London Day 13: Borough Market, Tate Modern, House Of Parliament & National Gallery

My Europe travelogue so far…
London Day 1: Flying With MAS, Heathrow Connect & Piccadilly Circus
London Day 2: Covent Garden, British Museum, British Library & Phantom Of The Opera Musical
London + Rome Day 3: YHA Oxford Street, Gatwick Airport, easyJet & Tiring Rome
Rome Day 4: Six Beds, Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill (Part 1)
Vatican City + Rome Day 4: Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica & St. Peter’s Square (Part 2)
Rome + Pisa Day 5: Santa Maria Maggiore Church, Pensione Rinascente & Leaning Tower Of Pisa
Pisa + Venice Day 6: Piazza Garibaldi, St. Mark’s Basilica & The Grand Canal
Venice Day 7: Foresteria Valdese, Libreria Acqua Alta & Thello Train
Paris Day 8: Hotel Andrea Rivoli, Palais Garnier & Raining
Paris Day 9: Paris Panoramic Views, Notre Dame Cathedral & Eiffel Tower
Paris + Versailles Day 10: Château de Versailles & Musée du Louvre
Paris Day 11: Roland Garros, Shopping & Seine River Sunset
Paris + London Day 12: Eurostar, Primark & Marble Arch

Day 13… ahh so much walking!

Breakfast is blueberries bought at Oxford Street the day before (I think it cost £1.50) and biscuit from Paris. Why the light breakfast? Coz we’re going to Borough Market!

We took tube to London Bridge stop and Borough Market is just about 2 minutes away.

This is one of the trading area of Borough Market called Jubilee Market.

Things to see, buy and eat at Borough Market!

We had our breakfast at a stall called Kappacasein in Green Market area. Do check out our ‘unique’ breakfast from the link provided ya.

I like this stall which sell alcoholic drinks. Love the colorful boards.

Wild animal burgers. Zebra, elk, camel and kangaroo burgers… I think I’ll pass.

This stall is selling blueberries for only £1. That’s the cheapest I’ve seen during my time in London. And I think the packaging is larger than the one I bought the day before. The avocados are cheap too. Like 5 for £1???

And just before we leave, we bought spinach and feta cheese tart £2.50 and brownie for brunch. The brownie is okay but the tart ain’t delicious. Ohh and a compulsory cappuccino to go for £2.20.

Gotta say I’m a little disappointed at Borough Market which I’ve been looking forward to visit for a long time. It’s not as big as I expected and the fresh produce is quite limited. For me, Queen Victoria Market at Melbourne is the market that rocks my world. Hahaha

Then we had a nice walk along River Thames.

London Bridge! It’s just a boring bridge eh?
You know? I grow up mistaking Tower Bridge as London Bridge? I think many people did too. I think it had got to do with the game cum song ‘London Bridge is falling down, falling down….”. Thankfully I realized it during my late teens. Hahaha

A replica of the Golden Hinde – Sir Francis Drake’s galleon.

Shakespeare’s Globe – another place I long to visit but only get to see it from outside *#$^)@. My sis refused to watch Shakespeare play here… stating that they’re not original!?! Hahaha I’m not sure what she meant by that. Perhaps she means the building which is the replica of the original Globe Theatre (which Shakespeare belonged). So we give it a miss. I’ll be back next time!

I enjoyed the pleasure of walking along River Thames while sipping my coffee. Kekeke The weather is nice and the sky is so blue! The bridge in front is the fame Millennium Bridge, a walking pedestrian bridge. But we’re not crossing there yet.

Coz we’re going to Tate Modern, an art gallery showcasing modern and contemporary art from 1900 to the present day. The building is not much of an art but wait till you see inside. Btw admission is free!

The architecture of the building may not look as good as Louvre or Vatican Museum but I thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I guess modern art is my cup of tea. We spent a good 1 hour in Tate Modern.

My favorite painter in Tate Modern is Pablo Picasso. This is one of his famous work called “Bust of a Woman” from 1944.

View of St Paul Cathedral and Millennium Bridge from Tate Modern.

Close up view of St Paul Cathedral.

Crossing the Millennium Bridge.

Thames River. Though murky at least its free from rubbish unlike the river back in my home. Hahaha

That’s Shakespeare’s Globe on the right most. I can see lots of people there.

It’s really windy! We stopped some many times to pose with ‘uncle’ St Paul. Haha

St Paul Cathedral! The church where Prince Charles and Princess Diana was married.

Love the architecture. The aura of this church is so strong… I keep looking at it. Hahaha
Photo from TZ-7.

I actually wanted to visit St Paul in the evening for the evensong coz admission will be free. Unfortunately we decided to make some changes to our itinerary so it’s St Paul in the afternoon. Another I’ll be back next time… more reason to visit London again (which I dunno when… now so pokai!) Hahaha

So here’s a tip, if you’re too cheapskate like me to pay nearly £15 for admission to St. Paul Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, go for the evensong in the evening where you get to go in for free but of course you have to stay there for about an hour to listen to the hymn and song which is not a bad thing actually coz I heard they’re really nice.

Another stunning views of St Paul. So ‘delicious’!

This is the west side of the church which I never knew existed until that day.

First we witnessed a wedding in Venice and now this? We’re so lucky. Haha I’ve never seen scene like this before in real life! Of course this is just a passing thing in Vegas.

Routemaster Heritage Bus Route 15 – a one of a kind traditional London bus. Only 2 types of routemaster exist today; route 15 bus and route 9 bus. These buses being old and antique has not air-conditioned and you enter and exit the bus by the rear.

Heritage route 15 bus take on this route: Trafalgar Square — Strand — Aldwych — Fleet Street — Cannon Street — Monument — Tower Hill while route 9 bus take on this route: Olympia-Warwick Gardens – High Street Kensington – Royal Albert Hall — Hyde Park Corner — Piccadilly Circus — Trafalgar Square. Do try ’em when in London.

Rear entrance and exit of Routemaster Heritage bus.

After bumping into the heritage bus, we found another treasure! It’s a shop that sell toffee, traditional sweets and confectionery by the name of Hardys Original Sweet Shop. What else? We paid ’em a visit. Then we walked to Blackfriars and took a tube to Westminster stop.

Upon exiting the underground station, House of Parliament is in plain view!

Westminster Bridge.

Westminister Bridge and London Eye.
It’s people-jam on the bridge!

London Eye, another icon of London.
We don’t plan to ride the London Eye hence it’s just snap and go. Maybe next time. 😉

Palace of Westminster aka House of Parliament and Big Ben… taken at Westminster Bridge. Love the building. If you go near it, you can appreciate it even more; the art and shades of the bricks/tiles that make up this magnificent building.

Big Ben! The name Big Ben refer to the bell tower and also the clock.

Then it’s another short walk away to another stunning place…

Westminster Abbey; the coronation and burial site of the British monarchs. This is also another case which I never knew Westminster Abbey has – the north entrance! It’s so so beautiful. It’s the church where Queen Elizabeth married and coronated, the church which Princess Diana’s funeral was held and also the place his son, Prince William married Catherine Middleton.

The west side of Westminster Abbey which we are (I believe) all familiar with. Stunning!

Then we walked for 10 minutes to Horse Guards Road. On one side is this St James Park. And on the other side is government buildings and also a large courtyard called Horse Guards Parade. There are a couple of park I wanted to visit in London and St James Park is one of them but unfortunately we have no time for it. I didn’t even get to visit any park and market in Paris. Double boo hoo. I’ll show you later the park of our final choice.

This building is called Horse Guards and the courtyard is the Horse Guards Parade. And why did we come here? I’ll let you know it the next, next photo.

Old Admiralty Building beside Horse Guards.

So the reason we came here is because we wanted to have a look at the troops/guards on duty. Gotta say it’s hard work being a troop/guard because besides basking in the sun you need to ‘pose’ for the camera. Hehe

Then we had late lunch at 2.30pm at a pub called Silver Cross near to Trafalgar Square. Oh yeah English pub is an interesting place.

Nelson’s Column.

National Gallery and countdown to London Olympics timer at Trafalgar Square. When we visited here, it was 62 days away to London Olympics.

We spent the rest of our evening here at National Gallery, an art museum until closing time. Admission is free of charge. Even at closing time we didn’t have enough time to visit the shop there (souvenir is a must!).

After visiting museums (no matter art or artifacts) at Paris, Vatican City and London… my most favorite museum is the National Gallery. Oh yeah baby! And my favorites are Monet’s and Van Gogh’s paintings. Their work especially the hand stroke is just WOW! Better than Mona Lisa’s painting man. Too bad photography is not allowed so you’re gonna have to come visit National Gallery yourself. Truthfully Louvre is over-rated and National Gallery is under-rated. How many will say I’m gonna visit National Gallery when I go to London? Few right? But many will say I’m gonna visit the Louvre when I go to Paris? No? I know I’m right. Hahaha

After coming out of National Gallery, we walked back to our hostel. On the way we stopped at Marks and Spencer which is just 2 minutes from our hostel. Our aim is to buy breakfast for tomorrow and tonight’s dinner. But we did not make dinner from our M&S loot immediately. We rested then went to H&M shopping!!! Aiy saw that the clothes are the same one in Paris but nevertheless we still shop. Kekeke Then it’s back to dinner, bath, confirm plan for tomorrow and sleep.

Stay tuned for day 14!