19 Jul 2015

London: The River Thames Stroll

One of the items to tick off in my London bucketlist was to cycle from Westminster back to Borough (where I lived in London). However, though bicycle rental stations are prevalent in London, it is extremely dangerous to cycle in London. Don't ever try if you are not an experienced cyclist. Even if you are, it is still pretty dangerous.

Since the cycling option is out, I chose to walk. The weather in London is superb for prolonged strolls (when I mean prolonged it means 3-4 hours), as the temperature when I went hovered around 15 to 20 degrees, even when there is sunlight. The most ideal time to visit London in my opinion (and many other people's opinions too) is in May, where the weather is cold but sunny, and the days are very long (sun sets at only 9pm!). This means there are TONS of things to do and the evening time is best for taking long strolls since everywhere closes after 7pm. 

I started my day off at Borough Market with my best friend Mao (there's a post on it! click here) and while he went off to run some errands, I decided to spend some time in the vicinity of Westminster and Charing Cross!  


Spent an amazing afternoon at the National Gallery and got a revision lecture on what tempera paints are all about (ADM STUDENTS YOU REALLY NEED TO COME HERE) and saw many many many many art pieces I've learnt in Western Art History.


Next, I killed off 3 hours by lepa(r)king at the lawn of Westminster Abbey/St Margaret's Church. I don't know how time can pass so fast but all I did was to sketch some churches, admired the flying buttresses and the pointed-arch windows... and slowly I was sent into Lalaland. Thank God no one stole anything from me while I was sleeping. And damn, another item off my London bucketlist was fulfilled: Lepak on lawns.


Crossed the famous Westminster Bridge, after strolling past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.


Then Mao came and met me under the London Eye! 


The best day to do this walk is on a Saturday, where Southbank Centre is booming with life. Every Saturday, there will be a food fair at Southbank Centre, and on the week I was there, it was a food fair filled with Indian delights! You may think that "eeee angmoh country confirm the curry not spicy" I can tell you, smelling the curry fumes made me tear a little. However, as we could get good Indian cusine back home, we went to a sausage shop just a stone's throw away from Embankment Tube Station that Mao's senior recommended to get our dinner. 

And yes we lepak-ed on a lawn again and drizzled Truffle Oil that I bought earlier on in the day from Borough Market onto the fries, and it tasted H E A V E N L Y. 


After a hearty dinner, we continued on our walk back to Borough, passing Blackfriar's Train Station, Millenium Bridge, and many many small eateries (like some crazy greek restaurant that was so bustling, the waiters didn't even realized i sneaked in to use their toilet)


We ended off our stroll at this amazing Chocolate cafe below London Bridge Station called Rabot 1745 (never knew the name until I googled). Mao had some dark chocolate drink while I had some...... I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS SORRY but it was good. Milk Chocolate I suppose? This cafe serves FRESHLY ROASTED COCOA! So all chocolate lovers please take note!




THIS IS HOW MUCH WE WALKED HAHA. According to Google Maps it supposedly only needs 1 hr 34 mins but we are old so nope we took much longer haha.

Alright, stay tuned for the next post! And meanwhile, stay outruigeously awesome! :)

xx,
M.R.

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