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| 16 countries, 64 cities, 108 days!! |
Friday, 22 June 2018
Sunday, 17 June 2018
London
9th June
We got up early to walk to the bus station in time to catch the 7:30am bus to London.
Three hours later we arrived at Victoria Bus Station and walked to the train station where we met up with my friend Jimmy (and his dog Ruby!)
We caught the train to his house together.
For lunch he took us to a local place that makes good kebabs.
We spent the day just hanging out with Jimmy and his wife Kate. In the afternoon my friend Darren turned up too.
Jimmy, Darren and I went to the local butcher as it was a nice day and Jim felt like having a BBQ dinner.
We had burgers, chicken wings and salad. It was a great day.
10th June
Today Jimmy took us to Tooting Market which is walking distance from his house. We had some Chinese for lunch and bought some grapes and cherries.
Jay cooked Pav bhaji and Aaloo Mutter and I helped him. It was nice to spend lots of time with Jim.
11th June
After spending the weekend at Jimmy's we decided it was time to go to the inner city.
We caught the train to Victoria Station. Just after we exited we saw Little Ben.
After that we walked along Victoria Street where we saw Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.
Then we saw the Parliament House and a completely scaffolded Big Ben.
We saw the London Eye and walked to Buckingham Palace.
Next we decided to catch a ferry boat to Greenwich. Along the Thames River we went under the Tower Bridge and saw The Tower of London.
When we arrived in Greenwich the first thing we noticed was Cutty Sark (a ship).
We went to the Old Royal Navy College where Information was located, followed by the Greenwich Market.
Then we saw the Royal Navy Museum and The Queen's House.
After that it was an uphill walk to the Royal Observatory (famous for the 0 longitude line, hence GMT).
Back in town we saw a St Alfege Church before we walked the Greenwich Tunnel Road to the other side of the river.
After that we caught a train to St Paul's Church and walked over the Millennium Bridge (or the wobbly bridge as Kate and Jim call it).
Next we saw Southwark Cathedral where the choir was rehearsing. Exhausted it was time to leave the city.
Darren came over and stayed the night. We had leftover Pav Bhaji for dinner.
We arrived at the the Natural History Museum to find it closed (oops, it opens at 10am not 9am!). So we used the time to walk to the nearby gardens where Kensington Palace is located.
On the way we saw the Royal Albert Hall... Well, some of it. Much of it was covered in scaffolding.
We headed back to the Natural History Museum and saw a portion of it. Out favourite part was the dinosaurs. They had a few that moved and made noises. High tech stuff!
Then we went next door to the Science Museum. It was really interesting. I liked the exhibition on superbugs and Jay liked the IT section - all about the development of broadcasting, computers, Internet and mobile phones.
In the middle of the Science Museum visit we went to the South Kensington Farmer's Market for lunch. I had confit beef and mashed potatoes, Jay had falafel, salad, beans and an African tomato and egg curry.
Across the road from the Science Museum was the V&A Museum. The building was quite lovely but the major of it's contents failed to hold my interest. I was museumed out for the day!
We headed to Leicester Square and watched a few buskers before we headed to Chinatown to look around.
Then we called it a day and headed out of the city. The evening was spent chatting with Darren as Kate and Jimmy were very busy that night. We bought Chinese food from around the corner. It was very average.
We decided to go and see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It was hard to see very much so we didn't stick it out to the end.
Next we popped into Paddington Station but failed to find Paddington Bear because we were in a rush to see Westminster (inside). However the train was delayed and we didn't get to Westminster on time anyway!
Instead we went to see Camden Market. There only seemed to be Asian food so we had some Thai.
After we'd finished eating we found where the rest of the food was! It looked amazing so we vowed to return.
Next we went to the British Museum. We spent a few hours there looking at the impressive collection.
Then we had dinner at Chinatown and went to Leicester Square. There was a film premiere for Ocean's 8 and all the famous actresses were walking down the red carpet. We could see it on the TV there and we could just make out the stage where they interviewed everyone.
We had bought tickets to see Aladdin which was located near the square. It was a really good show. Fun and entertaining.
After a very long day we headed home.
When we arrived in Central London we decided to check out the Tower of London and see how bad the queues were. It was spitting a bit and there wasn't very many people waiting to buy tickets. So we bought a ticket and went in.
First we saw the Crown Jewels as this area is known to get crowded. It was well presented with interesting information. (You aren't allowed to take photos in there).
Then we joined the Yeoman tour. It was too big. Looked like 100 people so you had to concentrate to hear. The tour guide was excellent, but the experience was somewhat ruined by the number of people. People also call Yeoman Beef Eaters. That's because the King kept the red meat to himself but his guards were allowed to eat any leftovers on the table once he was finished. So the local people who weren't allowed red meat called them Beef Eaters.
Then we saw the weapon area (I think it's called the White Tower) and the torture area. After a few hours we were done. It was very enjoyable.
We wandered over London Bridge and headed towards Borough Market. On the way we passed Hay's Gallery.
Borough Market was good but Camden Market was better so we opted to have lunch there. Delicious!!
Full, we headed back to the London Bridge area to go and check out the Tate Modern. There were a few pieces of art that I liked, but most of them weren't for me.
We then went to the Evensong at Westminster Abbey. The choir was really good. The church failed to impress us but that's because we've seen WAY too many during this trip!
When we got back to Jimmy's, Jay cooked dinner for everyone. Jim and I had a good chat while Jay did this.
Today was the last day of our trip. We spent the day seeing the pieces of London we'd missed.
First we saw the Monument to the great fire of London. There we saw a sign pointing to Leadenhall Market, so we went there.
Although we'd been close to Trafalgar Square we hadn't seen it yet so that was the next stop.
At the square was the National Gallery so we went in there. The building is gorgeous.
After that we went to Picadilly Circus and walked down Regent Street to Oxford Circus. Along Regent Street we saw an enormous toy shop called Hamleys. It was so good that I thought Jay might buy himself a toy! He loved the remote control car that could drive up walls and upside down on the ceiling.
Then we took the Underground to Camden Market for lunch as we hadn't seen anywhere else as delicious so far!
After that we stopped at Kings Cross Station on our way back to Streatham Common.
We had a chat with Jimmy then it was off to the airport for the loooooong flight back home.
We got up early to walk to the bus station in time to catch the 7:30am bus to London.
Three hours later we arrived at Victoria Bus Station and walked to the train station where we met up with my friend Jimmy (and his dog Ruby!)
We caught the train to his house together.
For lunch he took us to a local place that makes good kebabs.
We spent the day just hanging out with Jimmy and his wife Kate. In the afternoon my friend Darren turned up too.
Jimmy, Darren and I went to the local butcher as it was a nice day and Jim felt like having a BBQ dinner.
We had burgers, chicken wings and salad. It was a great day.
10th June
 |
| Jimmy and his ferocious dog Ruby |
Today Jimmy took us to Tooting Market which is walking distance from his house. We had some Chinese for lunch and bought some grapes and cherries.
Jay cooked Pav bhaji and Aaloo Mutter and I helped him. It was nice to spend lots of time with Jim.
 |
| Dinner with Jim and his wife Kate |
11th June
After spending the weekend at Jimmy's we decided it was time to go to the inner city.
 |
| Ruby would rather we stayed home! |
We caught the train to Victoria Station. Just after we exited we saw Little Ben.
 |
| Victoria Palace Theatre |
After that we walked along Victoria Street where we saw Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.
 |
| Westminster Cathedral |
 |
| Westminster Cathedral |
 |
| Westminster Abbey |
Then we saw the Parliament House and a completely scaffolded Big Ben.
 |
| On the right is Big Ben....completely obscured |
We saw the London Eye and walked to Buckingham Palace.
Next we decided to catch a ferry boat to Greenwich. Along the Thames River we went under the Tower Bridge and saw The Tower of London.
When we arrived in Greenwich the first thing we noticed was Cutty Sark (a ship).
We went to the Old Royal Navy College where Information was located, followed by the Greenwich Market.
 |
| Knight Jain |
Then we saw the Royal Navy Museum and The Queen's House.
After that it was an uphill walk to the Royal Observatory (famous for the 0 longitude line, hence GMT).
Back in town we saw a St Alfege Church before we walked the Greenwich Tunnel Road to the other side of the river.
 |
| Tunnel Entrance |
After that we caught a train to St Paul's Church and walked over the Millennium Bridge (or the wobbly bridge as Kate and Jim call it).
Next we saw Southwark Cathedral where the choir was rehearsing. Exhausted it was time to leave the city.
 |
| Views on our way to the train station |
 |
| HMS Belfast |
 |
| Grainy picture of the first fox we've ever seen (and heard) |
 |
| Second picture of the fox |
Darren came over and stayed the night. We had leftover Pav Bhaji for dinner.
12th June
We arrived at the the Natural History Museum to find it closed (oops, it opens at 10am not 9am!). So we used the time to walk to the nearby gardens where Kensington Palace is located.
 |
| Albert Memorial Statue |
 |
| Round Pond with Palace in the background |
On the way we saw the Royal Albert Hall... Well, some of it. Much of it was covered in scaffolding.
We headed back to the Natural History Museum and saw a portion of it. Out favourite part was the dinosaurs. They had a few that moved and made noises. High tech stuff!
 |
| Jay felt that the museum building looked more like a palace than Buckingham Palace. We've since learned that Buckingham Palace wasn't originally built to be a palace. |
Then we went next door to the Science Museum. It was really interesting. I liked the exhibition on superbugs and Jay liked the IT section - all about the development of broadcasting, computers, Internet and mobile phones.
In the middle of the Science Museum visit we went to the South Kensington Farmer's Market for lunch. I had confit beef and mashed potatoes, Jay had falafel, salad, beans and an African tomato and egg curry.
Across the road from the Science Museum was the V&A Museum. The building was quite lovely but the major of it's contents failed to hold my interest. I was museumed out for the day!
We headed to Leicester Square and watched a few buskers before we headed to Chinatown to look around.
Then we called it a day and headed out of the city. The evening was spent chatting with Darren as Kate and Jimmy were very busy that night. We bought Chinese food from around the corner. It was very average.
13th June
We decided to go and see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It was hard to see very much so we didn't stick it out to the end.
 |
| What you actually see unless you get there really early and nab a spot at the very front!! |
 |
| Green Park |
 |
| Green Park |
Next we popped into Paddington Station but failed to find Paddington Bear because we were in a rush to see Westminster (inside). However the train was delayed and we didn't get to Westminster on time anyway!
Instead we went to see Camden Market. There only seemed to be Asian food so we had some Thai.
 |
| Camden High Street - Clothes Market |
After we'd finished eating we found where the rest of the food was! It looked amazing so we vowed to return.
Next we went to the British Museum. We spent a few hours there looking at the impressive collection.
Then we had dinner at Chinatown and went to Leicester Square. There was a film premiere for Ocean's 8 and all the famous actresses were walking down the red carpet. We could see it on the TV there and we could just make out the stage where they interviewed everyone.
We had bought tickets to see Aladdin which was located near the square. It was a really good show. Fun and entertaining.
After a very long day we headed home.
14th June
When we arrived in Central London we decided to check out the Tower of London and see how bad the queues were. It was spitting a bit and there wasn't very many people waiting to buy tickets. So we bought a ticket and went in.
First we saw the Crown Jewels as this area is known to get crowded. It was well presented with interesting information. (You aren't allowed to take photos in there).
Then we joined the Yeoman tour. It was too big. Looked like 100 people so you had to concentrate to hear. The tour guide was excellent, but the experience was somewhat ruined by the number of people. People also call Yeoman Beef Eaters. That's because the King kept the red meat to himself but his guards were allowed to eat any leftovers on the table once he was finished. So the local people who weren't allowed red meat called them Beef Eaters.
 |
| Yeoman |
Then we saw the weapon area (I think it's called the White Tower) and the torture area. After a few hours we were done. It was very enjoyable.
We wandered over London Bridge and headed towards Borough Market. On the way we passed Hay's Gallery.
Borough Market was good but Camden Market was better so we opted to have lunch there. Delicious!!
 |
| Borough Market |
 |
| Camden Market |
 |
| Camden High Street |
Full, we headed back to the London Bridge area to go and check out the Tate Modern. There were a few pieces of art that I liked, but most of them weren't for me.
We then went to the Evensong at Westminster Abbey. The choir was really good. The church failed to impress us but that's because we've seen WAY too many during this trip!
When we got back to Jimmy's, Jay cooked dinner for everyone. Jim and I had a good chat while Jay did this.
15th June
Today was the last day of our trip. We spent the day seeing the pieces of London we'd missed.
 |
| We caught the Underground a lot! |
First we saw the Monument to the great fire of London. There we saw a sign pointing to Leadenhall Market, so we went there.
Although we'd been close to Trafalgar Square we hadn't seen it yet so that was the next stop.
At the square was the National Gallery so we went in there. The building is gorgeous.
 |
| St-Martin-In-The-Fields Church |
Then we took the Underground to Camden Market for lunch as we hadn't seen anywhere else as delicious so far!
After that we stopped at Kings Cross Station on our way back to Streatham Common.
We had a chat with Jimmy then it was off to the airport for the loooooong flight back home.
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