Buckingham, Shopping & Greencoat Boy

Last full day in London. With all the main attractions ticked off except for Buckingham Palace, it was time to go and see the royals.

We attempted to visit during the changing of the guard, but it seemed that this was put off due to a practice for Kings Birthday weekend next week. From a distance we caught a glimpse of hundreds of horses, but by the time we got close the only evidence left was a few large piles of manure. Overhearing a couple of police officers, it seemed like the parade would be coming back at some point, but it could be up to an hour and a half wait, so we opted to move on.

We made our way over to Harrods for a nosey, but kept our hands and wallets firmly in our pockets. The main escalator hall was very cool with its Egyptian theming, as was the bookshop with some special edition illustrated versions of famous books.

We then moved on to the Liberty mall, which was a very different experience to Harrods. The building is a big, multi-leveled wooden structure with a couple of large atriums. Very unique to look at. Vela's wallet loosened slightly and she bought a pretty little toiletry bag.

We finished off our time in London heading over to the Greencoat Boy pub. This pub was a little bit special because it's the pub where Nathan's dad worked in 1981 while he was living in London. It was interesting trying to imagine what the surrounding streets might have been like back then, and also trying to picture Ross working behind the bar. We tried a real English ale, a London gin, and had a beef pie for dinner. While we were at Greencoat Boy, a small group of naked bikers sped past from the demonstration earlier in the day promoting cycling in London (I think it might be more of a deterrent).

That's a wrap on our time in London, time to grab some wheels and explore more of the UK!Read more