Day 1
I arrived at Heathrow Airport around 9.00 a.m. and then took the train to central London, where I met Sarah, the youngest of my four sisters.
Sarah had some kind of 2-for-1 chitty so we went to a restaurant for early lunch, which unfortunately was not yet open. Disappointed, we walked onwards and came across Buckingham Palace, home of The Queen. The Changing of the Guard was in full progress, below a few photos:
A policewoman watching the crowds at 'Changing the Guards'.
The first guards moving out of Buckingham Palace.
The band moving along.
Sarah in front of 'Buck House'.After viewing 'Changing of the Guard' we went for lunch and then set off on a walking tour of central London.
London Eye over Whitehall
Sarah on Horse Guards' Parade.
The view to Downing Street, residence of the Prime Minister. (Note the strong metal fence keeping the people from the ruler - not a good sign in a supposed democracy).
Sarah entering a 'traditional' English phone box.
Whitehall with Big Ben in the background and the women's war memorial in the foreground.
Big Ben and CCTV camera trained on demonstrators gathered on Parliament Square.
River Thames with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.
We completed our tour with a brief visit to the Tate Modern and then crossed over the Millenium Bridge (also known as the Wobbly Bridge) before getting the Tube to the railway station, where I headed off to Stephen's place in Caterham and Sarah went home to Amersham to get ready for her holiday in Italy.
Day 2
Day 2 was another day of sight-seeing in central London. First port of call was the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising. This is a small museum in the Chelsea-Kensington area and it was interesting seeing how packaging had changed over the years. The museum is in a posher area of London and on our way there we saw 7 Porsches, a Maserati and an Aston Martin parked on one side-street alone.
Stephen in front of the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
It was time for lunch so we set off in search of a pub where we could have a simple pub lunch. We were in the wrong area - bistros, Thai restaurants, gourmet chocolate places, no problem; traditional pub, no way! We found somewhere that on the outside looked like a pub but inside turned out to be a much finer place altogether, The Prince Bonaparte.
The menu at The Prince Bonaparte, no steak and kidney pie or Ploughman's Lunch in sight.
After lunch we went back to central London and a cruise on the River Thames to Greenwich, of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) fame.
Stephen, addicted to his mobile phone, although it was very useful for finding our way around.
Museum ship HMS Belfast moored in front of Tower Bridge.
Greenwich is well worth a visit and while we were there for only a short time it was very pleasant. Our difficulties only started when we tried to get back to central London - signalling problems, Tube lines shut down for maintenance and so on.
With some detours we eventually made it back, although ended up eating out at Wagamama in Croydon rather than cooking at home.
London Eye over Whitehall
Sarah on Horse Guards' Parade.
The view to Downing Street, residence of the Prime Minister. (Note the strong metal fence keeping the people from the ruler - not a good sign in a supposed democracy).
Sarah entering a 'traditional' English phone box.
Whitehall with Big Ben in the background and the women's war memorial in the foreground.
Big Ben and CCTV camera trained on demonstrators gathered on Parliament Square.
River Thames with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.We completed our tour with a brief visit to the Tate Modern and then crossed over the Millenium Bridge (also known as the Wobbly Bridge) before getting the Tube to the railway station, where I headed off to Stephen's place in Caterham and Sarah went home to Amersham to get ready for her holiday in Italy.
Day 2
Day 2 was another day of sight-seeing in central London. First port of call was the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising. This is a small museum in the Chelsea-Kensington area and it was interesting seeing how packaging had changed over the years. The museum is in a posher area of London and on our way there we saw 7 Porsches, a Maserati and an Aston Martin parked on one side-street alone.
Stephen in front of the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
The menu at The Prince Bonaparte, no steak and kidney pie or Ploughman's Lunch in sight.
Stephen, addicted to his mobile phone, although it was very useful for finding our way around.
Museum ship HMS Belfast moored in front of Tower Bridge.Greenwich is well worth a visit and while we were there for only a short time it was very pleasant. Our difficulties only started when we tried to get back to central London - signalling problems, Tube lines shut down for maintenance and so on.
With some detours we eventually made it back, although ended up eating out at Wagamama in Croydon rather than cooking at home.
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