London

Last two days were the days of running. We've tried to squeeze as much of London as we can in only two days and IT'S MADNESS!!!
Lesson learned (a quickly learned one this time): you need *at least* a week to see only the most known sights of London.

Anyway, back to the beginning of this story.
In the morning of April 14th, we took a train from Maidstone to London's Victoria station. It's some one hour ride and lets you see some of really nice picturesque British villages on the way. The very entrance to London is rather crappy-looking bacause the train brings you in through some warehouses and junkyards, but once you exit the train the picture changes completely.

First thing that I noticed on Victoria station is the multitude of races and nationalities, all gathered here in such a small spot. As a friend said - it's a good reminder to just how different we humans can be. And it's a great sight to see.

Once up on the surface, the pulsing life of such a big city hits you with all the expected imagery - the London architecture, the black cabs, the red double-deckers...

As we were slowly making our way to - what else but - the House of Parliament and The Big Ben, we passed the Westminster Cathedral and the Westminster Abbey.
Even though the weather looked very promising so far, the British weather gods have cast their dices once again and the one wishing for rain seems to have won this round.
Just as we approached Big Ben, it was time to pack the cameras in the bags and get the raincoats out.
After several such swaps (did I mention British weather can be really annoying at times?), it was pouring and we finally found a place to sit inside and have a meal while waiting for the rain to stop.
Luckily, the dices rolled in our favor once again, and the (photo)shooting continued full-scale.

We backed out around the Downing Street (where the Prime Minister resides), through the St.James's park and onwards to Buckingham Palace (have to see that now don't we ;))

It was too late to see the changing of the guards, but oh well...

After a decent walk westward, we reached a more modern spot every London visitor should visit - The Harrods! (every shopper's dream place! every shopper with loads of cash, that is...)
Now this is not just an expensive shop. This is a place where people from e.g. Dubai or Bahrain come to shop. And I don't mean they stop by when they're in London on business. Nooo, they fly here from e.g. Dubai for one day, with their whole entourage of servants, to show themselves and spend small fortunes most people could only dream about. Then they fly back.
The kind of people that bring their Bugatti Veyron's for a visit to London. And this is definitely not just any Veyron:

Lesson learned: don't go to Harrod's if hungry or thirsty; if you want to blow loads of cash, at least buy something there that you won't eat or drink in 5 minutes.

Anyway, the evening is approaching, and we decided to shoot the House of Parliament in the night, with it's lights reflecting in the River Thames, so it's down to "the Tube" (subway) and back eastwards.
Turns out they don't turn the lights on until it's very dark, so we spent about an hour at the river bank with dozens of other tourists awaiting the same thing. Such an original shot lol

Now comes the fun part.
Exhausted we hurry back to Victoria station to catch one of the last trains back to Maidstone. We arrive in time, only to not see it on the boards. After asking about at the info office, we are told that the last train to Maidstone already went off, and that the one we were looking for (and the subsequent one we counted on) are not stopping at Maidstone station at this time.
However, the info guy told us that we should go to Charing Cross station and catch another train (last one from nearby London that does stop at Maidstone), going in ~20 minutes.
Bummer. We just came from Charing Cross. And 20 minutes is barely enough.
Back down to the tubes. Back to Charing Cross, practically running. Look around, ask about. There is a train, but it DOESN'T stop at Maidstone.
After a helpful official made some calls and checked everything out, he told us that whoever told us the first story was talking bollocks, and that the original train we wanted DID stop at Maidstone, and that the last train to Maidstone does go from Victoria station, in some 30 minutes.
Back to tubes. Back to Victoria station. Wait for the train. Sit in the train. Feet up. Sleep. Return home. Sleep some more.

Lesson learned: if something sounds fishy, doublecheck with several persons. Even officials sometimes have no clue what they're talking about.


London day 2 - a more eastern part...
I'll have to stop writing now as it's almost 3AM here and we're about to go to Heathrow and catch that Buenos Aires flight.
This means ~14hr flight, followed by ~18hr bus to Salta, followed by several more buses in a similar duration range to San Pedro de Atacama. If all goes well :)
So, until Monday/Tuesday...

(I'll update this post with the second day of London and more pictures as soon as I catch some time)