My dream trip to London 2

When I decided to write a post for this blog, the first thing that came to my mind was... LONDON! This may sound as a cliché, and indeed it is, but which other famous city am I supposed to write about? When I say it´s a cliché, I mean it among English teachers who simply looooove going to England whenever they can. The ones who haven´t been there yet, certainly would like to. And what can I say? I´m an English teacher and loooove going to London! I lived there in 2002-2003, returned in 2007 and in January 2009, but I guess I´ll never be tired of going there. Also, there are sooo many things to do in London, that we just can´t imagine.

Well, here I am, and Raquel has already written about it, which is great, but I want to write about London too! I´ve just read her post and at the end she lists some things that she didn´t do on her last holidays there. Coincidence or not, I have done all of them! Or most of them , I guess. So, I´ll be talking about these places she mentions and therefore it won´t sound repetitive for you, readers. Deal? =) I´ll also give directions to get to the places by tube - the easiest way to go around London.

First thing on Raquel´s list: Madame Tussauds. When I lived in London, I used to hear: "Madame Tussauds is a waste of time, don´t go there. It´s expensive and represents no great experience, etc, etc" Ok, I didn´t go there. But then, when I came back in 2007 I felt sooo 'touristic', feeling that I hadn´t had before, you know? So, I went there on a rainy Sunday morning. And guess what?? It was great! Where else could I have taken pictures with all the pop celebs? Some dummies are simply unbelievable! Extremely similar and well done! On the other hand, some are quite bizarre, but this is just part of the fun! More: there´s a kind of horror tunnel, whose name I´ve forgotten, inside the museum. Really frightening, but very exciting! It´s true, though, that the tickets are quite expensive, especially when you remember that top museums in London have free access. Tip: buy the combo with a London Eye ticket together - it´s cheaper.

Directions: take the Bakerloo line (the brown one) and head to Baker Street station. Hammersmith and City line (the pink one) also takes you there as well as Circle line (the yellow one) and Metropolitan line (the purple one).

Have you ever heard of Notting Hill? Chances are you have! The film starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant was named after this lovely place in London. With its great success, Notting Hill has become even more visited than it was before. It´s basically a residential area but on Saturday morning you can go to Portobello Road and visit one of the most popular fairs in the city - the Portobello Road Market. There, you can find from old 60´s shoes to vinyl records and the most reddish strawberries! Everything in one place! The picture down there was taken in 2007 in front of the famous bookshop that Hugh Grant owns in the film. It really exists! I´m the one in green, by the way.

Directions: take the Hammersmith and City line to Ladbroke Grove.

Last (just for today), but not least: London Eye. Another hit of touristic feeling and there I went, all by myself to Westminster, so that I could "take a ride" and see the city on the famous Ferris wheel. The "flight" takes 30 min and the view that you get from there, you can´t get from anywhere else. It´s a rush of adrenaline seeing the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the Thames - all from above! Some say it´s the British equivalent to the Eiffel Tower. Highly recommended!

Directions: take the Circle, Jubilee (the grey one) or District line (the green one) to Westminster station.

That´s all folks! Soon, I´ll be back with more.

Izabella Sepulveda

Itaipu teacher