FIRST DAY (23rd April)
We´ll leave La Bañeza at about 10 o´clock. We fly with Easyjet from Asturias airport and our flight is at 3 p.m. on 23rd April. We are scheduled to arrive in London at 3. 50 pm. If you are thinking “What a short journey!”. The fact is that we are an hour ahead. The opposite will happen on our way back. The transfer from the Airport to our Hostel (Hyde Park view) will take about one hour (allowing for possible traffic jams).
After we arrive and settle down in our rooms, we will go out to find our way around, if the weather permits.
We will pass through:
- Diana Memorial playground: This is an extremely popular London playground. Princess Diana loved children and this park was built so this legacy can always be enjoyed by them. http://golondon.about.com/od/londonwithchildren/fr/DianaMemorialPl ayground.htm
- Perks Field: This is a private lawn beside Kensington Palace. It is used for football and archery competitions. It is also a landing field for the Royal Family´s helicopter.
- Kensington Palace: This is a royal residence set in the royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It has been the residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th century. It was the official residence of Diana, Princess of Wales, from 1981 until her death in 1997.
- Hyde Park: This is one of the largest parks in London. It is contiguous with Kensington Gardens, although they remain technically separate. Here is a Hyde Park self guided walk:
http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/hyde-park/map-of-hyde-park
Can you find ‘Diana´s fountain’ ? And ‘The Speaker´s Corner’ ?
SECOND DAY (24th April)
We will take the tube at Queensway (central line towards Epping) and get off at the ninth stop (Bank) to visit the Central Bank of the U.K. You will come across 300 years of history here. Items from the Bank´s collection are displayed in this museum. You can find more information in this website, especially in the sections: Education and Museum: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/Pages/home.aspx
After visiting the Bank of England, we will go through King William Street to meet the awesome Monument. Keep your cameras ready, because the most impressive views of the city are here. You can find more details on this website.
Back to the West, we will go towards Embankment (Circle line or District line towards Edgware) to visit the main landmarks of London:
- Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament: http://www.parliament.uk/bigben
- Westminster: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/
- Downing street: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/prime-ministers-office-10-downing-street
- Trafalgar Square: http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/arts-culture/trafalgar-square
- National Gallery: Look for The Arnolfini Portrait (Van Eyck), Venus and Mars (Botticelli), Sunflowers (Van Gogh), The Supper at Emmaus (Carvaggio) and other selected masterpieces from the collection you can see on the website: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/collection-overview/
- Buckingham Palace: To know more about the British Monarchy, just go to the following link. http://www.royal.gov.uk/theroyalresidences/buckinghampalace/buckinghampalace.aspx
The final part of the evening is still up in the air. We might stroll down the area or go to a musical if we can find a last minute special offer.
THIRD DAY (25th April)
As usual, we will take the tube early in the morning (Central line again towards Epping, although we get off at Bank). After a short walk we will come to The Tower of London (This building was very important in the great fire, and in the history of England). Unfortunately we will not have time enough to go inside the Tower, but you can have a look here: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/
Then we will go over Tower Bridge, starting a long walk through The South Bank. Strolling down The South Bank is the most amazing walk in London, not only because many of the important landmarks are there (London Eye, Tate Modern…), but from this bank you can have a magnificent view of the North Bank and the impressive dimensions of this fabulous city. On our way we will pay a short visit to the City Hall, (architect: Norman Foster). Here is a video of this giant helmet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK3tlG83h1k
We will continue on our walk, and fifteen minutes later we will find Southwark Cathedral, built between 1220 and 1420. It is considered the first gothic church in London. http://cathedral.southwark.anglican.org/
Next stop: Shakespeare´s Globe Theatre. It is a rebuild of the original one, as it was burnt in 1613, during a performance of Henry V.
As you know a lot about Shakespeare, we will enjoy a guided visit with an exhibition included. You can watch this video about Shakespeare´s life. I´m sure you remember some of this :
After this visit, we will pass the Tate Modern and then cross the Millenium Bridge to meet St. Paul´s Cathedral.
In the afternoon, we will visit the British Museum. We will take the tube at St. Paul´s to get off at Holborn. Be ready here for a magical trip in time to far and wonderful places. You´ll be surrounded by mummies, sculptures, temples….. Don´t miss the great hall, by Norman Foster too: https://www.britishmuseum.org/
We´ll spend the evening strolling down China Town, Covent Garden, Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square and its Walk of Fame...You can look for your favourite actor´s hands here.
FOURTH DAY (26th April)
This morning we will not take the Tube, as we will be visiting the Natural History Museum, we can go for an early walk through Hyde Park and the museums are just in front of us. In this museum you will be impressed by everything: you can see dinosaurs, whales, go into the Earth, do interactive activities in Attenborough Studio… It will be an endless list of fun intermingled with knowledge: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/
Since the Science Museum is just round the corner, we can also pay it a short visit. It is an interesting interactive museum, completely different from the previous one, but it is also worth a visit: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/After that we can have a look inside Harrods, just in case any of you have some pounds left. If we start saving now, we might be able to afford a pencil or a rubber there. If you have a look at this website you can have an idea: http://www.harrods.com/
If we have time, it would be interesting to go to Candem Town, a special market in the north part of the city. The prices are cheaper, but it is always very busy. If we do not go to Candem, we might go shopping in the City Centre (Oxford Street), but we will see how it goes.
Our trip will now be near its end. There are more places to visit, but it will be difficult within the limited time we have...
FIFTH DAY (27th April)
We will have to get up early as it will be time to fly back home. The plane takes off from London Stansted at 11.30 a.m. We are supposed to arrive in Asturias at 14.25, to reach La Bañeza at about 17.30.
I hope you enjoy the trip, learn a lot of things… and speak to each other... in English, of course). Good luck to all of you!
| Archivo adjunto | Tamaño |
|---|---|
| Proposed schedule to London 2014-Cecilia.pdf | 1.08 MB |
Departamento:
