bandar Birmingham & Paddington photos - my Maiden Europe 2013 backpacking trip - day 1 & 2

Warning - LOTS OF PHOTOS (as usual click to enlarge),
the last one an eye-candy. Sight for sore eyes gitu.
tapi aku cerita sikit Perjalanan dari lapangan terbang Heathrow ke London ke Birmingham guna berbagai keretapi pasal aku nak cepat giler.

mission day one:
- Hope my flight has no delay and precisely 0530hrs to arrive at Heathrow Airport
- Clear immigration without problem as quickly as possible
- Must find a way to reach Birmingham City as fast as possible to at least walk around the city (kalau tak rasa rugi pasal tak tahu bila lagi boleh sampai tempat ni), then to find a way to Villa Park by 1600hrs to see Bon Jovi play.

Like in Singapore and I believe its the same in Kuala Lumpur, London's Subway uses Sunday as a day to do major repair works, so there will be a few stations which lines are closed.

So once I clear immigration and I realised this above problem may hinder my fast and furious mission,, I decided I have no choice but to take the Heathrow Express to Paddington and then switch to the Underground to Euston, and from Euston takes a train to Birmingham.
The cost if I remember correctly is something like this (I am typing this from memory but I do hope they are fairly accurate).

Heathrow Express - Paddington  - 40 pounds ( I bought both directions as after Bon Jovi plays Birmingham UK, I want to see Maiden plays in Germany and I dont have much time travelling time wise. )

Paddington - Euston using Underground UK - if you dont have the Oyster Card, get ready to pay about 4.50pounds on average for your subway trips.

London - Birmingham (take the train at Euston) - This trip is about less than 3hrs depending if the train you take is the one which stops at more stations, or the one that skips more stations.
This cost about 50pounds (to and fro).

During the trip you will pass by COVENTRY, and also you will pass by the Birmingham Airport Station which is next to the NEC, the place where the original Maiden England in 1988 was recorded, so its a kind of history trip for me as my purpose to backpack was in fact to see Maiden England LIVE.

I reach Birmingham City at about noon, enough time for me to wander around, and take a glimpse of the city center.
So the city is very beautiful and its so cold for me, I will never get used to that cold weather.

So you can see lots of old  historical buildings, Queen Victoria era, very beautiful, and also references to Lady Diana and all that. Its nice.

So heres the mumbo - jumbo photos of
Birmingham City area,
the insides of the Heathrow Express trains,
the Underground ( SCREAM FOR ME HAMMERSMITH!!! )
Euston Train Station
The inside of the train going to Birmingham and whatever else I just lump in.
Not forgetting the FLEA MARKET!!

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PADDINGTON, London, is really something...
I took the time to wander the streets, and suddenly look what I found. Paddington waterway and watersides.

Some sort of water canals or small rivers, where there are sort of boats or gondolas being in used.

I think this is the best thing about travelling by yourself where you can just explore and see things for yourself.

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Finish of this post with some eye-candy...

Janick Gers (withAdrian Smith in the background..)
- first night Maiden Frankfurt 11 June 2013.

Love his add-ons to the song Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son 
I wonder how  Infinite Dreams would have sounded with him joining in.