Tuesday 6th May 2014
Well we left Tassie on the 29th April and had a night in Melbourne and then after a week of playing bridge in Adelaide we were off to Europe.
We arrived in London feeling no worse for wear despite 24 hours of travelling. The flights with Emirates were fantastic. It seemed weird having a bar on a plane. Our frequent flyer points with QANTAS really paid off.
Their service was superb and the facilities at the business class lounge in Dubai greatly appreciated.
Complimentary limo to and from the airport so from Heathrow we were delivered in style about 4pm to the AirBnB place at London Bridge where we have a private bedroom and ensuite in Blair's penthouse apartment. It has a great long balcony, sunny and warm and all the mod cons in a great spot near London Bridge and The Shard.
Blair is very friendly 61yo from Sydney who came over in 1973 and never went home. He was chatting to us about bridge and seemed very interested and while we were out today he has booked into a 10 week course.
We arrived in London feeling no worse for wear despite 24 hours of travelling. The flights with Emirates were fantastic. It seemed weird having a bar on a plane. Our frequent flyer points with QANTAS really paid off.
Their service was superb and the facilities at the business class lounge in Dubai greatly appreciated.
Complimentary limo to and from the airport so from Heathrow we were delivered in style about 4pm to the AirBnB place at London Bridge where we have a private bedroom and ensuite in Blair's penthouse apartment. It has a great long balcony, sunny and warm and all the mod cons in a great spot near London Bridge and The Shard.
Blair is very friendly 61yo from Sydney who came over in 1973 and never went home. He was chatting to us about bridge and seemed very interested and while we were out today he has booked into a 10 week course.
Had a walk across London Bridge and bought some Oyster cards for the tube plus a supermarket run and an early night.
Wednesday 7th May 2014
We took the tube to Green Park near Buckingham Palace. Walked lots of famous streets and past many famous buildings and Trafalgar Square (where there is temporary big blue cock), Piccadilly Circus & Leicester Square.
Lots of great street performers at Covent Garden Markets
We went through the Portrait Gallery before lunch and the National Gallery after lunch and both are free. So many super famous names - Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet, da Vinci, Rembrandt, Picasso, Michelangelo etc. and sometimes a whole room full of their work.
Tried to find a digital watch with a light and alarm to make it easy to get me up at 3am for my horse bets without waking Sandy but no luck which was surprising. Didn't need one last night as my current system worked which is to have a good drink of water that woke me up spot on 3am (equals noon in AUS). Put my bets on and back to bed. Woke up to find a $20 chance had won for us.
All walking today with main visits to the Tate Modern Gallery and St Pauls Cathedral. Tate Modern was interesting with rooms of Picasso's.
There were plenty of sculpture type pieces that to us seem ridiculous. For example, some air-conditioning tubes in a corner that supposedly has some artistic meaning, and bits of flat stone wired together to make a park bench. Each to their own of course and if the artist could find someone wanting to buy it then good luck to them, but we find it irritating that art funding is spent accumulating such pieces.
St Pauls was amazing. Walked past the Old Bailey which had all the court lists for the day on display out the front.
We went via the Borough Market which was great and only 2 minutes from home. One fruit shop had a dozen varieties of mushrooms and a dozen varieties of tomatoes. A thai food stall had 5 massive woks 1.5 meters across all on display with lunch bubbling away.
Went to Natural History Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum and both were great.
Picked up our gear from Blair at 5pm and headed on the 5:15pm double decker bus to Liverpool St Station. Sold our Oyster cards back into the system and headed off at 6:02pm to Harwich International arriving at 7:43pm after changing at Manningtree. We boarded the ferry at 8:30pm for an 11:15pm sailing. Had pre-booked dinner which was fantastic and also breakfast which was fair. We arrived in The Netherlands the next morning at 7:45am. Had a great cabin with a porthole and bunks but with a double on the bottom. Total was 200 pounds for both lengthy train connections, 3 course dinner, breakfast and cabin so great value for booking early.
Video from a great night at The Real Greek Restaurant at Bankside walking distance to our London Bridge accommodation
We took the tube to Green Park near Buckingham Palace. Walked lots of famous streets and past many famous buildings and Trafalgar Square (where there is temporary big blue cock), Piccadilly Circus & Leicester Square.
Lots of great street performers at Covent Garden Markets
We went through the Portrait Gallery before lunch and the National Gallery after lunch and both are free. So many super famous names - Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet, da Vinci, Rembrandt, Picasso, Michelangelo etc. and sometimes a whole room full of their work.
It is such a fantastic city. There are many famous landmarks and so many tourists here. It doesn't seem much different to my 6 months in 1986 except more people and a few super modern landmark buildings like The Shard which is 200m away from our flat.
Went for a local Indian curry. Some lads arrived and asked to have the soccer put on the TV which we agreed to. What a great game it would be if they made the goals bigger.
Thursday 8th May 2014
Took the tube to Tottenham Court Road and went to the British Museum.
Amazing place that has 95 galleries some of which are massive. It houses the famous Rosetta Stone although getting a close up look at it proved challenging, so very many tourists.
Went to Covent Garden market again and bought a flat cap (like our horse trainer Brendan wears) for 10 quid. Blair reckons I look like a genuine Yorkshireman.
Tried to find a digital watch with a light and alarm to make it easy to get me up at 3am for my horse bets without waking Sandy but no luck which was surprising. Didn't need one last night as my current system worked which is to have a good drink of water that woke me up spot on 3am (equals noon in AUS). Put my bets on and back to bed. Woke up to find a $20 chance had won for us.
Enjoyed a great dinner an Italian restaurant "Strada" overlooking the Thames and Tower Bridge.
Friday 9th May 2014
All walking today with main visits to the Tate Modern Gallery and St Pauls Cathedral. Tate Modern was interesting with rooms of Picasso's.
There were plenty of sculpture type pieces that to us seem ridiculous. For example, some air-conditioning tubes in a corner that supposedly has some artistic meaning, and bits of flat stone wired together to make a park bench. Each to their own of course and if the artist could find someone wanting to buy it then good luck to them, but we find it irritating that art funding is spent accumulating such pieces.
St Pauls was amazing. Walked past the Old Bailey which had all the court lists for the day on display out the front.
Went to The George pub for a look which is a famous national trust building from the 1600s. Visited Southwark Cathedral, Shakespeare's Globe, The Globe pub was used in Bridget Jones' Diary, The Market Porter pub used in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and is in Park Street that has been kept as it was with no electric lights etc. so it is a living set for movies. Walked past the original Clink prison in Southwark which was built in 1144 and I guess why some call prison the Clink.
The Thames can (rarely) freeze over in winter which just seems an impossibility for such a big river and especially on beautiful days like today. The biggest was in 1683 when the ice was 11 inches thick and the sea was frozen for miles from the coast. Read a lot about the Great Fire of London in 1666 which burnt for 5 nights and destroyed 80% of the city and left 100,000 homeless. It took 50 years to rebuild and led to the start of the concept of insurance.
It is amazing how many 15yo European tourists are here in massive groups at every tourist spot.
Saw a music video clip being made on the street with a girl miming to a tape recorder as the film crew followed her for 300m between St Pauls and the Millennium Bridge. She was even interacting with the punters and some were even dancing with her.
Went to a super greek restaurant for dinner, The Real Greek, that had live entertainment and a very festive atmosphere.
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| The Real Greek band (background) were on fire |
Saturday 10th May 2014
Caught the tube to the Portobello Market which had masses of stalls and street buskers. Just finished the markets when major rain forced us into a Spanish restaurant for lunch.
Rain cleared so walked down Kensington Church Street which had the most amazing mansions on it. Went to Kensington Palace before walking through Kensington Gardens.
Visited the Science Museum which was huge and great.
I was reading about AirBnB and it started with 2 guys in NYC 2008 who couldn't pay the rent hiring out their lounge room for people to sleep on 3 air mattresses. Later they targeted conferences when accommodation was tight and have people rent out spare rooms etc. They just kept expanding to 190 countries with AUS 2nd biggest market and now worth over $10 billion.
Visited the Science Museum which was huge and great.
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| Apollo 10 from 1969 |
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| First Massey Ferguson tractor and plough 1935 first one with 3 point linkage |
Decided to have a quiet night in the flat and saw 2 kids on Britain's Got Talent sing an anti-bullying rap song which will be famous for sure. YouTube clip of BGT kids
I was reading about AirBnB and it started with 2 guys in NYC 2008 who couldn't pay the rent hiring out their lounge room for people to sleep on 3 air mattresses. Later they targeted conferences when accommodation was tight and have people rent out spare rooms etc. They just kept expanding to 190 countries with AUS 2nd biggest market and now worth over $10 billion.
Sunday 11th May 2014
Our last day in London. Packed up and left our gear at Blair's place.
Took the tube to Marble Arch which is the stop for Speakers Corner in Hyde Park. Major walk right through Hyde Park and stopped for a while at a very large outdoor church service with bagpipes and all.
Took the tube to Marble Arch which is the stop for Speakers Corner in Hyde Park. Major walk right through Hyde Park and stopped for a while at a very large outdoor church service with bagpipes and all.
Went to Natural History Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum and both were great.
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