Exploring London

We arrived at Heathrow this morning ahead of schedule and caught the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station where we caught a cab to our hotel. Thanks to Malcolm for the tip as the trip was easy and quick. We are planning to explore the main sites today. So, after showers we headed out to see the sights and that we did. First stop Buck Palace, then a walk along Birdcage Walk which runs along St James Park. London has really turned on the weather for us. We ended up at the Churchill War Rooms and decided to join the queue, and it was about an hours wait (and it was worth the wait). The Churchill War Rooms are a vast underground complex beneath the Government Treasury Chambers, and construction and renovation commenced in 1937. It was fascinating to see first hand the Rooms - everything from the Map Rooms, accommodation for Prime Minister and Cabinet, Chiefs of Staff meeting room, Typists pool, kitchen and many more. Once we finished at the War Rooms which included the excellent Churchill Museum, we headed for Trafalgar Square, We then walked along Pall Mall down to the Embankment area, through Whitehall Gardens. We also saw the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, New Scotland Yard and Elizabeth Tower (aka Big Ben).

This afternoon we went on the London Eye to get a birds eye view of London and its surrounds. We also walked through Southbank which is a bit of an arts precinct and crossed the Golden Gate Jubilee Bridge for views up the Thames. We also took a boat cruise along the Thames - taking in such sites as Westmiinister, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, The Cutty Sark (Sir Francis Drakes ship)), Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, The Millennium Bridge, an Waterloo Bridge which was constructed predominantly by woman during War.

After the cruise, we headed back to our hotel via Victoria Street. We stopped for dinner at Jamie’s Italian for pizza and salads. This is one of Jamie Olliver’s stable of restaurants. The food was very good and reasonably priced. It was then back to the hotel for a bit of a wind down and an earlier night, after what had been a very long day.Read more