Last Days in London
Wednesday 18 June
Wednesday 18 June
Today Deb and I went our separate ways for a couple of hours. Deb had her nails done and then did a bit of window shopping. I went and had a look over the HMS Belfast a Southampton Class light cruiser commissioned in 1937. A lot of the technology was similar to the Battle Class Destroyer HMAS Anzac, the first ship I served on in the Royal Australian Navy.
The Belfast is part of the Imperial War Museum and was made a museum ship in 1971 when she was decommissioned from the Royal Navy. Belfast has a similar audio guide to a HMY Britannia and Edinburgh Castle. When I went onboard they said to allow three hours for the tour. I took a little over three and a half hours and the last 30 minutes or so I did pretty quickly.
There was access to most of the ship from bridge to boiler room. The audio was good because it had a lot of commentary from old crew members from the Second World War and Korean War where she took part in a number of actions. The D Day landings being one of the most important. I took my small camera because it gave me a little more room when climbing through the machinery spaces and other confined spaces. Unfortunately the batteries ran out before my tour was completed.
Deb and I met up in Knightsbridge where there is a department store called Harrods. We went to the Tea Rooms and had some lunch. We had their soup of the day and a sandwich. The soup of the day was pea and ham hock. It would be the greenest soup I have ever eaten. It is not the greenest thing I have eaten but the greenest soup. The sandwiches were nicely presented, crusts removed and cut into soldiers.
We left through the travel goods and luggage department and couldn't help but notice how nice things were. We had a look at a small suitcase because we have acquired a few more things while we have been travelling and since we are able to take two suitcases each and this one was a suitable size. The colour would need to be changed but it was quite suitable.
I actually took a liking to a Backgammon Set. Although I don't play I thought it might be nice to learn. After looking at the price I decided I might have to learn on a different set.
After leaving Harrods we used our new found knowledge to navigate the Underground Rail System and made our way back to Kings Cross and then on to Potters Bar.
Thursday 19 June
We had a ride on the light rail system today. It is similar to the one in Canada where the trains are run without drivers. A bit disconcerting when you first look and see that there was no one at the controls. We went to Royal Victoria Station near the start of Emirates Air Line which is a cable car that goes from Royal Docks to Greenwich Peninsula. It covers a distance of nearly 1 kilometre, one side of the Thames to the other. Its highest point is about 90 metres above the Thames. The views from the gondola are almost as good as the London Eye.
From Greenwich we went to Covent Garden. We had to take a number of underground lines and although the line map of the underground shows most of the lines close together, in some cases there is quite a walk from one line to another within the station. When we arrived at Covent Garden Station there was a sign indicating that it was quicker to take the lift instead of the stairs. We had already climbed 2 flights of stairs and we were still 15 stories below ground level. I would like to get a 3D layout of the tunnels below London to see exactly where we went when we went tripping across the city.
Covent Garden reminded us a little of Fremantle Markets where there a a lot of small stalls that sell a wide range of goods. When we arrived there was a string quartet playing and they were very good. A little later they were joined by some opera singers. They were a bit better than the average busker.
From Covent Garden we walked down to St. Martins in the Field church which is next to Trafalgar Square. Deb's grandmothers family has a connection through a distant relative. The church was built between 1722 and 1724.
When we got back to Kings Cross Station we visited the Platform nine and three quarters shop. This shop is dedicated to everything Harry Potter. There are school scarves, wands from all the characters mentioned in the books and everything in between. If you are a Harry Potter fan you would not be disappointed.
Friday 20 June
Got underway a little later today. We left the hotel at about 9.30 and have decided to go to Harrods again to do some souvenir shopping and maybe have some morning tea. We had heard a lot about the food hall and thought we might have a look at the toys as well as most of us are big kids at heart. I have found a job that appealed to me and I think to a lot of people. The job is a toy demonstrator at Harrods. There were about 15 of them there demonstrating some old toys that we would all recognise but also some new toys like controlling video games using an iPad.
Harrods also had a pretty extensive Lego collection. There were a number of kits that were made up to show what they should look like. They also had a man dressed in a Harrods uniform. He was an older style gentleman with grey hair and mutton chop whiskers. I took a photograph with Deb standing next to him to show the size.
There was also a car for the well to do to buy their children.
Our morning tea was really nice. It was really morning coffee because Deb had black coffee and I had a latte. We had two of what they call "Tea Fancies". These are small very special morning tea treats. They are about 3 pounds each to buy at the Tea Rooms but as part of a morning or afternoon tea are a little cheaper.
My Tea Fancies - Left is a Gypsy Tart and Right is Berry Eton Mess
Deb's Tea Fancies - Left is Lime Pineapple Posset and Right is a Victoria Sandwich
We went from Harrods towards Buckingham Palace because we wanted to visit the Queen (and theBuckingham Palace Shop). We were able to navigate through the tube system and get pretty close to where we needed to be. It was than a case of get out our map and work out the rest of the way there.
This is the third time I have seen the palace and out of the three there has only been one time when it was being guarded by a Guards Regiment. This time it was being guarded by the Royal Marines and the other time it was the Gurkha Rifles.
We had a good walk back through the streets to get to Victoria Station. It was a little hard to find because like a lot of the surrounding area, it was undergoing renovations and there were a lot of alternate routes. Made our way to Kings Cross and then to Potters Bar.
Saturday 21 June
Today is the last full day in London. We catch the plane from Heathrow at 9.25 pm local time so should be back in Gunnedah sometime on Tuesday evening. We are going to have a ride on a DUKW with a company called Duck Tours. They are near Waterloo close to the London Eye.
D = designed in 1942
U = utility
K = all wheel drive
W = dual rear axles
(the K and W don't seem to make sense but that is what it is apparently)
When we arrived at the Duck Tours office they informed us that the Ducks weren't able to go on the river because they were undergoing some modifications. They had made arrangements for us to go on a cruise to the Tower of London with City Cruises.
The trip around the city of Westminster was really good. The fellow who was the guide really knew his stuff and didn't stop giving us information for the full time we were on the road. He even kept it up when we were held up in traffic. He knew all the buildings and their history and expanded on it when we slowed down or stopped.
It would be great to remember even half of what he was telling us. We went past the wine merchants who have held the Royal Warrant for 250 years. It is hard to imagine a company being in business for that long.
When we got back to the bus stop we took advantage of the trip to the Tower of London. We just had a look around the tower. We decided not to do a tour as there were so many people. There seemed to be a lot more than the week days we have been out doing the tourist thing.
At the Tower there was a reenactment group playing soldiers and firing muskets and a small field piece. It looked like that one group were representing the Rifle Brigade because they were wearing a green uniform where the British Infantry were dressed in their scarlet.
There was a food market underway near the London Eye so we went there for lunch. There were some beautiful aromas emanating from a lot of the stalls. A nice way to finish our walk-around today.
We have to pack tonight ready to leave tomorrow.
Deb and Den
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