The best freebie in London...

Although i had a cold, and was feeling tired and there was plenty of jobs to do at home, Debs and I took the train into town on saturday afternoon for some quality and walked my fave bit of london - the south bank.  Awesome views: the Thames, Parliament, the Wheel, St Paul's, the Gerkin, Tate Modern not to mention all the people watching opportunities - all free!

We went into the Tate (free again) and was delighted to see one of Monet's enormous water lily paintings - just mind blowing, close up it's just a blur of colours but stepping back it's an incredible effect!  There is plenty of other art to take on board too - so much so that it makes my head spin with colour, shape, textures - sometimes conventional and often not - stretching me...

Ok the coffee cost £6! But sitting on a bench, by the river, watching the crowds made it money well spent. So much life and vitality.

To get maximum value for money for our shoe leather we then crossed over waterloo bridge and went up the Strand to Trafalgar Square, The Mall, Buckingham Palace, Regent's Park, Palace of Westminster, some pub to watch the footie and then off up Regent Street - where my education in expensive places to go shopping was furthered - fortunatly window shopping is free :)

I really like London - i work just down from the Palace of Westminster (that's those houses of parliament) so often take for granted the river, the wheel, big ben that I see every day i go into work. Taking time out to enjoy it with my beautiful wife was a wonderful experience! Countryside is fun but cityscape is beautiful too, a mingling of natural and man made creativity...

So where is your fave (free) place...

Comments

[Lyn]

That's easy - the beach!

[David]

I wanna tour! :-)

[Makeesha]

yay! good for you. I look forward (as David said), to the four of us walking it all together some day soon. nice look on the blog btw.

[fernando]

Tate Modern is a huge favourite. At least once a week I would walk down from Kings. Of course, it became "un-free" when I joined (I'm still a member). Everytime I go back to London I visit at least once. What I probably miss most about London (apart from Friends) is the number of great free spaces - partks, galleries, museums and so on.

Free and Hong Kong don't really go together in a sentence. Almost everything is "pay to play" here. I quite like some of the (tiny) parks and walking trails but they are not places that inspire much thought or contemplation for me. I could easily spend a whole day uninterupped reading in Green Park, or pass an afternoon in peaceful (and anonymous) contemplation at Tate Modern. That's just nt possible here.

[Paul]

lol, thanks Lyn - yeah beach is good - especially if there is some soft white sand, palm trees and warm blue ocean. Hmmm but that's ok Debs and I are talking about going back to the Maldives for our 20th wedding aniversary :)

[Paul]

lol, well come on over David :)

[marc]

That sounds great...my fave part of London is probably Camden closly followed by Borough market and Souhwark....

Nice page design...seems a little familiar:)

[Paul]

thanks Mak, thought i'd make some post holiday changes :)

yes, will be fun to see you and David in town and hang with you!

[Paul]

Thanks Fernando :) - the amount of green space in central london still impresses me, from square gardens to the 3 big parks all so accessible and free (at least at the point of entry).

[Paul]

Thanks Mark, i like borough market too, i used to go to college just round the corner - i'd love westminster abbey more but you have to pay to get in during the week which is a shame.

Glad you like the look - as a typepad user maybe it rings a few bells ;)