LONDON

A sample of the world

What can I say about London that you don't already know? Besides being the most visited tourist city in the world with a monarchy known for its notoriety, London has a lot to offer. First of all, its cultural diversity needs to be applauded. Asian and Indian restaurants, African shops, Jewish Synagogues, American clubs, Belgian chocolatiers, Parisian fashion, evidence of cultural richness at every turn. The seamless merge of history and modernism on every street is amazing.

London is no doubt a beautiful city with a lot to see and do. Paying homage to the cliché tourist sites like Big Ben, Buckingham Place, the London Bridge, etc is mandatory. A cruise down the Thames puts its beauty in perspective. Window shopping on Oxford Street and dreaming "If only" is a good way to wile away time.

London is like a box of chocolates; a small sample of different cultural and diverse flavors. If you're low on cash but need your international fix, London should be your zip-off choice. Riding all day on its world famous 'underground' subway system is a way to observe interesting characters. London is a home away from home for a lot of people and you have to go there to see why.

GREENWICH

Where time begins

Nautica at every turn and damn proud of it, Greenwich is one of the many places overlooked by the steady onslaught of tourists that flock England every second. Geographers like myself make a trip to Greenwich mandatory. The Greenwich Meridian (or to the layman ‘Prime’ Meridian) runs through here. The first shop longitudinally is located here.

The world-known university that cranks out the best of geographers lives here. The Maritime Museum and the Royal Naval Academy are just a few of its assets. The Cutty Sark bears testimony to its past. Compasses and anchors at every turn.

The mere tourist may not find this intriguing, but a geographer who has only read about longitudes and latitudes can fully understand the feeling of standing at 0º0’0’’. Next stop, the equator.

Back to Travelogues