London Calling

After almost fifteen hours on a plane, we hadn’t planned to sit down and relax for over an hour waiting for our bags to appear. However, after a couple of drinks in the fabulous beer garden at our hotel all was forgiven and we were ready to explore.

Having already seen most of the A-list London attractions on previous visits, we spent the next day walking and looking at things we hadn’t seen before.

It was a hot day as we walked through Kensington Gardens and down to Leicester Square, complete with statues of Paddington Bear, Harry Potter, Mary Poppins and sundry other stars of stage and screen.

Then came Trafalgar Square (the first time we had seen it in fine weather, actually) and, across the Jubilee Bridge and along the Thames riverbank, the Tate Modern, in the cleverly repurposed Bankside Power Station.

We took in the varied art, from the weirdly interesting to what seemed like the template for a Dulux colour card, before a walk up to Leadenhall Market and our return to West Ealing, and our new favourite beer garden.

Our final London activity was a trip to Hampton Court Palace, dating from 1529 in Henry VIII’s reign, and then hugely extended and modified by William III in the 1690’s.

Informative audio guides in our ears, we enjoyed the whole experience, from Henry VIII’s bedrooms to his kitchen (complete with fake legs of mutton and a real cooking fire) and from William III’s apartments to the magnificent gardens.

We then made our way home by way of the River Thames, an interesting few hours cruising down the river through the locks.

Truth be told, interesting or not, the Thames isn’t exactly the most scenic of rivers. We alternately passed terribly expensive houses and apartments, beached vessels in various stages of disrepair on the muddy riverbank and kids swimming and cavorting in the heat of the afternoon.

So ended our short London stay. Next stop, Portsmouth.Läs mer