. It had been a really fun trip and we had some nice times together. 
I arrived at Stansted Airport around 11am. Had a light lunch at one of the airport cafes and watched the RyanAir planes resting on the tarmac. I was to fly in one of those planes at anytime soon…..
1.50pm – Goodbye, London…
4.40pm – Hellooooo, Stockholm!!! 
