Wednesday, June 10, 2015

London Pass/ Carlos Pueblo

London Pass/ Carlos Pueblo

Before my Europe trip, I have purchased two tickets. One is London Pass;
The other is Eurail Pass for Spain. I thought that London Pass was a 10 days
Tube tickets plus 5 visits of palaces and castles. Eurail pass did mail it to
Me quickly while London Pass which I had to go to its London office to get
It. I am confused why I must pay additional ticket to get a pass which is
covered by that 10 days pass. After Heathrow, I carried all my belongings
and took the subway to the Pass office nearby Charing Cross Station. After
some hours waiting at the Trafalgar Square, I did have the Pass; however,
the pass was only for visiting fee paid points not including the basic subway.
The manager agreed to refund in three business days directly to my credit
card account. I was not quite comfortable; therefore, I went back to double
check with her and she guaranteed me. Actually, British transportation
authority sells discount passes directly to the customers and there is no
need and no profit for the private company to sell such tickets.

Trafalgar Square is very close to the Pass store on Charing Cross Street.
Next door neighbor is National Geography Museum. There are some tourists
gathered in the square early in a rainy morning. This is a place where the
the British honor their national hero, Admiral Horatio Nelson. When I was a
boy, I studied on my textbook which indicated Nelson was not retreated on
a snowstorm morning to his school. He joined the navy at 13 years old right
out of the grammar  school under the influence of his uncle, his mother’s
brother a British Captain. He lost his life during the battle of Trafalgar against
French and Spanish fleet yet his fleet won the battle. His statue is raised high
to the sky. I have passed the Square twice on my trip in London and another
visit was at his museum, British Maritime Museum at Greenwich, the old
naval academy and the palace of Queens Elizabeth I and Mary.

I also went on checking on London Chinatown a place where I could get a
reasonable cost of food. I had a feeling that Chinatown was less traffic than
4  years ago and it might be the British were on vacation. I read the restaurant
menu and converted the British pounds to US dollars then decided to have 2
meals a day instead of 3. I would have a breakfast at the hostel and come back
to a Subway sandwich store for a one foot vegie sandwich as late lunch and
early supper. Covent Garden is also nearby. I brought a Taiwanese student to
visit the market and ran into the same musician who played Sheng, a Chinese
mouth organ. I asked him if he was the same person 4 years ago, he replied
that he had played at the market for 30 years.  


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