Love before the time of Corona

While we fret over our situation in these times of lock-down, its quite natural to reminisce about the beautiful times in the past. This one dates to the days just before COVID-19 sucked the life and fun out of everyone and every place on Earth. Just so you know, tis not a love story, as one might imagine, rather a city-love, during Christmas, last year.

Across the seas into the land of bequests,

We headed with a new-found zest,

Filled with quite a ton of eccentricities,

London, thou art' the Queen of Cities.

It was in all, a 7-hour journey by air from New Delhi to Istanbul followed by a 3-hour trip to London. It was a 3-hour halt at Istanbul airport. Large as it is, it houses Turkish Delights, Blue evil-eye beads and crystal ornaments of varying shapes and colors. Witnessing the vibrant surrounding, rich cuisine and a different sort of culture in those 3 hours definitely had us put Istanbul in our wish list for the next trip.!!! ✈✈✈ We reached London at midnight amidst the cool, brisk breeze at Heathrow terminal T2.

We started our expedition the following day, Sunday as it was, unaware of the fact that the city was definitely not an early riser on Sundays what with markets and tourist destinations closed until noon. Nevertheless, a casual stroll across the streets with Christmas wreaths and lights, which later lighted the night sky, serene yet grand; was worth the trip.

Travel Tip 1:

If you have a crunch on time, Hop-in bus service might seem like an ideal way to explore every important corner of the city, but trust me, its' way exciting and enriching to take your own call and visit selected places by means of an Oyster Card and GPS of course!

So just Explore London through London tube 🚇🚇🚇

There are tons of captivating stuff around, but the ones to draw my attention were believe it or not, the traditional red telephone kiosks, still preserved and somewhat symbolizing the untarnished British cultural heritage. We decided to have a go at the most commonly visited tourist spots first, which included London Eye and the traditional river cruise inclusive of a walk-through of the iconic structures alongside Thames like the Shard, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and lots more.

It was a soul-soothing experience during the evenings alongside the Thames, with cider and a plate of the traditional fish & chips, listening someone sing to the tunes of Christina Perri's "A thousand years" and then walking back to our hotels in the chilly winter evenings.

The following week, we did have to work during the day, all the while, enthusiastic enough to explore the city during the evenings. Back from office by 6, we dropped our bags and rushed to the nearby TESCO, grabbed a beer and walked our way to the riverbank. The Christmas markets were in place, since Christmas was round the corner, flooded with people enjoying to the fullest, and all excited for the Christmas shopping. Leicester Square, which was easily accessible by Tube, also seemed like a nice hangout spot in the evenings lined with stores, casinos and open arenas with buskers.

Movie buffs, as we both are, eventually decided to explore our fantasies the following weekend. We got to Kings Cross station, Platform 9 & ¾, to have a peek at the Harry potter filmed spot and got to see a long serpentine queue of people, waiting to have their photograph with the trolley in the wall. That was indeed amazing, along with Sherlock Holmes place at 221B, Baker Street, again with a long queue of Sherlock fans. Besides, Being a die hard fan of Harry Potter, we also planned to have a theater experience of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" having shows with online booking Facility. And to add to that, we also had indulged ourselves at the House of Spells" store at Charring Cross Road which had an awesome collection of Harry Potter stuff.

Travel-Tip 2:

While you are at it, do not forget to have a home stay experience in an Air-bnb anywhere within the city to have a wholesome British décor experience.

Although we weren't much of the food-aholic type, we did enjoy Lebanese cuisine the most, what-with Falafel wraps & Spanish treats like Paella. The entire corner close to the London eye did have a plethora of options starting from Churros, Burritos to a whole lot of varied cuisines.

As a matter of fact, we had a weekend experience at one of the Air-bnbs in Brixton, in a house managed by an old lady. We were more than delighted to explore the typical cupboard under the stairs, patterned porcelain crockery and an unusual backyard with gnomes and foxes carved in stones . Compact and carefully detailed rooms and larger roof lights marked the key highlights there.

Travel-Tip 3:

If you are on a trip with kids, do not forget to spend an evening at Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park, which seemed like the ultimate fun destination for kids with gigantic merry-go-rounds, shops with fun games, Horror house, and with cookies and candies everywhere.

Besides, it was also a treat to our vision, Structural Engineers as we are, while we visited the Tower Bridge, London and marveled over its engineering principles and movable bascules in particular. Meticulously designed, its definitely a landmark for Civil Engineers & architects who have contributed in its making. It has 2 towers with mechanically operated bascules connecting them. There are walkways at the 10th floor (Definitely scary at the top!!!) which have an enriching view of the Thames below. The tower bridge is close to the Tower of London, which houses the famous Kohinoor.

Travel Tip 4:

Its definitely worth visiting Few places Close to London at the same Time like Windsor Castle and Stonehenge & Briton Beach.

Besides, it was also fun visiting Cambridge which was just a 2 hour train ride from Blackfriars station giving a peek of the beautiful countryside with meadows on the way. It was like a hub of innovation housing Newton's apple tree, Cambridge University and various technical innovations to its name.

Basically, there are a myriad of tourist attractions within and surrounding the city, which usually become difficult to cover unless one has a planned vacation for an extended time. However, each of us, can find our happy place within, different for each person. The city gives a reason to wander, both literally and physically, into its depths and discover the layered wonders. I guess holding on to those good times gives us the strength to survive through these times of trial.

As Albus Dumbledore rightly said,

"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light"