Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
Getting to the city center of London, United Kingdom from Heathrow airport was painful in the past. The most important airport is 24 km away from the center and you need around 50 minutes by subway. In 1998 the new Heathrow Express started to operate and now you can reach Paddington station within 15 minutes (from terminals 2/3) – especially on short trips to London you can save a lot of travel time in this way.
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You can reach the city of London, United Kingdom via six different international airports. The most frequented of them is Heathrow – with nearly 75 million passengers a year it is also the sixth largest airport in the world. Heathrow was opened in 1946, has four terminals (2-5, #1 was closed in 2015), is homebase to British Airways and located 24 kms afar from the city center.
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I had not been to London, United Kingdom for some time as I heard that two friends wanted to get there for a weekend to celebrate the birthday of one of them. Secretly I took over the planning and booked three tickets for the trip and a nice small hotel near Paddington station.
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The Tate Modern in London, United Kingdom located near St. Paul’s Cathedral directly at the river Thames. It has been created in the year 2000 in an old power station and is the biggest museum of modern art.
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St. Paul’s and Westminister Abbey are the two most important and well known churches in London, United Kingdom. The current cathedral has been built 300 meters away from river Thames in 1666 – after the great fire of London. It is built in 17th century french art style; a kind of baroque.
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The Tower Bridge in London, United Kingdom is named because of its Location close to the Tower of London. It is 244 meters long and was opened in 1894 in gothic revival style. Between its 65 meter high towers in the middle section it is a flap bridge to allow the passage for higher ships.
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The Tower of London, United Kingdom is a fortification in the center of the city. It contains a castle surrounded by two walls and it has been used over the centuries as a royal safe-harbour, prison, zoo, museum and armoury. It has been built in the 11th century CE for William the Conquerer and is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1988.
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Concerning the royal family the most important church in London, United Kingdom is Westminster Abbey, located close to the Houses of Parliament. The kings and monarchs are crowned and buried here. The abbey was built from 1045 on and the current church was begun in the year 1240. The towers have been added by Sir Christopher Wren from the year 1722 on.
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A hugh bell in one of the towers of the Houses of Parliament in London, United Kingdom is called Big Ben – but people tend to use the name for the whole tower. The correct name since the crown jubilee in 2012 is Elizabeth tower. It is now named after Queen Elizabeth – and another tower of the parliament is named after her mother Victoria.
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