Trip to Britain -- Day 4 -- The Millenium Mile

The bed was 'unbelievably' soft that my back actually ached and I felt like I hadn't slept for ages. BAD!!! What's worse, the English weather had come back - grey sky and clouds and odd showers. The only good thing about travelling alone was to schedule own itinerary, like when to set off. I got up at 8am! Last night I bought myself cereal bars and (whole) milk for breakfast - fantastic! Though it's a terrible sleep I had last night, the breakfast was refreshing.

I set off at about 9.30am in order to catch off-peak tubes to places. But before that, I had to get myself an umbrella. It turned out to cost me bloody 9.50 quids!!! But, what could I do?

One good thing about rain was that it brought cooler weather. I arrived at Tower Hill station and there're already crowds of people pushing their ways to Tower of London. Don't wanna join them at all for 'jewellery exhibition'. But well, they're going to see the glamourous Great Star of Africa diamond, the largest and finest cut in the world!

I walked past the Tower Bridge and began my 'Millenium Mile' journey. The Design Museum was not in sight but I caught two interesting hip architecture, Greater London Authority Headquarters and the Scoop (what a good name!).


(from left to right: Tower Bridge, Greater London Authority Headquarters, The Scoop)

The most amazing stop along the Millenium Mile was certainly Shakespeare's Globe Theatre for me! It's hard (yet easy) to believe the tickets to any Shakespearean plays were mostly sold out, except the standing (yard tickets). Well, I just didn't think my legs could stand the 2-hour performance. I actually gave up the idea but access the theatre by joining the theatre tour. The tour (including the exhibition) cost me 9 quids (holy s***!). The experience was nice after all. Not only would I be able to see the globe theatre, the tour guide had been extremely resourceful as to provide us with lots of information, namely the difference between the seats, the yard standing, and the puritans vs theatre. And of course, some more quids were 'lost' at or 'sucked' from the shop! :D

I was so indulged in the Shakespeare's tour, I almost forgot the time. It's already 12 when I stepped out from my 'wonderland'! The next destination was Tate Britain (by 1pm) - NO WAY! I walked as quickly as I could, passing Tate Modern and Gabriel's Wharf, stopping a while for Southwark Cathedral, getting quick lunch at the film cafe of National Film Theatre, and sweeping Jubilee Garden and London Eye. At last, I managed to get to Lambeth Bridge by 1.30pm and got my way to Tate Britain. By the way, the walk was just FANTASTIC along south bank!

I rushed to the galleries for Turner; lucky enough I caught the guided tour up in the first hall of the Turner galleries. Just loved the 'free' and 'paid' tours today coz these really helped people know more about what they couldn't get from the audio commentary.

After Tate Britain, I headed to Oxford Circus for the TIC, yet turned out to be a shopping tour - at FCUK and Clarks. I bought a bag and 2 pairs of shoes (GOODNESS!). My legs sore and I decided to give up TIC and went to Leicester Square for theatre ticket (esp. Les Miserables).

Les Miserables didn't have good seats and at the time, I got a call from Luica. We planned to meet up at Tottenham Court Road for books and dinner. But before that - time for unloading!

I bought three good books - The Time Traveller's Wife, On Beauty and Freakonomics for around 17 quids - still a bargain. While I was worrying over how to pack all things into my backpack later on, we reached the fine Italian restaurant, Carluccio's. GREAT MEAL! Most of all, I enjoyed the chat with Luica about all things! :)