London Tube Challenge : Jubilee line

I read about this Tube Challenge in an article somewhere and I was intrigued. What is Tube Challenge? It is the accepted name for the Guinness World record attempt to visit all the stations on the London Underground network in the fastest time possible. The record for fastest completion is currently held for 16 hours, 14 minutes and 10 seconds.

Hmm why not? Let's do something crazy. I'm not going to break the record, of course. But, I'm going to try visit as much stations as I can. Bought a week travel card that covers from zone 1 to 3. I don't  plan to tag out if there's nothing to see outside of the station. So, I guess the travel card is sufficient to cover my journey. It costs me 40 quids for a week. Better make the most of it.

I decided to start off with the Jubilee line as that's the one that I'm familiar with. The journey started from Canary Wharf station towards Stanmore. I got down at Bermondsey station just to have a look at the area. I was curious. Walked from Bermondsey to London Bridge station. I've put up a post on that part of the journey earlier (see blog post here)

Next, I got down at Green Park Station which took me straight to St. James' Park. There were a lot of people lying on the green grass, enjoying the warm weather. Snapped some pictures and continue on to my next destination.

The station looked like it had gone thorough refurbishment. The red tiles really brighten up the otherwise grubby looking station.

St Johns Wood - There's where the famous Abbey Road Studio and zebra crossing are. The walk from the station to the studio was very relaxing and hardly any passers by around. But then I saw a bunch of people standing beside a road. Oh my god, it was so funny looking at those people trying to get the 'Beatles shot' on the zebra crossing. And the poor drivers need to stop everytime someone tries to cross. I did not take any picture but I had fun watching, though.

Swiss Cottage - The district is named after an  inn called the 'The Swiss tavern' that was built in 1804 and on the site of a former tollgate keeper's cottage. The inn's later named to Swiss Cottage. It is now becomes a pub. The station itself dated from 1939.

Finchley Road - I stopped by the station to find something to eat. There's a Mark & Spencer and Waitrose just outside the station. Then I saw a sign to Freud Museum. I decided to follow it just out of curiosity. Well, the route through the Trinity Walk was kind of challenging with a 60 degrees steep. Unfortunately, the museum was close that day. It only opens from Wednesday to Sunday. But at least I've seen his last house from outside.
I saw this Victorian building which I guess a pub with 1850 plaque on it. I googled it and according to London Remember, It was built in 1850 as one of first building to grace the new Finchley Road. It was purpose built as a pub.

I continue on the Jubilee line without stopping at any station till I reached the end of the line, Stanmore station.

It was a tiring feat to achieve and it took me 7 hours to complete the ride from Stratford to Stanmore and back. But I did take my own sweet time exploring the area nearby the station as well. Will I continue with other line? I don't know. :-)

A day in Westminster

Date of visit: 4 June 2015
Place of visit: Westminster, London

It was a sunny and super HOT day today. The temperature reached 25C and my skin became tanner/browner as though I'm not dark enough before :(

Walked the suggested route 'Westminster Walk' (see Map below) that I got from WalkLondon.com. It covers the main tourist attractions in Westminster.

Attractions along the way:
1-House of Parliaments & Big Ben
2-10, Downing Street
3-Horse Guards
4-Banqueting Hall, Whitehall
5-Trafalgar Sq & Nelson Column
6-National Gallery
7-St James' Palace
8-The Mall & Clarence House
9-Buckingham Palace
10-Queen's Gallery & Royal Mew
11-Churchill War Rooms
12-Westminster Abbey

Well, as usual I'm not good at following guides, I either got loss or strayed to other things that looked interesting to me at that time. I started from the mid-section i.e. from Trafalgar Square, which I've seen everyday since Monday. I think it has etched into my long term memory by now :) Next, to the National Gallery.

There were lots of awesome paintings the gallery. I saw Rafael's and Leonardo Da Vinci's awesome paintings. It looked so life-like. I just can't believe someone can paint so well. But unlucky for me, I was not able to view the very famous Van Gogh painting, the Sunflowers, as the room was closed for restoration work. The staff told me that the room will be open on Friday, but maybe some other time.

It took me like 1 hour to finish the whole museum. I'm not into the art so much but at least I've seen the famous paintings once in my lifetime.

I did not rent the audio guide so I was a bit lost. Didn't know what I was looking at except that it were beautiful. There was quite a crowd when I was there, but surprisingly quite.

Truthfully, I was quite bored in there!

Admiralty Arch

Before I know it, it was lunch time and I did not have any breakfast yet. Bought cheap sarnie from Co-Op and coffee from Costa. I headed off to St James' Park through the Admiralty Arch.

Walked along The Mall and stopped by St James' Park where I sat under the shade having my lunch. Will never get to do this anymore in the future.

Buckingham Palace

Continued on to Buckingham Palace. But it was too hot to take a decent picture so I just give up. This is the only good picture of the place that I have (after Photoshop treatment, of course). By this time, I feel it weak due to dehydration. I quickly passed through park to find St James Palace but alas I couldn't find it and I ended up at the end of the garden and I was on Piccadilly road.  Hahahahaha... I'm lost again! But what the heck, keep on walking till I reached Piccadilly circus, turned right and walked downhill towards Parliament Square.

Now, the masterpiece of London, Westminster Abbey! Wanted to go in and have a look but the 20 quid price tag is just too steep for a budget traveller like me. I guess the exterior picture is enough and  bought some postcards with the interior pictures on it. Job done!

There you go. I completed the Westminster walk in 3 hours, including visit to the National Gallery. Not bad! But I was sun burnt and dehydrated at the end of the walk. Really, if you're walking around London during heat waves/summer, do consume lots of liquids (not iced coffee like I did, it made me more dehydrated).