United Kingdom
Westminster Hall

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    • London At Last!

      May 31, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      Wow!

      To say I’m exhausted is an understatement but that didn’t stop me from my ritual of heading straight to my London ‘touch point’ Big Ben! Even against a dreary drizzly London Spring day the recent refurbishment looks awesome: shiny golden & new! The accomodation is one tube stop from the Elizabeth Tower so I walked above ground, from Embankment, along the Thames, to catch a glimpse today…and, as always, my heart skipped a beat! 🕰🥰

      I was going to leave it at that (as I knew the 30+ travel hours had taken a toll) but I seemed to just follow the crowd and check out the local area…ended up walking down the Mall to Buckingham Palace to see that there were some rehearsals going on but sadly realised that seeing the actual artists on stage would not be possible because huge fences have been erected around the entire area…oh well…I’m still here so that’s the main thing. Many roads have been closed so it was quite unique to be wandering around the middle of the road without traffic…
      And: check out the flags & bunting everywhere.

      Pushed myself as far as I could so I could actually comprehend that I was finally here! Hopefully after an actual sleep 😴 in a bed, I will be renewed to explore, celebrate and reflect on the history defining moment I’m about to be a part of!

      Such a shame Richard can’t be here to enjoy the jubilant Jubilee with me. These are the times we still live in…although you’d never know it here in London: nobody is wearing masks 😷 anymore, anywhere: the tube is packed and it’s business as usual!

      Good night
      It’s 9.30pm and still light out! Seems strange but tomorrow is Summer here…alas, I feel I’ve made a slight packing error! Well, the shorts should come in handy next week in Italy 🇮🇹
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    • Day 30

      River Thames

      July 9, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      What do you do on your last day in the country when the forecast is rain all day....

      Buy tickets for an open-top cruise on the River Thames of course.

      We got lucky, the forecast rain never showed and we had a great time on our 1 hour cruise to Greenwich.

      We boarded the boat, to Tom's delight it named the Thomas Dogget, and we had a running commentary for the whole cruise, pointing out all the sights on the trips we went past. The highlight was probably sailing under the Tower Bridge.
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    • Royal Jubilee 👑 Walking Tour

      June 1, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      This is my view for lunch today! The sun has come out and people are everywhere… The atmosphere is electric and jubilant! I truly feel honoured to be in London at this historic time. This is history and I am in it!

      Today, as I did 25 years ago for the first time, I headed to the Tesco at Westminster tube station, right next door to Big Ben and bought a lunch deal for 5 pound! As I enjoy my BBQ Chicken, bacon & Cheese with Branston pickle “Garden Party Picnic 🧺 style” Big Ben chimes 1pm: a pinch-myself moment!

      Our guide Claire took us to all the rehearsal hotspots today and we were able to get some fantastic footage of changing the guards and learn about the best spots to be for all the long weekend celebrations!

      We started at James Park tube station and headed to Queen Anne’s Walk. We saw some typical Queen Anne style architecture over doors (see photos). She was last Queen of the Stuart era. None of her children lived to continue to Stuart dynasty sadly.

      Afterwards we headed to St Jame’s Palace, built by King Henry the VIII, in typical Tudor style. We saw a black chauffeur driven vehicle head into Clarence house (which is next door). We all hoped it could be Charles & Camilla…

      Overwhelmed with emotion and as I watched the guards march down the Mall I honestly was beginning to tear up, realising where I was and what was happening all around me! It is a truly life changing experience to be here at this moment in time!
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    • Jubilee High Tea on the Thames

      June 3, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      Started the day with a wander through the beautiful Covent Garden… Compared to yesterday it was bliss being able to just wander aimlessly along the cobbled streets & soak up the atmosphere.

      Happened upon a cute little French bakery in one of my all time favourite areas, Soho, Cafe Boheme, pulled up a chair & soaked in the atmosphere: Billy Holiday crooning while devouring freshly made coffee (the best I’ve had in London) and flaky baked croissant 🥐

      Continued on to search for the Phoenix garden which is the last of the Covent Garden community gardens. It was featured in one of my favourite Christmas movies, Last Christmas! So peaceful 🪴 nothing but birdsong and filtered sunlight through the trees 🌳…a touching tribute to George Michael on the entrance gate.

      This afternoon Marta and I enjoyed high tea on the Thames in honour of the Queen! It was quite hilarious… You could tell that it was slightly disorganised & the staff were flying by the seat of their pants! It was like being a board a Carry On movie set! The girl that was at the bar all of a sudden became the commentator on the Queen‘s life. Her commentary was rushed and very cockney. Later up at the bar I told her she did a good job and she said (…in an Eliza Doolittle accent: “I ain’t that good on me Roman numerals so I just made up the Queen and King numbers!”
      Too funny!
      I ate and drank way too much! The scones were like rock cakes; I was careful not to drop them into the Thames for fear of killing some of the marine life LOL!

      Added bonus of going under all the London bridges and checking out the big name attractions from a new angle!

      Another great day in bustling London Town! A magnificent 21 degree day! 🇬🇧🧁🥰☀️🥳👑
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    • Day 4

      Londres

      April 18 in England ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

      Dormimos en el bus y despertamos en Londres por la mañana. La gente iba al colegio o al trabajo, nosotros pasamos a un café.

      Cambiamos un tanto más de libras ("pounds") y caminamos al palacio de Buckingham a ver las marchas de los soldados rojos con sombreros peludos.

      Cruzamos la calle para tomar desayuno en el parque. Amabile le tiró un poco de pan a una paloma, llegaron más y más, luego un cuervo se las ingenió para llevarse dos pedazos grandes de una vez y comérselos él solo en un sitio más alejado.

      Un pájaro negro con blanco y cola azúl también aprovechó la oportunidad hasta que un palo cayó en medio asustándolas a todas. Salieron volando. Miramos arriba y el culpable era un pájaro carpintero que al picotear un árbol dejaba caer trozos de madera.

      Se acabó el show del pan, cruzamos el parque St James, donde conviven patos y otras aves con ardillas que tienden a robarse el show entre turistas que les dan frutos secos.

      Seguimos hasta el Big Ben, que esta vez no lo estaban remodelando, como nos ocurrió el 2019. Así que esta vez nos desquitamos tomando muchas fotos.

      Desde ahí fuimos a la estatua de Paddington, recorrimos el barrio chino, almorzamos en un bufet de 5 "pounds" y nos fuimos a bajar lo picante con una variedad de IPAs en un Whole Foods Market que afuera tenía una terraza.

      Después de una larga caminata por la costanera del Támesis llegamos al célebre puente de la Torre, puente basculante que aunque fue construido a fines del 1800, todo el mecanismo interno fue reemplazado en 1974.

      Me recordó un poco a la paradoja del barco de Teseo.

      Otra gran caminata más y llegamos al terminal de buses desde donde partiremos a Paris. Cruzamos un barrio principalmente de migrantes con varios locales turcos o indios, aunque nos decantamos por pizza.

      34 mil pasos caminados, según la app que se consulte: hoy caminamos entre 23 a 25 kilómetros.
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    • Day 24

      London

      July 3, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      Today we left Sam and Steff, and have moved into our final accommodation for the trip. We have 6 nights at Nell Gwynn House in Chelsea.

      It turns out that Chelsea is quite an upmarket location, with lots of high end shops, and every second car parked on the street is a Mercedes, Porsche or similar.

      Following our time in Paris we wanted a slower day, so we opted for jumping on a Hop-on Hop-off bus tour of the key city highlights in an open aired double decker bus.

      The weather was quite mixed, it was windy and cool one minute, raining the next, and then 5 minutes later the sun was out and everyone was stripping back to t-shirt shirts.

      It was a relaxing way to spend an afternoon. It allowed us to see the main parts of London and to get a better feel for how the city is laid out. A detour due to road works prevented us from seeing Buckingham Palace, but we will probably visit it later in the week so that was ok.

      Our accommodation has a kitchen so we were able to have some much needed home cooking for dinner. After so many meals eating out it was quite a relief.
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    • Day 8

      London

      August 9, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      09/08/2023
      Dopo pranzo torniamo a Londra per la seconda e ultima volta. Visitiamo la National Gallery, che ho gradito di più rispetto al Tate Modern, assistiamo al cambio delle guardie e ceniamo in un ristorante italiano (lo era davvero). Facciamo una corsa prima dell'incontro con la group leader per prendere dei souvenir.Read more

    • Day 2

      Tag 2 (Teil 1)

      March 20 in England ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      Heute stand sehr viel auf dem Programm.
      Mit dem roten Doppeldeckerbus ging es zur erst zum Buckingham Palace zur Wachablösung. Dann spazieren wir durch den schönen St. James Park zum Piccadilly Circus (zum Lego Store) und nach China Town. Dann weiter zum Trafalgar Square, Horse Guard, Westminster Abbey und Big Ben. Mit dem Bötchen ging es dann zum Tower of London und zur Tower Bridge über die wir langgeschlendert sind. (Fortsetzung folgt)Read more

    • Day 24

      Day 24: Palace of Westminster

      December 29, 2023 in England

      After visiting Westminster Abbey, we walked around the outside of The Palace of Westminster, the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. We had lunch near the outside of the Palace of the Westminster, while enjoying the view.Read more

    • Day 7

      Day 7: WE CLIMBED BIG BEN!!!

      September 18, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

      Today (after a very crowded tube ride and a chat with teachers taking their kids to the Houses of Parliament) we climbed Big Ben...right to the top....we stood behind all 4 clock faces before ascending to Big Ben himself, with amazing views over London. I had to pinch myself many, many times as I couldn't quite believe it. We stood there (with ear plugs in) and listened as the bells chimed 12 o'clock. What an experience. We then went to Westminster Abbey; Matt looked up as I looked down but we were both a little underawed - then we visited both the Houses of Commons and Lords before a quick pint on the way to meeting up with the Cambeys for dinner and another pint - right on Trafalgar Square! Then it was off to Westend for The Phantom of the Opera! I had goosebumps and tears while Matt fell asleep. Home by 11.30pm, ready for a 5am wakeup to catch the train to Belgium.Read more

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