This was our last official full day of sightseeing in London, as tomorrow we leave London for home. :( Today we went to the Globe Theatre, which was reconstructed by an American called Sam Wanamaker. Ironically, our tour was conducted by a Yank. It was interesting to see the replica that was built as true to the original as possible, down to constructing Elizabethan tools for the job. We then went to Buckingham Palace, amid several showers of rain, to see the Changing of the Guard. And so did 500, 000 other people (lol). We got to see the parade, but not the actual changing, because the crowd was 8-deep at the fence of the palace. We then went to see Wellington's Arch. Guess what? it was closed! We had planned to go for a walk ... read more

This morning we went to mass at Great St Barts, a church built in 1125 as an Augustinian abbey. The interesting part about it is that the nave no longer exists. There is only the quire and the chancel, plus an extension for the Lady Chapel that make up this church. Still, a beautiful building and great liturgy, with the sung parts in Latin; loads of smoke (aka incense). Following mass, we headed off to Kew Gardens, which ended up being a mammoth journey as there were engineering work on the District Line. This required three train changes and a bus change to get there, which would normally is just a single train journey. Ditto on the return journey. The gardens were lovely. We visited some of the greenhouses, including the Temperate House, which had many ... read more

Today we set of to go to Hampton Court Palace. The palace was built by Cardinal Wolsey and taken off him by Henry VIII, when Wosley fell out of favour. There were several additions to the palace, first by Henry and then by William III and his wife Mary II. We explored the apartment and kitchens of Henry VIII and the baroque additions of William and Mary that included their apartments. We did not feel that the palace was as grand as Versailles, but it was still interesting because of its history. We then spent some time exploring the gardens and working our way to the centre of the maze. There was a vine planted that was reported as being planted about 300 years ago, and it is the oldest and the largest in the world, ... read more

We arrived in London today at lunchtime. We settled into the apartment. Nearby is St Katherine’s Dock and Tower Bridge. This afternoon we visited Westminster Abbey and had the opportunity to go to the shrine of Edward the Confessor. It is a beautiful church, particularly the Herny VII Chapel, also known as the Lady Chapel with its fan-vaulting ceiling. We also saw the tomb for the two Tudor queens, Elizabeth and Mary, plus the tomb of many more kings, queens, nobles, poets and writers. Unfortunately we were not able to take pictures inside. Surprise, surprise! We then visited Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral, built in what they call ‘blood and bandage’ style. Inside, it is a mixed bag. There are many wonderful mosaics, but there are vast areas that are incomplete. In the middle of the nave, ... read more

This morning we left Thetford to make our way to Oxford. On the way, we stopped off at Ely to visit its cathedral, which has a marvellous lantern that is unique in all of England. We then headed off to Cambridge. We visited King’s College Chapel and walked around the many of the other colleges. Due to limited time, we were not able to visit all of the colleges, but we did manage to have a peek at a few of them. We then made our way on to Oxford. So far, we have travelled over 1100 miles in England. ... read more