What a great City!

I have to say that this is the first summer in 16 years that I have really enjoyed staying in London during the month of July. The weather has been consistently very nice and hot. I did not have to bring a jacket or a jumper with me at any time of the day and had the opportunity to enjoy many evenings dining “al fresco”. Because of the several guests who came to visit, I also did a lot of sightseeing and walking, sometimes to places that were completely new to me.

Last Friday, thanks to a colleague’s suggestion, I decided to go with my daughter, a friend and her son to the Royal Docks, a new area that was developed recently after the opening of The Emirates Air Line, a cable car that operates between North Greenwich and the Royal Docks. We took the tube to North Greenwich and wandered around the O2 arena, discovering many things including “the climb of an icon”.  If you are not afraid of heights and want to see the view from the top of the arena, you can climb to the top.

I am not particularly comfortable with heights so decided to pass on the Climb and went straight to the cable car without realising what I was getting myself into.  The Air Line can be paid for with the Oyster card (£3.20 for adults and £1.60 for children) and the procedure to board is very easy and comfortable. It was only once on board the cable that I noticed how high it was and how close to City airport! I took the ride without really looking at the spectacular view as I was quite terrified. After what seemed to be an eternity to me, we finally reached the other side.

The kids were all excited as they had seen some large plastic bubbles on the water and insisted on going there. The bubbles are in a small, confined area which is very safe.  Kids (or adults too) go inside and, once zipped in, can feel what it is like to be a hamster rolling around inside a giant plastic ball. They had great time trying to run inside the ball and splash in the water without getting wet! They were also fascinated by some other water activities that were available near by, including water skiing and water jet packs. I had only seen them in a James Bond film and had great fun looking at people using them. Of course none of us dared to try it, but if you feel brave this is something really cool to do.

The return trip by cable car was less painful as at least I was mentally prepared for it. The day continued with a delicious sandwich at Borough Market and a walk in the City. We were exhausted but happy after a fun and different London experience!
Written by:  Alessandra Gnudi
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