Yesterday while strolling the South Bank, we wanted to ride on the London Eye but the line was simply too long. So, we came back early today hoping for a shorter queue.

Nevertheless, the queue was still quite long. We bought the combo tickets for the London Eye and Madame Tussauds for 88 pounds (CAD 145) for the two of us. The ride is a 30 minutes ride with 360 degree rotation.

While lining up for the ride, we noticed that there is one capsule that is red. We told ourselves if we were lucky, we would get on the red one.

Yeah, we got the red one. (more…)

We went to a cafe for breakfast. The cafe is located just around the subway station near the hotel we stayed.

I had a Butter Bread Pudding. It is one of the food on my list must try in London. It was rich tasting.

Ben had a flatbread with tomatoes and cheese. He prefers savoury breakfast. (more…)

We returned to Brick Lane near our hotel for dinner. Brick Lane is the little India in London. It is lined with Indian restaurants.

After exploring the lane. we picked one of the Indian restaurant for dinner. I can’t recall the restaurant name now.

Indian restaurants often serve papadam with chutney as appetizer. The difference between the restaurants here and those in Vancouver is the restaurants here served papadam with four dips/chutneys while in Vancouver, we mostly get two only.

We ordered two dishes to share. The above was Lamb Madras which is supposed to be medium spicy. It turned out quite spicy even to our standard. (more…)

The Millenium Bridge began construction in 1998 and opened on 10 June 2000.

The Millenium Bridge connects major attractions on the Southbank which include the Globe Theater and the Tate Modern to St. Paul’s Cathedral on the north side of the bridge.

View of the Tate Modern from the Millenium Bridge.

View of the Shard from the Millenium Bridge. (more…)

Shakespeare Globe is one of the several attractions on the South Bank.

This is a replica of the Elizabethan theater opened in 1997. The original Globe was built nearby in 1597 after Shakespeare and his company transported a playhouse, timber by timber, across the Thames from Shoreditch. In 1612, during a performance of Henry VIII, a stage cannon sparked a fire and the wooden structure burned down completely. Now, the theater is equipped with water sprinklers.

The original Globe seats more than 3000; 2200 seated and 1000 groundlings. Today’s Globe seats 800 and accommodates 600 standing.

The plays Hamlet, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet all had their premieres at the original Globe Theater.

We joined the half hour Globe Theater tour of the auditorium. The guide explained to us the history of the Globe Theater. The upper level seats were for higher class audiences while the cheapest tickets were for standing audiences. The word box office came from the practice where the price for the tickets were dropped into a box which will be brought up to the office to tally.

The Globe has always been an open-air roof theater. Performances are held in the summer only.

A view of the stage from the ground where lower class spectators will stand and watch. In the old days, such theater play was meant for rough people and that’s the reason theater was not allow in the city of London which is on the north side of the Thames. Spectators usually came over by boat. This area was used to be called Surrey. (more…)

After the visit to the Florence Nightingale Museum, we decided to take a leisure walk along South Bank.

We started the walk from the South Bank lion statue on the southside of Westmintser Bridge. It was a windy day as you can see.

View of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament as the backdrop of Westminster Bridge over the River Thames.

There were street performers along the South Bank; painted artists, dancers, bubble artist, etc. (more…)

After the Westminster Abbey guided tour, we went to look for St. Thomas’ Hospital which is nearby. We planned to visit Florence Nightingale Museum which is located in the St. Thomas’ Hospital.

A great view of the Houses of Parliament from Westminster Bridge.

London Eye with gloomy sky on the backdrop.

We found a Japanese restaurant; Ajizen Japanese Canteen just across St. Thomas’ Hospital. So, we went in for lunch first. Ben had a coke while I had green tea.

I had a Shoyu Ramen with Char Shu. There were also tofu cubes, bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms in it. (more…)

St. Margaret’s Church is a small church besides Westminster Abbey. It is often overshadowed by the Abbey.

Winston and Clementine Churchill’s wedded in St. Margaret’s Church.

Explanatory plaque.

St. Margaret’s Church retains the Tudor features such as stained glass window. (more…)

Day 4 started with a walk along Whitehall. Whitehall is the most important street in Britain, lined with the ministries of finance, treasury, and the home of the prime minister.

Cenotaph is a big white stone monument in the middle of the boulevard honours those who died in the two World Wars.

The heavy security at the entry to #10 Downing Street; home of the prime minister.

That’s the closest we can get to take a photo of the street sign of Downing Street. (more…)

We decided to have dinner at Chinatown which is just a few minutes walk from Leicester Square.

The pagoda gateway into Chinatown.

There are a lot of BBQ restaurants and All You Can Eat Buffet restaurants in Chinatown.

We settled with Four Seasons Chinese on Gerrard St. (more…)