Clara's Day 4 (Round & round London we go!)

Brought Clara about London on 'The Original London Sightseeing Tour' on Saturday. It's a 'topless' bus that conducts various tours around London. Some of its tours include: the Original tour, City tour, Museum tour, and the Da Vinci Tour (another one jumping on the blockbuster bandwagon) . It's similar to Hippo Tours in Singapore, only better, with excellent tour guides who lace their commentary with proverbial British dry humour. Brilliant!

We decided on the Original Tour as it has the most comprehensive route, covering all of London's 'Must-See(s)' - Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral etc... A complete ride round the tour route took over an hour but it was well worth it. We even went past Belgravia, London's poshest suburb, home to the top echelon of British society - Margaret Thatcher, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Elton John - all who hold residences there. One can only rent apartments in Belgravia and rentals start from, get this - 5,000 pounds a week! Keeer-ching!

We were fortunate to have Malcolm, a slightly elderly tour guide who gave superb commentary. Not only did he give us deep insights into England's history - wherever applicable - he'd quote Shakespeare, or punctuate his sentences with dry wit, while keeping a straight face. Clara and I were enthralled. We were, perhaps, the only 2 Asian girls looking at him utterly beguiled, hanging onto his every word.

As we did the rounds on the bus, we both decided we really wanted to see Westminister Abbey, so we hopped off, hoping to catch a glimpse of the insides of this work of architectural genius. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, we'd missed the last visiting hour for tourists. So we had to be content just taking pictures from the outside. Even then, we were in awe of the structural beauty of the place. I can't wait to see its interior on my next visit!

Clara bought hot chocolate at a coffee joint outside Westminister and it worked miracles in warming our shivering bodies! Despite the many layers, we were stiff with cold after sitting on the top deck of the bus (foolhardy?) to catch the sights better, but where cold winds paralysed our bare faces!

The tickets for 'The Original Tour' gave us a free ride on a catamaran down the River Thames but we'd just missed the ride at 4pm and the next one was at 5pm. Didn't want to wait without doing anything so decided to explore London on foot. Found ourselves at Waterloo where we saw a 'Gorillaz' exhibition, skateboarders pitting their skills against each other, and browsed at a mini book fair. Snagged 2 books for Danielle at 50p each. Sweet...

It started to get really dark by 5pm so we headed home. At last, reprieve from the cold! Whoopee!