Take a walk through some of London’s amazing repositories

One of the reasons, why people hold on to memories so tight is because memories are the only thing that never change when everyone changes. Memories of London trip held so tight in me that the winds of time and change would not be able to blow them away.

London is a traveller’s delight; probably one of the few places in the world where life gets defined in the best way... fun, frolic, fashion, history and happiness amalgamates into a sea of humanity.

Honestly, having foreseen what to witness but not to the extent actually seen, I landed in Heathrow airport in London on a pleasant afternoon on August 2, 2012 along with a friend. Till the next few days after reaching our destination at my resident friend’s abode, we ventured exploring the various tourist attractions including Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, Oxford Street, London Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and so on. One highlight of these visits was the walk on the London Bridge in the middle of the night at 1 am which was an out of the world experience.

During these days, we also took a trip to Wimbledon to witness the place which we had always watched on television. The feeling was tremendous. Visiting UK and not going to Oxford University would be a crime and we did not let an opportunity go wasted and dashed to Oxford in the national rail.

One most beautiful thing about London and other parts of UK is the connectivity that it offers for the public. Internally connected through the 150 year old underground tube rail and externally through the national rail, I was in complete awe of the concern and the travel facilities that are offered for the citizens.

Reaching Oxford, we visited prominent colleges like Trinity College where our prime minister, Manmohan Singh and finance minister Chidambaram once studied, Christchurch College and a few others.

We also got an opportunity to sit through the world famous symphony orchestra in the Oxford Hall.

The highlight of the trip though came on during the later part of our trip when we embarked on a road trip across UK.

We had procured the tickets for the football bronze medal match at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, a 4 hour drive from London.

We hired a car, Vauxhall Insignia, a luxurious one no less and set out on what was to be the most memorable road trip of our lives.

We reached Cardiff and spent the evening at the Cardiff Bay, a prominent night spot.

The next day, we set out on a road trip towards Brecon Beacons national forests. Here the most prominent waterfall is the Henrhyd Waterfall in the Neath Valley.

The 90ft falls are notable because of an accessible area behind them that offers a unique view. This waterfall has been used in the batman flick The Dark Knight Rises.

The next halt was to Barry Island, the only beach place in the stretch. Before heading back to London, we visited the magnificent Windsor Castle at Windsor. Later on reaching London, we explored the various fashion and shopping destinations like Harrods, Westfield and many more.

As we readied ourselves to return to our homeland with a heavy heart, one feeling lingered in our minds. Wish we get an opportunity to visit this amazing place very often as it had given us the most humbling lesson of life - and that was life itself.

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