Explore Kent County in England ( Where i live )

Kent County in England is Called Garden Of England and its full of History.
One of the Most Beautifull places i have visited...

Big Ben - British Parliament

10 Downing Street - Residance of British Prime - Minister
Isn't that Similar to 10 Janpath New Delhi ..?

A Typical British Rail - Train Standing at Charing Cross Station in Central London

Bobby Standing in front of Shop on Oxford Street in Central London

Picaddily Circus in Central London

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

κκκ Wilbraham Hotel, Wilbraham Place, Sloane Square, London, SW1X 9AE, ( 0171 5812323 7 0171 8237752 - Described as a typical English Hotel - we found everything to be excellent. When we visited London again November '97, we stayed at theκκκ  Hart House Hotel, (Baker Street or Marble Arch) 51 Gloucester Place, London W1H 3PE (020 7935 2288 7020 7935 8516. In retrospect, the Wilbraham was a little too "off the beaten path" - I would suggest staying somewhere closer to the major sites and activities. The Hart House Hotel was also very "English", the staff was friendly and accommodating and the location was excellent.

Day 1 - Boston to Buckingham Palace and Central London

We started our trip to England with an overnight flight to London's Heathrow Airport. After breezing through customs we boarded a double-decker Airbus for the hour-long trip into London. The Airbus is an economical and painless way to get from Heathrow to London - the only problem is the bus stops at all four terminals before going to London. Our introduction to "right hand" London driving was quite exhilarating! We arrived at our hotel at around 7:30AM - dropped our bags off and began the day. We walked from Sloane Square in Chelsea to Buckingham Palace, then on to Westminster Abbey (unfortunately the Abbey was closed till 1:30PM that day) so we caught a nap in Trafalgar Square before heading to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard. We camped out in front early as tourist begin streaming in around 10:45. People were very aggressive and there was lots of pushing for good camera shots. We found ourselves exhausted and drained (it was 80 degrees by then and we were dressed for the 50's) - so we headed for our hotel room. The room wouldn't be ready until 3:00, so we walked around Chelsea, took a needed nap then had dinner at a pub called The Trafalgar in Chelsea.

Westminster Abbey

Day 2 - Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral

In the morning we walked to Westminster Abbey. The earliest buildings of Westminster Abbey were consecrated in 1269 but remained incomplete until the 1520. Even though the Abbey was built through several architectural periods, the master stone masons desired to keep the Abbey in the Early English Gothic (1150 - 1270) style. Since 1066 and except for two kings, every English king and queen were crowned at Westminster Abbey. The Abbey has also become the burial place for many sovereigns over the years. The Henry VII Chapel (1512) is noteworthy for its intricate and ornate fan vaulting of the last English Gothic period. Poets' Corner is also the resting-place of some of England's most famous literaries. We chose the self-guided audio tour, a perfect way to experience this great Christian house of worship. We ended up in the cloisters where we purchased the necessary materials for a brass rubbing.

On our second trip to London that year (Thanksgiving '97), we revisited the abbey on a Wednesday evening - this was the only time that photography was allowed within the abbey.  

"New" St. Paul's Cathedral

After Westminster Abbey we then walked to St. Paul's Cathedral where we took the guided tour of the Cathedral. Sir Christopher Wren built St. Paul's Cathedral in the English Renaissance style between 1675 and 1710. Over one million tons of Dorset's Portland stone were used in its construction. The Cathedral was built to replace the enormous Gothic cathedral destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666. Gigantic "Old St. Paul" would be the largest (by all standards) in England, with a nave (586') longer than Winchester (530'), as high as Westminster (103'), and an internal area (72,460 sq. ft.) greater then York (63,800 sq. ft.). "New" St. Paul's Cathedral has one of the world's largest domes measuring 360 feet in height. This is an absolutely beautiful church - a perfect contrast to the predominately Gothic Cathedrals and Abbeys in England.

View from the Golden Gallery, St. Paul's Cathedral

On the tour, we climbed up to the Golden Gallery - the highest reachable tourist point outside St. Paul's dome. The 360 degree panoramic views of London were awesome. After the tour, we jumped on the Sightseeing Bus (£24), which ultimately dropped us off near Harrods. Harrods is totally pricey and afforded us little in the way of shopping bargains. We then walked back to Sloane Square for a quick power nap (we calculated almost ten miles of walking that day). That evening we ate in a mews pub called the Star Tavern. We ate upstairs and the food and Fullers London Pride were delicious.

Typical London Pub

Much to my delight, London is full of great pubs.  We found the majority to be clean and very well kept - some of the pubs should actually be museums!  We ate 95% of our meals in pubs - mostly sandwiches, fish and chips, etc.  We were told that years ago, you wouldn't consider having a meal in a pub.  To survive, most pubs now offer a wide range of fairly good "pub food".   Unlike the US, pubs are often "tied" to a particular brewery.  The exception are "free" pubs that offer their choice of ales.  For the most part, even "tied" houses leave one tap for "guest" ales.  Mainly because of the work of CAMRA, the cask conditioned ale is back to stay.  Every pub we visited had some type of cask conditioned ale available.  In my opinion - cask conditioned ale is superior to any other form of maturing, handling and serving ale.  Fortunately, this method is picking up steam in the US - but nothing can compare to a fresh, English ale served from the hand pump.

Upton Park - Home of West Ham United FC

Day 3 - West Ham United Football Match

In the morning we walked and shopped around Chelsea (our clothes were not adaptable to the heat wave London was having) then took the Tube to Upton Park for the highlight of the trip - a West Ham United football match. I had made contact with the creator of one of West Ham United's homepages who was gracious enough to work out a deal and get me tickets for the match against Sheffield Wednesday. The seats were great, and the game was awesome. I do not think you will find that kind of crowd enthusiasm anywhere in the US! From there we took the Tube to the Embankment and walked through Picadilly Circus. After walking around for almost an hour looking for dinner, we were directed to Shepherd Market - a block of mews pubs (The Grapes, O'Neil's, and Shepherd's Tavern). We had a great dinner at the Shepherd's Tavern (we made a point of returning in November) and then were beckoned to join a group of ex-pro rugby players from Huddersfield (who were there to see the rugby equivalent of the Super Bowl) for a "few" (Scottish & Newcastle) Director's Bitters.

Tower Bridge from the Tower of London

Day 4 - Tower of London, Regent Street, and Speakers Corner

In the morning we took the Tube to the Tower Hill stop for the Tower of London. We arrived at 10:00 AM to find a fairly long line. The Tower of London is actually a collection of towers and wall fortifications, the oldest of which date from the Norman invasion of 1066. Once in - we headed straight for the Waterloo Barracks and the Crown Jewels. Since the 14th century, The Tower has been the home of the British Crown Jewels. After the tour we met up with a Yeoman Wanderer, or Befeater for a guided tour of the Tower grounds. The Befeaters' tours are very informative and humorous - putting a smile on such a bleak and murderous place. We then took the Tube (we were getting tired of walking by now) to Picadilly Circus and walked to Regent Street where we did some shopping. Contrary to what we heard, most of the shops were open on Sunday. After shopping we literally ran to the Marble Arch and caught the tail end of the events at Speakers Corner - interesting but certainly not essential.

On to Canterbury and Rye or other places of interest: