Travels to Europe
On this page are photos
and links to places I've had a chance to visit in
Europe. Europe is full of history, from Roman ruins
to castles to modern buildings as well as nice scenary.
My trip to Denmark to
attend the European Power Electronics conference was
sponsered by my Masters supervisor. All my other
trips were for vacation!
TOURIST TIP # 1
Rick Steves, the guy I grew up with watching his European
adventures on PBS has posted free MP3 audio guides for
many cities (Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris, London,
Athens). Definitely worth downloading, as they give
a good explanation of the sites and they are free! I
used them on our trip to Rome and they were great! Click
here for the link.
I've put some photos from
my trips on this page with weblinks to the places I
visited in case you would like to go there as well.
![Europe Map](images/Map-Europe.jpg)
TRIP SUMMARY
01) February 2005: England
(London, Salisbury, Bath)
02) August/September 2007: Denmark (Aalborg, Copenhagen,
Roskilde)
03) October 2008: France (Paris, Versailles), Belgium
(Brussels)
04) September/October 2009: Italy (Rome, Pompeii), Vatican
City
Airline Codes
AC: Air Canada
SK: Scandinavian Airlines
LH: Lufthansa
UA: United Airlines
Italy & Vatican City (Sept 25 to
Oct 2 2009)
Locations visited:
- Rome and Pompeii, Italy
- Vactican City
Flight Path:
- AC: YYZ->FRA (A330), LH: FRA->FCO (A321),
FCO->FRA (A321), AC: FRA->YYZ (B767)
Hotel(s):
Tourist Tip:
- Roma Pass
- Includes access to 2 musuems over 3 days
- It also includes 3 days of unlimited public transport
- Definitely worth it, just pick two relatively expensive attractions. We picked the Colosseum+Roman Forum and Trajan's Markets. The card also lets you skip the line-ups (we saved a lot of time with the card by avoiding the huge lines at the Colosseum)
- You can buy the pass
at the Airport, there was a store just outside the
arrivals area
- Download a map of
Pompeii before you go there. There are no free
maps, but you get an informative booklet about each
attraction, but no map to get there. Click
here for Rick Steves' free map.
This trip was an adventure in Italy starring three engineers. We had a great time and many memorable experiences: climbing St. Peter’s, visiting the Sistine Chapel, seeing the Colosseum at dusk, wandering through the streets of Pompeii, tossing a coin in the Trevi Fountain, swimming on the Roman coast, and eating real Italian food. We’ll always remember our “private pool” in the hotel’s bathroom, our cultural lesson on how to use an automated ticket machine at Termini Station, and watching with fascination the Rose scam live at the Piazza del Popolo. I had a fantastic time seeing the sights, sampling different flavours of gelato, but the best part for me was simply just to have the chance to hang out with two good friends for a week.
![]() We took Air Canada
from Toronto to Frankfurt and then Lufthansa from
Frankfurt to Rome. This is the Lufthansa A321-100
(City of Darmstadt) that took us to Rome. Got to try
out the Maple Leaf Lounge in Toronto and the LH
Senator Lounge in Frankfurt (they really did serve
frankfurters and pretzels in the LH lounge).
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![]() Since our hotel was
near the Vatican, we started with the Vatican
Museum - home of the Sistine Chapel (no photos
allowed in the chapel though =)).
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![]() We waited an hour
in line to get into the Musuem. It was the last
Sunday of the month, so admission was free, thus the
long lines.
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![]() Inside the Vactican
Museum
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![]() Inside the Vactican
Museum
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![]() The Spiral
Staircase inside the vactican museum.
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![]() St. Peter’s Basilica |
![]() Swiss Guard at an Entrance into the Vatican |
![]() Inside St. Peter's Basilica.
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![]() Inside St. Peter's Basilica. We
decided to climb to the top of the dome.
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![]() View of Piazza San Pietro from the Dome |
![]() Castel
San't Angelo. Admission was free due to
a Rome musuem event. The general consensus was
“Thank goodness we didn’t have to pay for this!”.
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![]() Trajan's Markets |
![]() The Colosseum
at Night (we wound up there in the evening by
accident since we went the wrong way after dinner -
no better way to make up for a mistake then getting
to see the Colosseum at night
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![]() The next day, we went to the
Colosseum. We learned that it was a great idea
that we bought the Roma Pass at the Airport
Visitors Centre - we skipped an hour long queue to
buy tickets =). The Colosseum is an amazing place
to see in person, it is huge!
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![]() Ground level in the Colosseum. |
![]() Top level in the Colosseum |
![]() Arch of Constantine - next to
the Colosseum
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![]() The Square building with the
triangular roof is what remains of the Roman
Senate in the Roman
Forum.
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![]() Piazza Venezia from Victor
Emmanuel Monument.
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![]() The Pantheon
- here's the original - 1600+ years older than the
one in Paris that I visited last year.
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![]() The Spanish Steps at Night.
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![]() Inside Trajan’s
Markets. The market was built in the 2nd
Century AD and contained 150 shops and offices - it
was considered a wonder of the Classical world.
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![]() Stadium inside the Palatine
- where legends say Rome was founded and where
Rome’s famous citizens and Emperor’s lived.
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![]() A Streetcar - not a great LRT
example, we stopped at a lot of traffic lights
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![]() For a day trip we took a train
from Rome to Naples and then from Naples to
Pompeii.
Pompeii - the site is huge - we spent 4 hours there and still didn't see everything! To cross the street, the people would hop from stone to stone avoiding streets that were at times filled with water. The stones were spaced such that a horse drawn carriage could also pass through. You could actually see the wheel wear marks on the road between the stones. |
![]() A Roman Fast food outlet in
Pompeii.
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![]() The Ampitheatre in Pompeii.
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![]() The Theatre in Pompeii.
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![]() The Forum in Pompeii with Mount
Vesuvius in the Background.
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![]() Group shot at the Basilica at Pompeii |
![]() The Narrow Streets of
Pompeii. This is the way to the Brothel :).
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![]() Mount Vesuvius as seen on the
train from Pompeii to Naples.
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![]() On the Beach in
Ostia. There is a regional rail line that goes
to the Beach from downtown Rome.
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![]() Pyramid of Cestius
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![]() Our hotel for the
week, Best
Western Spring House. The room was small
(normal by European standards) but the buffet
breakfast (included in the price) was great and the
WiFi was also free! The hotel is located steps
from the Vatican!
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![]() The Air Canada 767-300 that
took us home from Frankfurt Airport. I had a truly
awesome time on this trip.
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France & Belgium (Oct 12 to Oct
19 2008)
Locations visited:
- Paris and Versailles, France
- Brussels, Belgium
Flight Path:
- AC: YYZ->CDG (B767), CDG -> YYZ (B767)
Hotel(s):
- Paris: Hotel
Prélude Gare du Nord
Tourist Tip:
- Paris
Musuem Pass
- With the PARIS MUSEUM PASS, you gain free entry,
without queuing and as many times as you wish, to over
60 museums and monuments in and around Paris.
- Can buy for either 2, 4, or 6 days
- Definitely worth it,
includes the Louvre and Versailles! However the
pass does NOT include the Eiffel Tower.
- You can buy the pass at the Airport, there was a store just outside the arrivals area
My first non work or school related trip since 2005,
and I was lucky that my friend John from grad school at
U of T wanted to go with me to Paris, France and
Brussels, Belgium for a week. I’ve always wanted
to go to Paris, to try out my high school French, to see
the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe,
walk along the Champs-Élysées, ride of the
metro, to enjoy the French culture and way of life, and
also to see the country whose companies sponsored my
Masters Thesis (Alcatel—SAFT) and hired me for my first
full time job (Thales SA).
Some might call Paris the city of lights or the city of
romance, I will call it the city of many steps.
John and I climbed so many towers during our time there:
the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe (twice), the
Towers of Notre Dame Cathedral, the Panthéon, and
the Castle at Vincennes! I had a great time even
with all the walking and I was impressed with the
architecture and the friendliness and politeness of all
the French people we met.
![]() Toronto Pearson
International Airport. Our flight AC880, Boeing
767-300ER to Paris - CDG.
I've always wanted to go to Paris to see it and to practice my French. I didn't think too much of Paris upon arrival (the graffiti that I saw from the train from the airport to Gare du Nord caught me off guard (but the architecture and the friendly and polite French won me over by the end. I also started every conversation in French and the good news is that for more than 50% of the time, they ended in French! |
![]() First day in
Paris, where else but ride the metro from the
hotel to the Eiffel
Tower!
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![]() My friend John
and I on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower.
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![]() On the Champs Elysees. |
![]() L'Arc de Triomphe. |
![]() Champs Elysees
from on top of the Arc de Triomphe.
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![]() The National Assembly. |
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![]() The Art Deco Metro
stop entrance, featuring an RATP van in front.
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![]() Inside Sainte-Chapelle
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![]() Inside Sainte-Chapelle |
![]() The Louvre Go in the morning or in the evenings (it is open late on some days) to avoid the crowds). |
![]() The Winged Victory of
Samothrace
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![]() Me on the Mona Lisa Expressway |
![]() Venus de Milo
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![]() Code of Hammurabi
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![]() Le Sacre de Napoléon 1er |
![]() The
Panthéon - resting place for heros
of the French Revolution and also for Louise
Braille.
Be sure to take the free tour to the roof and to see the Dome. |
![]() View from the top of the Panthéon |
![]() View from the top of the Panthéon |
![]() Chateau
de Vincennes
- The royal home before Versailles - Nice surprise
of the trip, a real French Castle. Similar to
the Tower of London but smaller and definitely
fewer tourists
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![]() RATP Metro Line 6 and the Effel Tower |
![]() Basilique du Sacré-Cœur at night |
![]() Versailles I would recommend paying for the Audio Guide here. Otherwise you won't get the full picture of this grand palace. |
![]() The Hall of
Mirrors with me wearing the geeky headphones =).
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![]() The Hall of Mirrors |
![]() The gardens of Versailles |
![]() Upon returing
from Versailles, we climbed the Arc
de Triomphe at night.
It is definitely worth it to come twice (once durign the day, the other at night) to this historical monument for the views alone. |
![]() The Effel Tower at night. |
![]() The Thalys
high speed train from Paris to Brussels (1h 22m)
at top speed of 300 km/h - beats the bullet train
I took from Tokyo to Kyoto in June.
You can get cheap tickets directly from the train company's website. Check here before buying from Rail Europe. We paid 50 Euros for a round trip ticket (same day return) between Paris and Brussels. |
![]() Belgian Parliament |
![]() Belgian Royal Palace Next to the palace
is nice museum, the Belvue
Musuem. In two hours of wondering you
can get a short summary on the history of Belgium.
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![]() Brussels Town Hall Area |
![]() Manneken Pis - or as I called
him "pee boy" is a key attraction in Brussels.
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![]() The old city wall in Brussels
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![]() The City of Brussels Museum in Town Hall The top floor is filled with all the uniforms ever worn by Manneken Pis :). |
![]() The Brussels museum in Town Hall at night. |
![]() At Paris Charles de Gaulle
Airport. The plane in the background is the AC
flight to Montreal, while in the foreground is
AC881 (Boeing 767-300ER) to Toronto (our plane).
Since I got AC Elite Status, we got into the
lounge at CDG even on the cheap tourist ticket.
Although small, it was one of the better AC
lounges =). The flight back was good.
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Denmark (Aug 31 to Sept 8 2007)
Locations visited:
- Aalborg, Copenhagen, and Roskilde, Denmark
Flight Path:
- UA: YYZ->IAD (E145), SK: IAD->CPH (A330),
CPH->AAL (Q400), AAL -> CPH (MD-80), CPH->
IAD (A330), UA: IAD->YYZ (E175)
Hotel(s):
- Aalborg: Park Hotel
Aalborg
- Copenhagen: Norlandia Star
Hotel
Tourist Tip:
- Copenhagen
Card
- Free entry to about 70 museums and attractions.
- Free transport by train, bus and Metro in the
entire Copenhagen Region – also from/to the airport.
- Can buy for either 24, 72, or 120 Hours
- Definitely worth
it! It even includes train travel from
Copenhagen to Roskilde. For the National Museum
(Nationalmuseet) which is normally free admission,
they gave me an English Souvenir Guidebook just for
showing the card
- You can buy the pass
at the Airport, there was a store just outside the
entry to the train station
The purpose of this trip was to present a paper I
wrote for the 2007 European Power Electronics Conference
in Aalborg, Denmark. The paper was based on my
Masters thesis and was titled: “A Software Simulation
Program for a Hybrid Fuel Cell – Battery Power Supply
for an Electric Forklift “. It was a really great
learning experience to present the paper at the
conference and I am fortunate that my Masters
supervisor, Prof. Dawson gave me this opportunity.
Since there are were no direct flights from Toronto to
Denmark, I had to travel from Toronto to Washington DC
to Copenhagen and then to Aalborg. It was my first
trip abroad by myself and I was a little nervous about
missing any connections. In Washington DC, I ran
into Prof. Lehn who was also attending the conference so
it was good to find out that I would have some company
for part of the trip. On the way from Copenhagen
to Aalborg, I flew on a SAS Q-400 turboprop. I
even bragged to the Danish fellow seated next to me that
the plane was built in Toronto by Bombardier. Just
a few weeks later, three of those types of planes
operated by SAS crash landed - with no fatalities (In
hindsight I shouldn’t have bragged!).
After the conference I stayed an extra two nights to
sight see in Copenhagen (I had to pay SAS $100 CDN out
of pocket to permit me to stop over). Overall it
was a good experience. I also learned that for
some reason butter cookies, the famous Danish export
cost 2x more in Denmark than back home in Toronto!
The Park
Hotel Aalborg. This was my hotel for
the conference. The hotel was in downtown
Aalborg next to the train station and near the bus
to the Airport.
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The Lindholm
Høje Museum - a great small musuem
about Vikings!
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Lindholm
Høje Itself - The largest Viking Burial
Site in Scandinavia - the site is just north of
Aalborg)
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The Conference
Centre where EPE2007 was held at the Aalborg Kongress
& Kultur Center
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My poster at the conference. |
Jens Bang’s
House. Built in 1642, it is an example of
Renaissance Architecture
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The shops of the pedestrian area (the strøget) |
Aalborghus Slot
(Aalborhus Castle). A Danish Castle built
between 1539 and 1555. I was able
to walk into former prison cells
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After my conference, I flew
to Copenhagen for the weekend before coming back
home to Toronto.
Here is a SAS Q400 Jet at Aalborg Lufthavn
(Airport) - This one crash landed (landing gear
collapsed, no fatalities) in Lithuania a week
later.
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The Norlandia
Star Hotel. The hotel is right next to
the train station and to the Tivoli Gardens.
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Frihedsmuseet,
the Museum of Danish War Resistance. It was
interesting to see how the Danes dealt with the
Nazi invasion.
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The Gefion
Fountain in Langelinie Park next to Kastellet
(near the Little Mermaid Statue).
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The Little Mermaid Statue in
Copenhagen.
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The Rundetaarn
(Round Tower) was build by King Christian IV in
1642. I made my way here after seeing the
Little Mermaid. This place was the highlight
of my stay in Copenhagen. It was an easy walk up
the tower on the spiral ramp, although I was a
little disappointed that I needed to climb some a
few stairs to get outside to the observation deck
- it was neat to see Copenhagen from up high.
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Inside the Round
Tower (it is called the round tower as you walk up
the tower on a ramp).
On the way up, you can see an old latrine that was used by some famous Danes, including Hans Christian Andersen, there was a plaque saying so! |
On Top of the Round Tower in
Copenhagen
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Inside the Tivoli
Gardens. The park opened on August 15,
1843 and is the second oldest amusement park in
the world.
If you go there in
the evening, before closing there is a laser light
show. I was able to stay late as my hotel
was nearby.
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Københavns
Rådhus, Copenhagen City Hall. After
taking some photos, I was stopped by another
tourist looking for some directions (I was holding
a Denmark guidebook in my hand). It turned
out he was from Edmonton, and we decided to
explore Copenhagen together for the day.
I’ve heard of stories of how Canadians meet up
abroad, but I never guessed it would really
happen.
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A 17th Century model of a ship in Silver. This was on display at the Danish National Musuem (Nationalmuseet). |
A nice street scene in downtown Copenhagen. |
The Viking Ship
Museum (Vikingeskibene)
in Roskilde, an hour train ride from Copenhagen.
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Roskilde was founded during
the Viking age and was the capital of Demark in
Medieval times. Around 1070 AD, five
Viking ships were deliberately sunk at Skuldelev
in Roskilde Fjord in order to block the most
important fairway and to protect Roskilde from
enemy attack from the sea. These ships,
later known as the Skuldelev ships, were
excavated in 1962. They turned out to be
five different types of ships ranging from cargo
ships to ships of war. The remains of
these ships are the star attraction at the
Viking Ships Museum.
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Changing of the Guards at Amalienborg Palace, the winter home of the Danish Royal Family |
Frederiks Kirke,
Frederick's Church in downtown Copenhagen.
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Magasin du Nord,
one of two big department stores in Downtown
Copenhagen. Things in Copenhagen are not
cheap!
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One of my best photos from
Copenhagen. Late Afternoon in Nyhavn, a
popular entertainment district Hans Christian
Andersen once called this area home
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England (Feb 11 to Feb 17 2005)
Locations visited:
- London, Salisbury, and Bath, England
Flight Path:
- AC: YYZ->LHR (B767), LHR->YYZ (A330)
Hotel(s):
- London: Royal
National Hotel
Tourist Tip:
- There is no need in London to buy the "London Pass" as most of the musuems in London have free (or donation based) admissions - the notable exceptions are the Tower of London and the London Transport Musuem
- Since Stonehenge is relatively isolated, if you
want to see it sign up for a bus day tour.
The bus tour was informative and we got to see
Salisbury Cathedral and its copy of the Magna
Carta.
- Public transport in London is very expensive
compared to other cities around the world, so take
advantage of travel cards or get an Oyster card to
save money
The Rosetta Stone
at the British
Museum. It provided the key to the
modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs.
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The main hall of
the British Musuem.
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The ship "Cutty Sark"
Clipper Ship dry docked in Greenwich (East End of
London). The last surviving tea clipper and
the fastest and greatest of her time.
Launched in 1869, initial route was
London<->Shanghai.
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The Royal
Observatory, Rotal Musueums Greenwich.
This is where you can stand on the line for G.M.T.
- Greenwich Mean Time, the Prime Meridian of the
World, making it the official starting point for
each new day and year. The musuem was also
pretty neat, learned all about the history of
keeping time on ships.
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The Docklands
Light Railway (one of three ways into East London
and Greenwich on public transport). The
train is automated - Little did I know then that I
would wind up working for the company that did the
automation and would help out debugging issues for
the line :).
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The Jubilee
Underground Line (the second way into Greenwich
area, the third being by ferry). Again, I
didn't know it then but I would be part of team
that helped to automate this line :).
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The Imperial
War Museum in South London (one of the few
attractions on the south of the river
Thames). Key attractions here: you can walk
through a realistic replica of a WWI trench and
the Holocaust part of the Musuem was an eye-opener
(definitely not for kids).
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The London
Transport Museum in Covent Gardens.
This was my favourite attraction (this won't
surprise any of my friends). Lots of old
subway trains and buses here, plus a small scale
demo of the Docklands Light Railway. Fun for
kids and rail fans!
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A decommissioned
subway train at the London Transport Museum.
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The
Tower of London. Really neat
here! You can see the Royal Crown Jewels,
medival swords and armour, etc. Make sure
you go on a free tour given by a Beefeater (the
Royal Bodyguards)
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Inside the Tower
of London grounds with Tower
Bridge in the background.
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The Monument.
Sir Christopher Wren’s flame-topped Monument to
the Great Fire of 1666 is the tallest isolated
stone column in the world. Completed in 1677, The
Monument stands 202 ft high and is positioned 202
ft from the spot in Pudding Lane on which the
Great Fire is believed to have started.
You can climb up it (311 steps) and when you go up and down, you'll get a certificate souvenir of the climb when you exit the tower. |
On the bus tour:
The first stop was Salisbury
Cathedral. This was a surprise
attraction. The architecture was great and I
got some nice photos. One of 4 copies of the
Magna Carta is housed here.
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Second Stop was
the main attraction - Stonehenge.
We had an audio guide but weren't allowed to touch
the stones. So it was a little
dissapointing, at the end of the day it was just a
bunch of rocks.
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Here's the actual
bath part of the Roman Baths. No, you cannot
bathe in them now :).
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Street scene in Bath. |
Buckingham Palace. |
The Mall, the
street that leads to Buckingham Palace.
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The Victoria
Memorial (for Queen Victoria) in front of
Buckingham Palace.
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Royal Albert Hall. |
Big Ben and the
The Palace of Westminster. This was a
nice night shot taken from the south bank of the
river Thames.
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