London

Staying in Paddington and adjacent to Paddington Station, meant that there was one shop at the station that one of us had to visit. After finishing there, we walked the short distance to Little Venice, where we caught the London Waterbus narrowboat along the Regents Canal to Camden Market. The canal runs through prestigious and ultra-expensive suburbs and also London Zoo. But it's a shame such a historic and iconic place has been allowed to become dominated by graffiti, rubbish, homeless people and neglect. Pretty ironic considering the squillion dollar homes that line much of it and the high profile celebrities and upper class who own these, e.g. the owner of Chelsea FC, Ronnie Wood, Madonna, the American Embassy.

Camden Market where the canal ends was a disappointment. It's just like Paddy's Market.

From here we walked to Primrose Hill, where for a moment we were, (except for those in buildings), the highest people in London, as it is the highest point. It is in Regents Park and we walked through here and spent some time at Queen Marys Rose Garden. She was King Charles great grandmother and the gardens were started in 1935. They were well worth seeing.

Next stop was Madam Tussauds. We were sceptical, but it is an iconic part of London so thought we better go this time. It was corny, but we had lots of fun there!

Around the corner was the Sherlock Holmes Museum. Again we were sceptical, but it was also really good. At 221B Baker Street, it recreates the world of the famous detective.

We were back at our hotel at 3.30, a very early finish for us. Dinner was at the Dickens, another pub which delivered yummy meals and ales.Read more