London 19/10/12

Today was the first since leaving Melbourne that we had the chance to sleep in, no specific plans for the day, just to do whatever! So we headed down to the restaurant – located on the basement level – for our English breakfast, which on all accounts was yummy! Michael has been just eating breakfast, then nothing till dinner most days in order to be as good as he can without being too silly about it. I must say, his pants now need the braces to keep them up these days, so something is working.

We decided to head out and use the bus system to navigate our way around the city. First stop was Paddington Station to get our Travel card, then up to the bus stop to catch a bus to Westminster Abbey. We did see the Abbey yesterday with the tour group, but today we were able to have a good look around as well as going inside to do an audio guided tour. The Abbey is a working church with a daily cycle of prayer and worship. It was founded in the 10^th Century and is designed in the shape of a cross. 1066 was the first recorded coronation of William the Conqueror. The Coronation Chair was made in 1301 and has been used at every coronation since 1308. In 190 the Unknown Warrior was buried in the Naive and many significant bouquets of flowers have been laid here since. 1997 the funeral of Princess Diana, 2002 the funeral of the Queen Mother and last year the wedding of William and Kate were all held here. For me it was quite surreal to sit in a chair there and remember watching these events on TV and actually be where they all took place. The one fact we both felt again was how small it actually was – obviously photos and TV can give an unrealistic feel for actual sizing.

After we had finished exploring the Abbey we headed out to the Abbey shop and scouted a few gifts as well as a coffee and sandwich. By the time we were back outside, the rain had started and continued for the rest of the day!

Our next destination was to walk to Buckingham Palace. Again we were near there yesterday but situated outside Wellington Barracks so today we went to the front of the Palace in order to see it and do the typical photo shoot! The Queen was in residence today as her Royal Standard Flag was flying. She actually refers to the Palace as ‘The Office’ while Windsor Castle is ‘Home’. There were not nearly as many tourists here today most likely because of the crappy weather!

Once we had had our fill of the Palace we walked back along the Birdcage Walk to the bus stop and caught a bus heading back to Oxford Street. Having played Monopoly as kids it has been interesting to see the streets, railway stations and landmarks all come to life for us. We saw more of the sights of London that we had passed yesterday on our tour, but today we had a much better opportunity of taking our time to stop for photos as well as drinking in the atmosphere.

We jumped of the bus in Oxford Street in the hope of doing some clothes shopping for Michael but the crowds and rain made it very difficult. We had a quick prowl around the Disney Store, a book shop, a 3 store – to buy a Data Sim Card to give us better access to the Internet as the charges in the Hotel are quite hefty.

 

Back on board another bus and we headed back to the bus stop where we had started our day. We ducked into Paddington Station which is a hive of activity with shops everywhere. Grabbed some coffee, milk and a few other supplies then walked back to the Hotel. Michael was on a mission to find a Laundromat to do some washing, so he managed to track one down and set off to do a load of washing. I was also on a mission to try and get some of the blog diary keyed in so for the next hour or so, I typed! Dinner tonight was Indian Take Away which was eaten in our tiny hotel room – hoping that we were not smelling the floor out too much!

Living in such a small space is quite challenging as we trip over each other or the chair or the cases. Nothing like togetherness, suppose it is good practice for Monday when we pick up the Motor Home. Early night for us both!