The trip to London was fairly hectic and Paris was a little bit worse. This trip started when I woke up at 2:00 am so that I could catch a cab to the airport to take my 4:00 am flight -which was Etihad by the way- so, after I went through the flight and landed in Abu Dhabi international airport. In Abu Dhabi, I recalled that my former best friend lives there. His name is Siddharth Reddy Bhumireddy. I took a cab to the house of Siddharth and, on the way saw the cricket stadium. We also saw the grand mosque, which is made out of marble and has precious jewels embedded inside it. As I saw all of this wealth, I wondered,if he can afford to build these amazing buildings and own Manchester City Football Club- one of the richest clubs in the world- with wealth left over, how rich can the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi even be? I waved an extremely saddening goodbye to Siddharth and hopped onto my flight to London.
After I landed at London's Heathrow airport, I waited in an extremely,extremely long line at customs and jumped onto the subway train called "The London Underground" My first reactions were "The London Underground, what a name." The train was very modern, had a neatly labeled map and told us-the passengers- what the next stop will be. I sped off the train at Earl's Court Road underground station and promptly got lost somewhere in the London borough of South Kensington. Luckily, a combination of my father's phone and my questioning enabled us to arrive at the hotel St. Simeon, 36 Harrington Gardens, London.
Upon our arrival, my family and me jumped into beds and lay there for what seemed like two seconds but, in reality it was probably fifteen minutes. My father got up and asked us what we wanted for dinner and we wanted Burger King. So he went and bought a 47 pence water bottle from Tesco's and two burgers, a Veggie wrap and Chicken nuggets for my sister. When we finished, someones' stomach made a noise like what is happening now; my sister just knocked the rocking chair down and made a gunshot sound. I had a nice, long sleep and woke up ready to see the sights.
We ate the hotel's marvelous breakfast and hopped on a train to Green Park. At Green Park, we strolled through the park and visited Buckingham Palace. From there my father made what some people would call a mistake and some people wouldn't. We were faced with the option of either going back to Green Park or to St. James Park station. My father saw a sign that said "St. James Park-2 minutes" so we walked that way and saw some stunning wildlife but, the sign was referring to the park itself, not the Tube station. So, after a long walk we arrived and the station was closed so we had to walk all the way to Westminster Abbey.
After we reached, we took pictures galore and waited in a long line to get to the London Eye. It turned out to be worth it. The view was absolutely spectacular and I got to see the headquarters of MI5 and MI6 , the 2 British secret agencies. After that, I ate some luscious Japanese Chicken Teriyaki and got onto a boat ride. I think that this was the first boat ride that I have been on that had live commentary. Sean-The Commentator- was absolutely hilarious. Then, I made my way across London to the British museum where I saw-wait for it- The Rosetta Stone. We went home after seeing the museum and just relaxed.
At around 7:00 we went to eat at a Greek restaurant. In the restaurant I had chicken curry and my sister's food (pizza) seemed to take forever to arrive. Later, everyone staggered back to the hotel. After arrival my mother told us to sleep and we slept like many hibernating bears. In the morning, we awoke and ate breakfast.
My family and I traveled to Madame Tussaud's and saw the wax sculptures. After seeing that, we walked to Lord's, the home of cricket and took a tour. On the tour, I met the father of Umar Akmal and spoke to him about cricket. After journeying back, we walked to the natural history museum and looked at, well, historical artifacts. We took a long walk to the hotel and relaxed for many seconds before walking out to eat at an Italian restaurant.
On the last day, we set off to the tower of London and were witnesses of a guided tour by a Yeoman Warder and looked at the Crown Jewels which consisted of many valuable artifacts. Once we took a peek at them, we crossed over to Tower Bridge,looked at it and took a look at its famousness and then we took a bus to the famous St. Paul's Cathedral and took a gander at the marvelous Gothic architecture. Later, my mother led us to Trafalgar square, where my sister spotted some street dancers and went to watch them.
The next morning, we made a journey from Earl's Court road to St. Pancras International station and took the Eurostar to Paris Nord and checked in at the Hotel Marignan. Later, we ate in a restaurant where we learnt that we needed to know french. The menu at the Thai restaurant was completely in french and that made it difficult to order.
The next morning, we went to the tower created by Gustav Eiffel and immediately were struck by its views of Paris. I think that I even saw the ground where one of my favorite football teams-PSG- trains. I chomped on a chicken sandwich and sat to eat where 50 people were killed 150+ years ago by the french government. Next, we visited the historic Arc De Triomphe, where the names of french victories and generals are inscribed. Later that night, I visited the Eiffel tower again and I ate an absolutely delicious meal of Roast chicken, fries, Onion soup and a chocolate mousse in a french restaurant.
The next day, we awoke and spent 6 hours in the Louvre museum observing the various works of art and gaping in awe at them. On the way back, we passed the amazing Notre Dame cathedral and gawked. For dinner, again we ate Italian, and on the way back, an artist was working on a painting and my sister bought the painting.
The next morning, my family set off to Hyderabad. The line for check-in at Charles De Gaulle airport was amazingly long. Somehow, we got through and squeaked onto the flight to Abu Dhabi. At Abu Dhabi, we waited two hours and started for Mumbai. At Mumbai, I waited 4 long hours to get onto the plane. After the planes' wheels made contact with the ground, I knew I was home.
