Looking over the spoils

Our Home in London Best Western Earl’s Court

This is our last day in London as we leave tomorrow and head for Scotland.

With reports of snow and holiday traffic this will prove interesting.

The View from the Eye

After breakfast we set out on the No 74 bus to Harrods. We spent the next 4 hours browsing around. My favourite part was as usual the food halls. If it is edible it was there. After returning to the room for a short break we set out in drizzling rain to catch the tube to the London Eye, we were booked to take a ride at 4pm.

How good is the underground? It leaves City Rail for dead on every count (Sorry Mark but it does). We alighted at Waterloo station and the eye was a short walk away. I quickly retrieved our tickets at the voucher exchange desk and in a matter of minutes we were boarding.

Even on a dull showery day it was worth it. I loved being up at that height but Sharpie waited until we were almost up the top to tell me he doesn’t like heights much. He spent the whole ride sitting very quietly on the seat in the middle of the pod. I don’t think he was too keen on me leaning right over near the glass to see how high we were.

After our half an hour ride at less than walking pace we left our pod to return to terra firma. Back to Waterloo station and home, stopping off at the Italian restaurant we ate at few days ago for dinner. Today was a good day and not too tiring. We were still early to bed but not ridiculously so like yesterday.

We will be offline for next few days will post again when I next have access. Happy Easter!!!!!

Today we set our sights on seeing Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace, Wellington Arch and Winston Churchill Museum/War Cabinet Rooms returning to hotel early afternoon for a rest.

Caught the underground from Earls Court to Hyde Park Corner walking around Wellington Arch gave a sense of its actual size. Walked to Buckingham Palace and watched people arriving for a reception. We set off around the corner to Royal Mews.

They were due to open at 11.00am so it was coffee time while we waited the 30 minutes until opening. We enjoyed this tour but it was a bit disappointing there were only two token horses in residence and no real activities taking place.

I expected it would be business as usual with the usual work taking place of any stable with training, cleaning gear, doing boxes and preparing horses for the day. There was just a display of the various carriages and their history.

Bad timing on our part the Australian Coach (John did a lot of the leatherwork) was on official State duties carting the French President around at Windsor. We were disappointed not to see this in its home but may try and come back on our last day before we fly out.

After the mews we headed for the War Cabinet Rooms via Westminster Abby, we didn’t go in but walked through the grounds.

The War Cabinet Rooms were very interesting and I really enjoyed seeing and listening to the commentary. Churchill’s Museum was also interesting they have collected so much information and memorabilia this man who started as a war correspondent then becoming Prime Minister who saw England through World War II. After the museum we headed for the Westminster Tube station and home.

Stopped for the best pizza at little place near Earl’s court tube station. Home for arrest by 3.30pm. May not be able to post anything for a few days depending on Internet access as we travel.

We woke up bright and early, and after a very nice continental breakfast, which the hotel had provided, we headed for Earl’s Court underground station.

We purchased the ticket without fuss and even managed to find the right train to Piccadilly Circus to collect our London Passes for Tuesday and Wednesday.

It was very straightforward. With London Passes and travel cards in hand, we headed for a coffee shop to plan the rest of the day.

Great coffee. We all resisted the yummy doughnuts and baguettes (still not hungry after breakfast).

We boarded our First Hop on and Hop Off tour. This is a must in London as you can get your bearings quickly. When one of the tours stopped at the Westminster stop, we alighted and hopped on a ferry that cruised from Westminster to Woolwich and back again.

We had booked a Hop on Hop off day pass, and this was one of the stops included in it. The experience was fantastic, and the Captain who was giving the commentary was not just a comedian but also very knowledgeable. He shared interesting facts and figures throughout the tour. We arrived back at Westminster in the mid-afternoon and reconnected with the bus tours. We spent the next couple of hours exploring all the main sights.

Picked a fine time to point out – not fussed about heights – at the top of the London Eye. “I’ll sit here in the middle Don’t rock it!!!

We had dinner in the back of the Piccadilly Circus area (Sharpie spotted a place to eat earlier in the day and mentioned it at least 30 times during the day). It was excellent food, and since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast, it hit the spot.

After finishing our 4.30pm early bird particular (Seinfeld reference), we caught another Hop-on-Hop bus back within half a km of the hotel. Of course, staying on the bus until the next stop would have set us down 50 yards from the hotel, but we needed the walk.

All in all a full day and not too tiring we saw so much.

The Prospect of Whitby is a historic public house on the banks of the Thames at Wapping in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is claimed to be the site of the oldest riverside tavern, dating from around 1520.