Southwark

The trip from Paris to London was largely uneventful. A pleasant train ride through the French countryside before dipping into a tunnel for half an hour and emerging on the other side of the Channel. From there we snaked our way through the outskirts of the city, and glided into St Pancras station. It was evening rush hour, but we headed across the road to Kings Cross Station to see platform 9 3/4. It was pretty packed, so we made our way onto the tube and across town to our apartment in West Kensington. It's been a long day, and the pizza shop below our apartment was calling. It didn't disappoint.

The following day we were up early and at it. We headed into the East End and emerged at the stunning Tower of London. It's an impressive building. After stopping so the kids could have a chat with the Beefeater, we walked inside and decided to head straight for the Crown Jewels. London is busily preparing for the Coronation of King Charles III, which meant a number of things around town are in preparation mode. This includes some of the relevant Crown Jewels, which are currently at the crown shop being prepared. It's where I always take my crown for repairs.... Fortunately, the British monarchy is not short of a jewel or two and there were plenty of crowns, sceptres, gold dishes and orbs to go around. Including the impressive Cullinan Diamond, the largest cut diamond in the world, found in Pretoria, South Africa over 100 years ago. I'm sure it was humanely sourced.

We wandered further through the former palace, gaol, fortress and explored the many rooms, dungeons and walls. One delightful story that caught our attention was that of Alice Wolf. Convicted of piracy she was hung by manacles from the exterior walls of the palace while the Thames tide was low. As the tide came in, she was gradually swallowed up by the river and drowned. So inventive.

We departed the Tower and cross the beautiful Tower Bridge to the south bank where we found a spot of lunch. From there, back across the river towards the Bank region where Sarah worked, once upon a time. As the clouds rolled in and the rain set in, we caught the Number 9 bus, which was a cheap way to get home via most of the major sites in town. We sat at the top of the double decker bus and drove past St Paul's Cathedral, The Strand, Australia House, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Downing St, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and St James' Park.

Eventually we found our way back to West Kensington. For dinner, we had a surprise guest come and meet us. Zoe had finished work and headed for our house. The boys were very excited to see her. We enjoyed a game of Go Nuts for Donuts and a meal, it was good to have a friendly face at the dinner table.Read more