Day 28 & 29 - London

It's time to leave London and fly through to San Francisco which unfortunately means that we're almost on the last leg of the journey. However, we've had a fantastic time in London again (thanks mainly to Simon and Lenka) and we're looking forward to the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the San Francisco trams.


The night we arrived in London was realively quiet - after meeting up with Christine and Al (who had been exploring Bath while we were with Gaynor and Harry), we had a meal with Simon and Lenka before crashing at the hotel. Barb was very kind and agreed to ride on the London Eye with me (vertigo and all) but unfortunately we ran out of time (much to her feigned disapointment). Oh well, I guess it just means that we'll have to come back for another holiday at some stage.......

The next morning, we met with Simon again who had created a full portfolio of attractions and sight-seeing options for us to choose from. Christine had begun to feel very ill so unfortunately both her and Al stayed in for the day while Barb, Simon and I made our first stop at the Camden markets. There was so much to look at that we wandered through for about two hours and still didn't get anywhere near finishing - there's even a market stall that sells vintage luggage. While we were exploring, we noticed pianos sitting in the middle of some of the parks. Apparently, they're placed out around different public areas as part of the current Festival of London. Anyone walking past can just sit down and start playing if the mood takes them. Really unique to see.

After some lunch (it seems that we've been eating constantly all holiday) we went in search of the meeting place for the 'Something Different' London walks. This was just as great as the 'Secrets of London' walk that we did last time - the guide was really friendly and we learned the quirkier history of some of London's landmarks. We can highly recommend it for getting to see parts of London close up and meeting some really interesting people. During the walk, we passed a very good cake store where apparently the likes of Stella Mcartney by their cakes from. Not wanting to be left of the of the hip London scene, we went back to the store after the walking tour had finished and loaded up on cakes to take with us as interval food for Henry VIII at the Globe theatre.

That's right, after having dinner by Saint Pauls's cathedral with Simon and Lenka, we watched a Shakespeare play at the Globe theatre in London! An excellent way to end the day. Simon and Lenka had organised the tickets and we found out also that it was the anniversary of when the original Globe theatre had burned down during a performance of Henry VIII. Apparently, the cannon that's fired above the stage in one of the early scenes set some of the thatched roof alight in 1613.

Of course, we made sure to get cake for Al and Christine who had spent the day back at the hotel. Although they had spent the day in, they did get to see the Lion King in the evening and really enjoyed it.

So, we've squeezed all of our luggage and shopping into the allowed baggage limit and are on the plane ready for a long flight to the United States. I don't think there'll be much to report for the afternoon when we arrive (probably just sleep) but I'm sure they'll be more to write about when we start exploring again in San Francisco.