Arsenal, Greenwich and my last day in London - My Solo Backpacking Trip Across the UK Part 7
The last day of my time in London was not weather friendly at all. The past two days, it had been gloriously sunny and the sky was as blue as it could ever be. But the third day of my time in the city, the heavens opened up. It rained most of the morning; Not the heavy rain, but a continuous drizzle that was guaranteed to get you cold and wet if you stayed out too long.
I rode the train to Arsenal that morning. For a change, Arsenal was still sunny, but damp. It had rained sometime before my arrival there. My first and only stop was at the Emirates Stadium, home to Arsenal FC.
One of the things that interested me very much was the "Spirit of Highbury" wall. It contains a photograph of all the members of the Arsenal FC, from 1913 to 2006. It is really well done and I like the way the photo was displayed.
Spirit of Highbury 1913 - 2006.
Back on the train towards London, I looked over the map for some of the things that I wanted to do. There were a couple of things I had yet to complete on my list and I had just about enough time to do them. I got of the train and proceeded in the direction of the home of London's great detective, Sherlock Holmes.
221B Baker Street has been immortalized in popular culture by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his famous Sherlock Holmes book, and also the hugely popular Sherlock TV series. (The 4th season's just come out)...
221B Baker Street is a unremarkable house in a quiet street. Due to the rains, there were not many tourists around and traffic was less.
It is a really interesting place for those who grew up reading Sherlock Holmes. The Hound of Baskerville is one of my favorites. 221B Baker Street is more of a museum really. Aptly titled "The Sherlock Holmes Museum", the place has a very interesting collection of books, souvenirs, antiques and objects of curiosity. I liked the place, really, and had a nice chat with the guy who manages the place.
One of the final things on the agenda was to visit the Lords Cricket Ground. I used to watch cricket as a kid, and that shot of the Lords Cricket Ground, home of English Cricket came back to mind as I saw the sign board.
However, I was out of luck. It is only possible to visit Lords as part of the guided tour. Due to the holiday season, the last tour was at midday and I had just missed it. There was no other tours for the day. I spoke to the gatekeeper, but it was of no avail and I retraced my steps back to the tube station and back to Tower Bridge.
Panorama of the river Thames from the More London Boulevard. The tower bridge is visible on the right. The Tower of London is visible across the Thames, part of the skyline and the HMS Belfast on the left.
The HMS Belfast is a 9 -deck World War 2 warship that is turned into a museum. It is permanently moored on the Thames.
I visited the borough of Greenwich which is well known for its maritime history. One of the most famous attractions of the place is the restored 19th century ship: The Cutty Sark. That was the only attraction I knew in Greenwich and a quick walk from the tram station brought me there. I was surprised by how lovely Greenwich was. I didn't take any photos taken in as I was by the beauty of the place.
The Cutty Sark is a magnificent ship. Prior to my visit to UK in November 2014, the Cutty Sark had been damaged by a small fire, but restored to full glory by the time I visited.
Notice how the bowlines of the Cutty Sark mismatch. The picture is comprised of 3 individual shots which are stitched together to form the final image.
From here, I went to the O2, which is a multi purpose indoor arena that is located in Greenwich. The O2 is built under the Millennium Dome, and has the highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the UK. There was a tennis match happening at the same time between Rafal Nadal and Novak Djkovic. I went to see the movie Interstellar in IMAX, and closed out my last evening in the London.
It was late in the night when I got back to Shad Thames. I had a train the next morning to take me to Bristol. As much as I loved London, there were a lot of things and places left unseen and they are in the pipeline for my next visit which I hope will be soon.
"THEN AND THERE" was my motto for visiting London and I truly did that, experiencing the most of London. Do follow me for my next post on my experience of London and for more on my solo backpacking trip across the UK.
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In case you missed it, check out the other posts on my solo backpacking trip across the UK via the links below.
A walk through the streets of Oxford City
Exploring Cambridge in pictures
Seal Watching at Blakeney Point
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