Typical Australian Tourists

Actually, probably more like typical tourists.
Sunday and Monday were spent on the hop on, hop off bus around London which included a river cruise and a ghost walk and because it is winter we got a second day free. It was excellent value for money and allowed us to see a lot of London from a lot of different angles.  Starting at Green Park, we headed around Wellington Arch, along Park Lane so we could see Hyde Park, around Marble Arch, up Baker St to Madame Tussads then to Oxford Circus and along Regent St to Piccadilly Circus.  And then everything was suddenly there - Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, House Guards, 10 Downing St, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, The Eye and then we had to get off for a rest. Why? Because the tour bus was open top, the outside temperature was about 1 degree when the bus wasn't moving and as typical tourists we sat up there!! It was freezing!!
I have to say Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are magnificent! Just the mere sight of the place makes me all warm inside. Just think how much influence that place has had in not just England, but all round the world. No not all of it was good, but decisions have been made there for centuries. And it makes you realise just how damn insignificant our little worries are.
After our break the tour continued with the Royal Courts of Justice, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Tate Modern and the Monument - oh and a 90 minute break to walk around the London Dungeons.  We had earnt another break, this time a double brandy break in the Sherlock Holmes beforing walking to Traflgar Square (and another look at Big Ben) for a quick look at the National Gallery and then meeting up for the ghost walk. Really lame ghost walk.

Day two saw us getting off the bus more often to explore some of the famous landmarks; firstly Westminister Abbey where we saw the tomb of Elizabeth the First (just get your head round that for a minute), a better walk around the Houses of Parliament, the Horse Guards and Downing St. Of course you can't actually get near anything in Downing St.  An interesting observation of the horse guards - the police guard them; so the police guard the guards that are guarding the Queen!!! To finish the day we had our photo taken with Prince William and Prince Harry who were very obliging - maybe cause they were made of wax!

For the past two days we have been out and about on foot to fill in some of the gaps that we missed on the bus tour - Buckingham Palace, a ride on the Eye (great view of the Houses of parliament and Big Ben), the Natural History Museum and the Tate Modern Gallery. I learnt something very important during all this - I don't like modern art, I really don't like modern art! To top the day off yesterday we took ourselves on a ghost tour around Newgate where the infamous Newgate Prison once stood.  Creepy, but that's the subject of another blog!

Seeing in the New Year in London

What a decision!
Where to spend New Year's Eve in London?  We knew we wanted to see the fireworks over the Thames, but where to see it? And how to get there?  It was all too hard!  Information was not easy to come by, so as always Google came to the rescue.  Finally the decision was made - a river cruise.  What a great decision that was. The cruise went for 5 hours and included champagne, food, music and dancing and the best bit, an open top for firework viewing. And viewing at it's best.  The boat - Millenium Peace - stopped near Houses of Parliament and the London Eye for an experience of a lifetime.  It is impossible to describe what happened from there because you just have to experience it.  It's life changing and unforgettable.

Whilst googling for firework information, I discovered the existence of a New Year Day Parade through London, it happened to be the Silver Jubilee of this event. How lucky were we? And it started just round the corner from our hotel - even luckier.  It was recommended to get to the parade an hour before the start because 500 000 people were expected. So like good little tourists, we did as we were told and got into position outside the Ritz on Piccadily at 11am and the waiting started. Thankfully we were opposite a Starbucks (yipee!) and we waited.  We could see all the floats getting ready and hear the bands warming up and we waited.  At noon just as we turned into iceblocks the parade started with the first of many marching bands. And for the next 2 hours we watched wave after wave of marching bands, blow up characters, marching bands, car enthusiasts, various floats and did I mention marching bands. It was fantastic and all free - well apart from the massive amounts of money we kept putting into the charity collection tins as they passed by. The Lifeboats got a lot of my money cause they were CUTE!  However, I felt a bit guilty when an elderly lady in a wheelchair came past shaking a collection tin for a hospice and I'd given all my money to the cute lifeboat man.  Luckily Pauline saved the day!

If you have to ask you can't afford it

AKA: A walk around Mayfair

Day one in London, Pauline and I decided to take ourselves on a Walking Tour of Mayfair. Our hotel is in Mayfair so it was a good 'day one' activity. First stop was Grosvenor Chapel and Mount Street Gardens which are public gardens off Mount St in the north of Mayfair created in 1889. They were created out of a former burial ground, despite this they were very peaceful.  Grosvenor Chapel was built in 1730, but it's claim to fame came in the Second World War when men and women of the American armed forces were welcomed to the Chapel for their Sunday services.   Our next stop - well that was for lunch! A girl has to keep her energy up. We went to The Audley, which is where Michelle Obama and girls ate lunch when they were in town. Obviously good taste abounds!
Setting off again we walked around the embassy district and played spot the country. However, we didn't find the Australian Embassy, we figure that's in a cheaper part of town.  We walked along a lot of little streets with old buildings and cobblestone roads - so quaint and so atmospheric especially as it got later in the day and the christmas lights came on.  In fact as it got later and darker (err about half past 3) it also got colder, a stop was needed in the form of a Hot Spiced Cider in the Hog in the Pound.
New Bond St, Old Bond St, Saville Row and Sackville St were all shopping streets on our route which enabled us to do a lot of window shopping. Pauline finally gave in and went into a shop to price a handbag -mmm - if you have to ask the price you can't afford it!!! When we came across Tiffany's and Cartier we walked right past.
Next historic viewing was St George's Church in Hanover Square built in 1721-1724 to the designs of John James, and it's claim to fame is that George Frederick Handel was a regular worshipper there. While we were looking at the shops we noticed a plaque saying that William Blake lived there - you can't help but fall over history in this city!!! It's wonderful.
Finally we made our way back to our hotel via Berkeley Square so Pauline could sing that little song for her mum. The walking tour brochure estimated a 1.5 hour walk, 5.5 hours later we were crawling into the local pub for a mulled wine.

It's a long trip

Well I am here in Blighty, with Pauline still back in sunny Oz! Today is Christmas Day and it's very cold, but it's the white christmas I wanted - you can't have one without the other!!!
It is a very long trip back here to the "mother country".  My plane from Melbourne to Doha was delayed and eventually left early Tuesday morning. But the fact the plane left was a miracle, the other flights to London were cancelled.  When I first walked onto the plane I thought "wow! I know why this is called the world's five star airline" it was very impressive and I was rather excited. However, the stars rapidly fell away as I walked through to economy.  The worst thing that can happen to a traveller on a long haul trip is to sit near a baby or small child, there were three on the front row of my section. So I have to thank the man at the Sony Centre in Melbourne who convinced me to buy noise cancelling earphones for my MP3 player. I did not hear a peep, a squeak or a squawk!! As a consequence I managed about 5 hours sleep, which is a real achievement for me!
Because of the delay leaving Melbourne I had only 50 minutes in Doha airport before boarding the next flight to London. Again a miracle, the previous flight from Doha to London was delayed so long that it was taking off as we were going through the gate to board ours. Again I must thank the man at the Sony Centre because sat next to me this time was a 21/2 year old boy with his dad and his mum and baby brother were in front of me.  Again I managed a couple of hours sleep.  We were served breakfast on this flight and it was damn yummy!!! Best scrambled eggs ever.
London!!! I was ready to cry, I really believed that once I stood back on english soil that i would be a mess. Thing is with travelling on your own - you have to keep it together. And Heathrow equalled chaos. People everywhere - actually complaining people everywhere!! I kept my mouth shut because not only was my plane flying it was on time - yes the miracles continued the London to Manchester flight was flying as scheduled, first Manchester flight in days. People had been sleeping in Heathrow airport waiting to get home. I felt guilty but relieved all at the same time.
I walked out of Manchester airport 32hours after entering Melbourne airport to a very welcoming face. It's a surreal experience that i still haven't got my head around, or maybe it's the jet lag. I have been longing to return here after 25 years and it feels like I was here just last week!