London Day 4

We started the day by doing some washing - boring but necessary. Then we caught the train to Victoria Station (our favourite). Wandered around a few shops then queued up to get through security to do our tour of Buckingham Palace. I was very excited that we had managed to get tickets as this was the first day of opening and our last day in London. It certainly didn't disappoint. We had our own hand held audios which was great as we could take our time and absorb all the opulence. The mirror and panel of wall behind it in the left hand corner of the White Drawing room is actually a secret entry room the Queen uses  from passages from her private room...

White Drawing Room

The Ballroom

The Throne Room

Where Kate and William had their wedding photos...

Would loved to have sat down and had a meal here...

The State Dining Room

As it is the Queens Diamond Jubilee Year they also had a special display of her private jewelry collection. It was great to be able to get within inches of them and see the details...

Queen Victoria's Small Diamond Crown

Diamond Diadem Crown

With all that excitement we needed to find a toilet and luckily they were just outside. Dad went in and came out as Mr Bean with the front of his pants wet from turning the tap on too fast and unsuccessfully trying to dry them under the drier! 

Outside the Palace

They have a cafe set up outside so we decided to have our lunch there - complete with clotted cream scones...

We then went wandering through the Palace Garden where the Queen walks her corgies...

We then had to walk around the Palace walls to the entry to The Mews. Here we saw some of the coaches and the horse's stables...

Very royal stables!

The Gold Stage Coach

The Queen names all the horses - this is beautiful Daniel and he was used for the Trooping of the Colour ceremony recently...

Time to leave Buckingham Palace and back on the train to Knightsbridge where I found the Cashmere shop We had seen before and bought myself a scarf and some gloves.

Rail map

So much time spent on these!

And walking for miles between each train so far underground.

So Dad could ride in a Black cab we used one to get to Marble Arch and walked to Oxford Street and had a look around...

Busy Oxford Street

From there we walked to Hyde Park and decided to hire bikes from Barclays. When the men eventually sorted out how to pay and get our tickets and bikes released we were on our way...

Stopped for a bit to watch the world go by...

Rode past Royal Albert Hall...

We had a lovely ride around Hyde Park and eventually found a bike station to leave the bikes at. Then we walked to the fabulous "Whole Foods" and bought ourselves a nice healthy tea and caught the train home...

Even though we were tired and exhausted and it was getting late there was still one more thing to do. So it was back to the train station - ours is Earl's Court and off to the Tower Bridge...

We walked around the Tower of London and took some photos of the Tower Bridge from a distance with the Olympic Rings...

Then we walked to the bridge and over it...

And you have to stand over the join where the bridge opens to let ships through...

Back home (yes on the train again). Now it was time to pack up and get a few hours sleep before our next big adventure.

London Day 3

 We were up and off early this morning and caught the train to Victoria Station. Luckily we allowed ourselves enough time as we had a bit of trouble finding our bus gate number. All worked out well and we joined our tour guide Daniel for a day trip. Our first stop was Windsor Castle. It is huge and its hard to get a photo to get a perspective...

We had hand held audios and went through some of the rooms which  the Queen uses to entertain. It was very interesting and saw the spot that where the big fire started in 1992. We also watched the changing of the guards ceremony...

We bought some lunch at Windsor and ate that on the bus while enjoying the pretty countryside on our way to Bath.

We left the bus and walked to the "Roman Baths". This was built by the Romans and fed hot water from a hot spring. They believed the mineral rich water had spiritual healing powers.  It is not used anymore as the water is not safe.

The Great Bath

We had some free time to wander around the beautiful town of Bath, did a bit of shopping and found some yummy fudge...

Next we traveled to Stonehenge where the weather wasn't too pleasant - luckily we had some beautiful plastic ponchos to keep some wind out. Quite amazing how they built this all those years ago...

We then settled in for the 2 hour bus ride back to London. It was a nice day out. Back on the train home. Took some photos of where we are staying - we were on top storey on left hand side...

And off to another pub for dinner...

Dad and his "souvenir" glass

Fish and Chips with pea puree