Tag: tourism

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London City Airport, Silvertown, London

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If you are going for a short getaway, this is the place to fly from. It is 20 minutes on public transport from London Bridge to the check-in desks, and it is even less from the city. Once you arrive, unless you are unlucky, it will be no more than 10 minutes from station to airside. This airport really shortens your travel time, important if you are only having a few days away.

When you check in, try to get a window seat because the views of London from take off are spectacular.  The runway is straight in the direction of the city and the planes fly relatively low over town. This provides passengers with a better prospect of the London skyline than the London Eye, The Shard and the Skygarden combined.  If you are lucky enough to have an evening flight arriving into the airport, on your return, you will have an added bonus of the approach into London’s glittering city lights and the glistening river Thames. The takeoff and landing views are worthy of being a London attraction all by themselves.

All in all, London City Airport provides a truly premium experience and should be considered, if you are visiting London and planning a short side trip away.

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Attractions Buildings

BFI Imax, Waterloo, London.

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The building itself is quite cool. Its an eight storey, circular Perspex edifice with gigantic posters trailing the latest blockbuster alternating on the outside.

The sound is excellent, both in terms of volume and quality. You may want plugs if you have sensitive ears, they definitely have it turned up to 11, but the system is up to it and the quality is good even at that level.

The screen is vast, the largest is the UK, 540square metres of it. The 3D quality is fantastic for those films made for it, in fact, some specialist films can only be seen at their best in an IMAX cinema. However for normal 3D films the quality is only a little better than your normal multiplex. Actually to be accurate it is better in the centre of the screen but can seem a little blurred at the edges. However the experience is far more immersive because of the size of the screen.

It is not cheap, our tickets were over £20 each last time we went. The seats are not comfortable enough to sit through a full movie easily. There seem to be too few toilets for the size of the venue, each time we have gone the queues have been long before and after the film.

However having said this, it is a unique experience and it is worth going at least once to see either a made for IMAX film or a big 3D blockbuster.

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Restaurant review

The Café in the Crypt, St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London

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If you are near Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, St Martins Lane or the National Gallery, there is a lovely little hidden café underneath the St Martin-in-the-Fields church.

You enter by going downstairs in a circular glass structure in the wide alley just to the North of the church.

Once you are downstairs you will be in a large atmospheric crypt with beautiful arched vaulted ceilings. The acoustics are great, even when it is full you can hear your party’s conversation without difficulty.

The floor is flagged with large stones and some very old gravestones. There are busts of famous ancient Londoners  dotted throughout, in hidden alcoves.

It serves very good food; soup made on the premises, nice hot dishes that change from day to day, lovely cakes and biscuits and it is licensed, if you fancy a glass of wine with your lunch.

There is a good choice for vegetarians too.

If you a looking for somewhere that is right in the centre of tourist London that, perhaps, most tourists might miss, then this is just the place.

A real hidden gem!

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The picture above is of the entrance, in case you miss it. It has Jazz evenings on Wednesdays. Oh and the church that it is beneath, St Martin-in-the-Fields, is not to shabby either!

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Attractions Buildings Days Out

Eltham Palace, London SE9.

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If you like historic buildings and Art Deco furniture and style, then you will not find anywhere better in London.

Many of the Kings of England lived here, including Henry VIII. It was lovingly redeveloped in the 1930s by Stephen Courtauld.  He restored the palace and added a new Art Deco house, decorated and furnished in the fashion of the time.

Currently it is in the care of by English Heritage. The circular entrance room is stunning and the art deco decoration and appliances are exquisite. The gardens are beautiful and have lovely views of the house and over London.

This is a fantastic day out within half an hour from central London.

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The photos are of the house from the garden and a marble bath in on of the en suite bathrooms.

 

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Hotel review

Park Hotel Clarke Quay, Singapore

We stayed here for 4 nights. The room was compact but well laid out, so it did not feel too restricted. I particularly liked the wardrobe that could be opened from the bathroom as well as the bedroom.
It was a good base from which to sightsee Singapore. It is modern and had good facilities. The bathroom and shower were great. The wifi was good quality. It has a nice pool and sunbathing area. There are many restaurants and shops close by and it is walking distance (but hot and humid, so we did get taxis sometimes!) along the river to Singapore’s must see venues. I would stay here again.

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Hotel review

The Elephas Resort, Haberana, Sri Lanka

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Of the 7 hotels, in which we stayed in Sri Lanka, this was the newest and the one we liked the least. It felt like an army barracks, the bathroom was bare concrete, the bed plinth was concrete, the seat outside the room was concrete. There was no wifi in the rooms and the wifi in the communal areas was intermittent.

There was no hot water in the shower in the morning.

The restaurant is open to outside and there were mosquitos in the evening. The food was mediocre.

Be careful if booking at the weekend, they do special offers for office parties to fill the rooms – it was quite raucous on the night we spent there. We sleep well, so it did not disturb us, but worth knowing if you plan to be there on a Friday or Saturday night.

It is within half an hour of Minneriya, Sigirya and Dembulla – all of which are amazing, but I do suspect there are other hotels in the vicinity which would have suited us better.

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Hotel review

The Hill Club, Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

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The hotel was built over a hundred years ago and even today is run to give you the experience of how it was to stay in smart hotels in days gone by. It does have modern conveniences, the bathroom and shower was hot and efficient, the wifi worked well, and there is TVs and DVD players in the room.

The overall experience of the hotel, right from turning in through the entrance gates is that of arriving at a colonial country house in days of yore. You are greeted in reception, told of the dress options for dinner, shown to your room – past the billiard rooms and magazine and book filled drawing room and library.

When we arrived back in our room from dinner there was even a hot water bottle in our bed!

Don’t come here if you want a sleek modern 21st century hotel, but if you would like a short break to step back in time, the Hill Club will give you an experience that will be difficult to match anywhere else.