Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
March 2013: London
This visit to London took place during a spell of very poor weather, summed up by several reporters in the phrase "Spring is on hold". As I hope the pictures show, this didn't prevent me from having a thoroughly good time.
Natural History Museum
As the weather on Saturday morning was unremittingly awful, I took refuge in the Natural History Museum in South Kensington.
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Cutty Sark & Greenwich
Although Greenwich is one of my favourite places to visit in London, something had been missing for several years. The famous preserved tea clipper Cutty Sark was badly damaged by a disastrous fire in 2007. Following painstaking restoration, she was reopened to the public during 2012. The ship has strong Scottish connections: she was built at Dumbarton on the River Clyde and her name is taken from the Burns poem Tam o' Shanter.
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The weather was uncharacteristically cooperative and brightened up nicely for the duration of my visit. As such, I couldn't resist a quick look at some of the nearby sights.
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Emirates Air Line
My Docklands hotel provided a convenient base for trying out the latest technique for crossing the Thames in East London: the new cable car system sponsored by Emirates. Running between Greenwich Peninsula (otherwise known as North Greenwich, home to the O2 Arena) and Royal Docks, the system uses small 'gondola'-type cars that operate on a continuous loop, just 15 seconds apart.
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Canary Wharf
Being based at West India Quay in Docklands, it would have been a shame not to take the opportunity to look around the local area. Although my visit was at the weekend, and one affected by a late blast of nasty winter weather, the area was far from dead and made a nice change from the incessant buzz of Central London.
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Base: Marriott West India Quay
Linked reports from same trip: