Jolly Old England
In front of Buckingham Palace
London, England was the very first country I visited after I became a naturalized US citizen. When Marc and I traveled to Jolly Old England, all I needed to have was my US passport.
No visa was required to enter the country. What a change it was for me after having traveled to nearly twenty countries prior with a Philippine passport. I no longer had to go to embassies nor consulates, file an application, nor talk to any consular officer to explain the nature of my planned visit. In other words, it was so easy. I also must add, it was sheer delight to go through immigration without any hassle whatsoever. I need to add though that in all my travels out of the Philippines or the US I had the good luck of not having any problems securing any visa for any country. It was so different from what I saw many of my fellow countrymen in the Philippines had to go through whenever they traveled abroad. I was lucky indeed not to be required to present any documents showing my money in the bank, the properties I owned, etc. I had none.
The first time I traveled to France as a student in Madrid, Spain, all I needed to do was fill out an application. I did the same thing when I visited Portugal and the Benelux countries. Even when I first went to the US as a tourist from Spain, all I did was talk to the embassy visa officer and that was that.
Anyway, back to being in London, our UNITED flight from San Francisco was a breeze. We flew business class at that time and the flight was actually quite quick. My first impression of the place? Expensive!
Here we were in front of the Buckingham Palace in London. Gosh, it's been so long since we traveled to London. Marc and I both agree a trip here is long overdue.
In front of Big Ben
At St. Paul's Cathedral
The nave of St. Paul's Cathedral. Taken upon our return to London after our organized tour ended.
On our way to Harrod's
What lovely British architecture!
At the Royal Albert Hall
Standing next to the Royal Albert Hall but on the theater's opposite side
In front of Kensington Palace
At Waterloo Station. Marc thought of us going to France and taking the train that traveled through the English channel
Inside the Waterloo Station. We were so tempted to travel to Paris, France from London. We heard it was quick and easy traveling on the train.
A scene inside Waterloo Station
At Piccadilly Circus
Many people find Piccadilly Circus very tacky and touristy. I loved it though. I must confess however that it was here where I actually could not handle the crowds. There was simply too many people one Friday night we were there. Given that it was a Friday, the last day of the work week, people not only tourists but locals too were out and about relaxing and having fun.