London 18/10/12

No sleep in today! We woke early and had a very quick breakfast then into a cab and off to Victoria Coach Station by 8am. This was the departure point for our Vintage Double Decker City Tour. We hadn’t meant to do this tour as I had meant to book a Hop On Hop Off bus tour, however in hindsight, it was much better value!

It had been raining when the bus had headed to pick us up therefore the seats upstairs were wet. We headed up anyway and so did a couple of other people to brave the cold. This was a 4 hour guided tour of the main attractions of London. Our tour guide ‘Alan’ was absolutely first class! He had a brilliant sense of humor along with an amazing knowledge of what he showed us. In his words – he was not just an actor who had learnt a script, but someone who was born and bred in London and loves it!

We had our first stop at Westminster Cathedral, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. The main thought that Michael and I both had of all these attractions we saw was that they were smaller than we had anticipated. Back on our bus and past places such as Downing Street, Buckingham Palace, Royal Mews, Trafalgar Square, London Eye, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, The Shard, so many places of interest were seen.

 

We jumped off the bus at Tower of London and walked to the Tower Pier where we boarded a cruise boat which journeyed down the River Thames showing London from another aspect. Under Bridges – Southwalk, Millennium, Blackfriars, Waterloo and Golden Jubilee and passing HMS Wellington and the OXO tower along the way. The cruise finished at Westminster Pier after about 30minutes.

Back onto the bus at the conclusion of this cruise and we then went in the bus off to witness the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. We ended up with a different view of this ceremony as our guide took us to The Wellington Barracks where the guards start the march from, so we would be up close and personal with them rather than fighting the 100’s of people that would be out the front of the Palace. I could have reached out and touched them I was that close! Once they had marched on by, we headed back to the bus where we headed back to the final point of the tour at Victoria Station. However we had the option of staying aboard and continuing on to Harrods where the next tour they were doing would begin, so we did just that!

We had a quick lunch at MacDonald’s before going into Harrods as this was a much cheaper and quicker option than eating at Harrods! This store is an experience you have to do – not necessarily to buy anything but to witness just how extraordinary it is.

We picked up a store guide so we could navigate our way around all the floors of the building. We entered the store through Luxury Jewellery and accessories and made our way through to Chocolates and Confectionery then Steakhouse/Meat-fish-poultry then Pantry/Candy then Patisserie. Through the Cosmetics and Perfume Hall we then found the Egyptian escalator – something quite out of the ordinary. The first floor was full of designer clothing and shoes for women, and then on the second floor we found the most expensive ice-cream parlour and milk bar along with the Harrods Gift store. Fourth floor was ‘Disney at Harrods’ (my girls would have loved this). There was also Pet Kingdom and Pet Spa which was absolute over-the-top pampering for your pet – we watched a couple of pooches being groomed – outrageous! I think we ended up walking through Harrods for a couple of hours by which time we had only seen a small portion of it, but it was enough! So many people wandering in awe just as we were, however time for much needed air!

We decided we would walk back to our Hotel so with Michael’s trusty GPS we headed off. Our walk took us through Kensington Gardens where we walked to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. A very tranquil place, we both thought she would have approved of it.

We had afternoon tea at a café on the lake there where I had the best Latte since leaving Melbourne.

We then followed the garden trail along and found the Peter Pan statue which had so many things to see on it – just delightful.

Our walk was also full of squirrel spotting. A number of them scampered across the lawns, one even broke his way through a seed pod to get at the acorn, and then proceeded to turn the acorn around and skin it. All very cute to watch, but I guess the locals don’t even see them as they are a dime a dozen here in London.

Once we left the gardens our Hotel was just five minutes walks so we finally got back at about 4ish after a big day of exploring and walking. We had a chance to sit quietly and relax for a couple of hours before we headed out to have dinner. Tonight we chose a restaurant called Garfunkel’s which was a very popular restaurant and one of a few we saw around London. Michael decided on Steak, Chips and Salad (steak wasn’t great unfortunately) while I chose Beef Pie, Mash and Vegies (not too bad) all washed down with a Latte/Cuppachino and then a leisurely stroll back to the Hotel for an early night.