Rest and recuperation!

Tuesday 27th September

Well we certainly needed a couple days off as we were both exhausted and there was a lot of washing and ironing to be done. Fortunately we had a washer/dryer in our apartment and managed to get most of it done on Saturday. Only went out to send off some post and stock up on groceries. It was a coincidence that they were showing the Anne Frank movie on TV in the afternoon, considering we had only just gone through her house a couple of days before!! So we relaxed in the apartment and watched that.

On Sunday we were fortunate that Shaun was late arriving into London from Cardiff in Wales, so we had another sleep-in. He came around to the apartment and we made use of him to sort out some more of those damn computer problems we are always having. In the evening we set off for Kings Cross Station, where we met up with Anthony and walked to Islington, where we had a Turkish Banquet for dinner. It was great to catch up with Ant again who asked us if we could please tell his Mum that we met his current girlfriend Annabelle, but we couldn’t raise her hopes, seeing we are not having much success with our youngest either!! Ant said his goodbyes, as he had had a big night the night before and then we walked with Shaun to Angel Station only to find it closed. So we caught a bus to King’s Cross station which is right next door to St. Pancreas where the Euro-Star train had delivered us back two days prior and then we said our goodbyes to Shaun. Unfortunately this was our last chance to see him, as he will now be moving further away from London and nowhere near where we can access him. We have really enjoyed the times we have spent together and hope it won’t be too long before his next visit to Australia.

On Monday, we decided to take a trip to Ealing which is where Shaun thinks he may end up looking for accommodation when this tour ends and also where he used to teach. This was a shopping day, as Jill felt she needed more clothes for the longer tour. Ealing is on the outskirts of Greater London and was interesting to visit, though we think Earls Court is nicer.

Today we packed up and left our apartment and got a cab to our pre-tour hotel across the other side of the city. Would you believe, there are two hotels close by with very similar names! We picked the wrong one and had to catch another cab to our correct hotel. However we are now settled into the hotel and have spoken to Trafalgar Tours and it looks as though we are in for an early start tomorrow, as we depart at 7.15 am!! Jill has almost become an early riser!! We had some spare time today, so we walked along the Albert Embankment, from Lambeth Bridge right around past the London Eye, Royal Festival Hall and the National Theatre, where no doubt we will see Shaun’s name in lights one day. We then grabbed a bite to eat before crossing over the Blackfriar’s Bridge and then walked back along the Victoria Embankment (on the other side of the Thames River) and found this a very interesting walk. We came across an Egyptian Obelisk that dated back to 12 BC and had been found lying in the sand at Alexandria and which was shipped over to England in the 1800’s. It was nearly lost at sea in a storm but was saved and is now part of the London landscape together with two bronze sphinxes. It is hard to comprehend the age of some of the many things we have seen. We wandered on until we came to Westminster Bridge, then crossed over to walk around the Houses of Parliament and get some photos of Big Ben and other things that we had unfortunately lost earlier on. As per usual the sun was shining for us, so we got a good photo of the statue of Oliver Cromwell who lived between 1599 and 1658 and could possibly be called the Father of democratic parliament. Further around was the statue of Richard I (Lionheart) who reigned between 1189 and 1199. Once again you get some concept of the history of this building. This is also the building that Guy Fawkes wanted to brighten up! Moving on we came to the Victoria Gardens which is alongside the Houses of Parliament and I got a photo of the memorial built to commemorate the abolition of slavery in the British Dominions two hundred years ago. It seems the only way to really get to know London is by walking around. It seems that almost every street has something of significance, so we are sure using up the shoe leather!!

That brings us up to date again. We are about to go out again now for another short walk and then will be back for an early night, to prepare for our tour to York tomorrow and the beginning of another new adventure!