Experiences Around the World

Described as the most dirtiest and romantic cities in Europe, London and Paris were the places which I visited few weeks back. Starting from Warsaw on the 11th of July, we flew to London. Our flight was supposed to take off at 10:15 AM but it was delayed by an hour, so we only got on the plane at around 11:00 AM. After a somewhat boring journey, we reached London at 12:45 in the afternoon. London Luton - the airport, was around 80 kilometers from the city, so it took as an hour and a half more to reach the city. After all the chaos and confusion we had, we only reached our home/destination at 5 in the evening! As we (my family and I) were all exhausted, we rested for the night.

We started our London visit by walking to the London Eye which gives a great bird's eye view of the city. As it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in London, we had to wait in line for almost 1 hour. But in the end, it was all worth it. A slow, thirty minute ride on the world's tallest observation wheel. Just after getting down, we had a wonderful 40 minute river cruise covering the Houses of Parliament, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. After leisurely having lunch, we took a bus to Trafalgar Sqaure - another important place in London. This square is a great place to just sit and relax and yes, it does attract a lot of visitors. As there was some sort of program the day we went, there were about 800 people over there! Just beside the square, is the National Gallery where there are paintings from the 12th to 19th centuries. And finally to end the day, we went to the St. Pancras International Railway Station for the heck of it! Actually, we just wanted to make sure where we had to get on to go to Paris...

Next morning, we were walking along the Thames river where we saw the Cleopatra's Needle Monument. It isn't anything huge, but it's worth taking photos with! Here comes the funny part! Thinking that there would be some sort of circus, we went to Picaddily Circus. Actually, even though it is another attraction in London, there is no circus! It's just a name. We walked and walked and walked passing by the China Town in London and the Transport Museum. Finally, we reached Buckhingam Palace where we were waiting to see the change of guard. Surely this must have been important because there were atleast 2000 people. Above all this, it happens everyday! There were few march pasts and some bands playing but it was entertaining. All in all, it was worth the wait! As it was lunch time, we sat down at the Kensington Garden and had our lunch. We then went to the Royal Albert Hall, where many conferences take place. We were not allowed inside but it was a nice view to take photos from the outside. From there, we walked to the Science Museum. I must say that I liked this museum a lot because it was very informative and it was easy for students like me to understand. There was also some fun activities to do for both, kids and adults, so we had a good time there. This museum was huge, so we were very tired and we rested for the day!

Of all the days, this would have been the best. We started off going to Madame Tussaud's - the largest wax museum in the world. Celebrities made of wax included Prince William, the Queen, Beckham, Justin Timberlake, Elvis Presley, Amitabh Bachan, Angela Merkel, Nelson Mandela, Bradd Pitt, Albert Einstein and Tiger Woods. These are only few of the many wax figures in this museum. They are just amazing, I must say! A huge museum as it is, it took us almost half the day. After having lunch, we went to Oxford Street - the busiest street in the world. You can find every shop you can think of over there! Unlike Warsaw, this gave a great feel of the city. It was lively. At night, we took a bus, which had the river view. It was extraordinary. London at night was totally different. The lighting was great! We enjoyed it a lot.

Next morning, we slowly woke up and went to St. Paul's Cathedral. To me, it was just another church but the architecture was beautiful. Thinking of how they constructed this hundreds of years ago is just unimaginable. From there, we took a long bus ride to Lord's Cricket Ground - the Mecca of Cricket. A great stadium it was. We took a guided tour there seeing the dressing rooms, media center, the pitch, and a lot more... It was a tour worth the money, I must say! From there, we went to the Natural History Museum. Beautiful! There are many words to describe this museum but that is what comes first. It is gorgeous from the outside and even better from the inside. There were birds, and animals and dinosaurs and everything you know that lived! They were so very well presented that even a 2-year old baby could understand. It was one of the most informative museums I've ever been to. That evening, we took another bus ride, and returned to our residence.

Our final day in London was very much just relaxing. We took a looooonnng bus ride and went to the Swami Narayan Temple. This is a somewhat big temple. It was worth the travel but I was a bit disappointed in the end since it took quite some time thus denying me the opportunity to visit Wimbledon. That day, we just walked around the city and went back...

Day 7 - Waking up at 4 in the morning, we went to the railway station and took the Eurostar train - bullet train which went through the English Channel. All I can say is that, it was fast, and you couldn't see much. But nevertheless, it was another experience. Arriving at Paris, we felt a big change. We could very noticeably see the difference in the architecture. People looked different. They spoke a different language, well that was obvious!!! One of my dad's colleagues picked us up from the railway station and took us to our hotel. After freshening up, we were recommended to go to the Palace of Versailles. The Court of Versailles was the center of power in Ancient Regime France. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy that Louis XIV exposed. There was a very beautiful garden and of course, a great palace. Inside, were the rooms of the royal kings and queens. Unlike many other palaces, this one was very posh from the inside. There were a lot of decorations and lot of handicraft. We came back, and rested for the night.

At around 10 in the morning, we went out to see the city for the first time. We bought tickets for a sightseeing tour by the red bus. This bus would take us to all the famous attractions in Paris and we could get in and off wherever we wanted. Our first stop was the Louvre Museum. As this was a main attraction in Paris, we went inside to see the different attractions. There were pottery and paintings from the Greek, Egyptian, Italian, French and German civilizations. There were also a lot of modern paintings. The main attraction was of course, the Mona Lisa. A great painting it was, but to me it was not any better or worse than the other paintings on exhibit. Anyways, it was a great tour and worth the money and time.

On the 19th of July, we took the sightseeing bus and went to the Notre Dame Church - one of the most famous churches in the world. A great structure it was, both from inside and outside. The glass paintings were very beautiful as were the normal paintings. We had a great time there as we enjoyed it a lot. Next, we went to the Music Academy. As we were not very interested in music and didn't have much knowledge of it, we just took photos from the outside. From there, we took a bus to the Arc de Triomphe. I really loved that gate. It looked really good as it was in the middle of the star - 12 roads go through it. From there, we walked down the Champs Elysees where there are all branded shops with the highest prices in Europe as well as the world. Over there I saw some fantastic cars, including the Toyota and Renault formula 1 cars. In the evening, we went to the Eiffel Tower. After waiting in line for almost 2 hours, we could finally go up. There were 3 levels but most of the crowd went to the top and we joined them! Oh, a great view... You can see the whole of Paris from here. Paris was such an organized city. Every building/house was in white or cream color. It was a fantastic experience!

We returned to Warsaw on the evening of 20 July, 2008. A great trip, it was....