25 July - Home

On the morning of 23 July we packed up our suitcases and left our room. We left our suitcases at the hotel while we went off sightseeing. We got the tube to Knightsbridge and walked to Harrods store. It was fascinating. The store is so immaculate, beautifully set out and decorated and the goods are first class. Even in the greengrocery area, the items are artistically displayed and the quality is obvious. There were numerous staff ready to meet your every shopping desire. It is a shopping palace. I didn’t buy much, the obligatory Harrods bag and that was it. Terry hates shopping but it was interesting even for him to see a store like this.

We then got back to the tube and on to Victoria Station. From there we walked down Buckingham Palace Road to the Royal Mews at the Palace. There we looked at the Royal carriages and stables. The various ornately decorated carriages and limousines were an extravagance to behold. One of the carriages was a gift from the Australian Government. The Royal stables were an equine palace, but we saw few horses. We saw the coronation coach complete with “stuffed” horses and horsemen (waxworks??) in all its gaudy extravagance. Most impressive were the public toilets – the best I’ve seen on my holiday, decorated with beautiful rose tiles.

We walked past the palace and across the road to St James Park where we sat in the sunshine, eating our sandwiches as we watched the marine birds on the pond. It was sad to contemplate that this was our last day in London and we were sitting here in St James Park – one of those “pinch me, is this real?” moments.

We walked on through the park and on to Trafalgar Square and again visited the National Gallery. Fortunately, it was not as crowded as it had been on the weekend and we were able to view the wonderful paintings more comfortably. They have beautiful Van Gogh paintings and we saw many of the paintings of other famous artists including Constable, Turner, Gainsborough, Rembrandt, and many more. We finally had to leave the Gallery and those beautiful paintings to return to our hotel and commence the long trek home to Australia.

We picked up our luggage and got the tube to Terminal 3 at Heathrow. The tube was crowded most of the way and it was a hot day, probably about 28 deg C. We checked in our luggage and waited for hours till our plane left at 8.30 pm (Emirates Flight EK 4, London to Dubai). Writing this later, so can’t remember a lot of that flight. We were given dinner and I watched some of the in-flight entertainment to pass the time. A young man sat in front of me and had his seat back the whole time. We saw the sun rise over the Arabian desert just before we landed in Dubai. We had to get off and change planes, about a two hour process then boarded at 8.45 am 24 July (Emirates Flight EK 432, Dubai to Brisbane). Trying to sleep, we stopped at Singapore to refuel and had to leave the plane and reboard which took about 1 ½ hours. Finally we arrived in Brisbane about 6.30 am 25 July. We got through Customs etc. and were pleased to be greeted by Sharney and Mum. They had gotten up at 5.00 am to come and see us arrive. We chatted for a while and then Matthew picked us up and took us home. Mark and Eichelle were there, having taken the day off work. It was nice to see them but felt very strange to be home. We were so tired and finding it difficult to adjust but that will come with time. We had such a wonderful holiday – an unforgettable experience!

22 July - London, England

After a bit of a sleep-in and breakfast, we got the tube to see the Imperial War Museum. We first looked at the World War I trench that we could walk through which had very realistic mockups of some scenes including a man writing a letter home in his underground trench, and a medic treating a wounded soldier. It was very well done and interesting and at least we didn't have to trudge through mud as they would have in the real thing. We looked through the World War I section and then the World War II. We had a very good experience as we went into the World War II “bomb shelter” with a guide who talked us through a bombing raid, then took us out into the area that had been bombed and described what it would have been like. The kids in our group were fascinated to see part of a bath lying in the street. It was quite realistic.

We then looked at the “Children in War Exhibition” in the Museum which showed exhibits relating to the London children who were evacuated to country areas, and even overseas to avoid the Blitz. There were poignant letters written by parents to their children whom they later learned had been torpedoed as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean. It was very well done with exhibits of what the children would have had in their suitcases. They also had audio recordings by the children as adults recalling their experiences – oral history.

After having lunch at the Museum, we headed towards the Thames and the Tate Modern art gallery. This was full of what can only be loosely described as “art”. For example, one piece was a sketch of industrial buildings on the wall of the gallery with two stuffed birds with arrows through them attached to the wall. It was all very deep and meaningful, but “art” - perhaps in the eye of the beholder!! When we finally had enough of this “art” we headed off along the Thames on the Queen's Walk.

We walked past the London Eye, the huge ferris wheel which is surrounded by a carnival atmosphere of buskers and “living statues”. Fortunately, we had decided not to go on the ferris wheel, which looked much bigger than the one in Vienna, because the queues were very long and the pods looked crowded too.

We walked to Westminster station and got the tube “home”. We had a short rest then later met Nicole and had dinner with her at the Earls Court Tavern. We said goodbye to Nicole, which was sad and happy at the same time. She is enjoying living in London so we are very happy for her, but sad to say goodbye.

21 July - London, England

We were up early for breakfast then walked to the Marriott Hotel in Kensington to wait for our Evan Evans Bus to pick us up for our tour. The bus took us to Victoria Station where we were split into the different tour groups – our “Tour 65” headed for Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Oxford.

Our tour guide, Hugh, gave us some commentary as we set out for Windsor Castle which was about 1½ hour drive out of London and out west into the countryside. We arrived at the Castle and admired its strong features. Our guide advised us to head straight for the State Apartments, with our audioguides. We saw the apartments which were very lavish and filled with beautiful paintings and fittings. We saw the area that was severely fire damaged in the 1990s but has since been restored and improved. We saw the room where the Queen Knights people. We then rushed off to St George's chapel where many of the Royal Family are buried, including the Queen's parents and sister. We couldn't see all of it properly as we had to rush back to our bus.

Another 1 ½ hour’s drive brought us to Stonehenge. We were blessed with the weather today. It was cool but sunny, so very pleasant, and we saw everything today in the best light. Stonehenge was very interesting, but smaller than I expected. I thought the stones would be much higher. The tourists obviously love it and it was fairly crowded. There are many theories about what Stonehenge is all about but no one really knows. It was great to see such an old man-made structure. At 5,000 years old, it is probably the oldest we've seen on our holiday.

Then we had another 1½ hour drive to Oxford where we had a walking tour of the main historic buildings of the university. We didn't go inside any but they were lovely from the outside. Hugh told us a bit about what student life would have been like here hundreds of years ago when the students didn't sit written exams but were interrogated by their examiners and judged by their skill in verbally arguing their case. We then had about 45 minutes “free time” to look around the town centre before reboarding our bus for the return to London. We saw some of the countryside, however, most of the roads have thick bushes beside them, presumably as noise barriers. The roads were all very clean and we have seen very little graffiti around and in London. There are always street sweepers out, manually or in little machines.

It was a very good day and great to see all that we did, though I felt it was all very rushed, which is the nature of that tour. Each of these tourist attractions would ideally be a day trip each really, but when time doesn't allow, it is a good compromise. We got back to Earl’s Court and had dinner at the Earl’s Court Tavern.

20 July - London, England

After a late breakfast we set out on the tube to see Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace. The gardens are lovely and green. There is a memorial garden for Princess Diana there, as she lived in Kensington Palace. The garden is a children's playground which is strictly supervised – no entry without child. We walked around the palace which has a really beautiful and colourful sunken garden which has many birds living there.

We then got the tube to Marble Arch to take photos of that and encountered difficulties trying to leave the area. There were roadworks everywhere and footpaths were blocked off so we couldn't cross roads there. After taking photos of the Arch, we got back on the tube and headed to Trafalgar Square. Nicole texted that she would come there to meet us. Terry and I had a look at the National Portrait Gallery, which had some impressive work displayed. We then waited for Nicole and had a look at the National Gallery. Tama soon joined us and we had a look at a couple of areas but we would really need all day to see it all. It is so incredibly big, with paintings from all the great artists.

We left there and went to the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. The War Rooms were sealed up at the end of the war and later re-opened. They are just as they were when the war ended – eerie to see all the files, maps, paperwork all preserved. It served as an underground bunker for the Prime Minister, Cabinet and Generals to direct the Second World War. It was fascinating to see. The rooms have very life-like mannequins dressed in the style of the time. There was one who was one of the poor secretaries who worked for Churchill and had to deal with his very difficult dictation and work style.

We all then went for dinner at a nearby corner pub, The Red Lion, and enjoyed a meal and good conversation before getting the tube “home”.

19 July - London, England

After breakfast, we got the tube to Hyde Park to have a look around the park. It is very big with a mixture of park styles. There are paths for pedestrians, bikes and horse riding with beautiful manicured green spaces as well as “natural” areas. There are water courses which seem popular with paddle boats. There were dark threatening clouds so we made our way quickly and found the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain just as the skies opened up with heavy rain. We sheltered under a large tree and waited for the rain to pass then we got the tube back to our room.

We got a bit more dressed up and got the tube to Covent Garden to meet Nicole. We had a quick lunch and then headed for the Lyceum Theatre to see “The Lion King” musical show. It was very good and we all enjoyed the performance. The costumes and stage settings were beautiful and cleverly done. The singing and dancing was also great and it was very enjoyable. We had a coffee after that before getting the tube back to Earl’s Court. We had dinner at a different Italian restaurant. Terry asked the people at the table next to us about the Australia/South Africa rugby game which he was pleased to learn that Australia won. We walked back to our accommodation via Nevern Square where Larn had stayed when he was working here. It is a lovely area too.