Blogs from Balham, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Wow, what a week it has been, after enjoying a fantastic opening weekend of Olympic delights the games have begun and I've a few more photos to share. Anyone who has caught the fantastic 'Twenty Twelve ' series on BBC2 (if you haven't seen it, I urge you to watch it) will know that the games are all about inclusivity and diversity, as well as legacy and sustainability and in that spirit I have gathered together some photos from different people of some of the events over the last week. I'm certainly looking forward to the next week, basketball on the 8th and athletics on the 11th, what a way to spend my birthday, can't wait!... read more

Today I took a trip to Bath. What can I say, it was an amazing experience. The city has so much history and places to visit. I choose four places and enjoyed everyone of them, saving the best for last. Once again, I got a ticket on the hop-on hop-off bus, easiest way to get around. My first stop was a Georgian set of town houses build in the mid to late 18th century. One of those house has been undergoing renovations to makes it's rooms appears as they might have back in the late 18th century. The rooms that they have opened to the public are: dinning room, study, salon and bedroom. They have a kitchen museum in the basement, but are currently working on reconstructing the original kitchens. It is a beautiful house and ... read more

Today was an extremely busy day. I went from London to Hampton Court and back to London again. My day started with a train trip to Hampton Court, the home of Henry VIII. It is a very beautiful place and the history is unbelievable. The last monarch to live there was George II and he wasn't there for long. The Palace is broken up into three sections: Henry VIII; King William III and Queen Mary II; and the Georgian part of the palace. The stain glass windows in the Henry VIII part are amazing. There is a large room that would in today's standards be called a dinning room, that only has stain glass windows. In one of the windows I saw the image of Henry VIII. The ceilings in every room are huge and usually ... read more

The second part of my day was a trip to Oxford. This is one of the world's leading universities. Over the years it has turned out British Prime Ministers and other world leaders. It has also been where famous writers, artists, doctors, lawyers and other professionals have been trained. it has been the location of hire education for hundreds of years. The some of the buildings in the city are extremely old and others are roughly a century old or a little more. I took a hop-on hop-off bus tour around the city and did actually go into any of the colleges. The college grounds are restricted at certain times of the year and the day I chose to visit, they were having a graduation ceremony. The grounds were packed with family and friends and graduates. ... read more

Today I walked, and walked and then walked some more. It was a day of walking, but a good day. I did a lot of stuff in a rather short period of time. My day start with a trip to Apsley House, which is the home of the Duke of Wellington. The first Duke, who was the guy who beat Napoleon, bought the house from his older brother. The house originally belonged to the Baron of Aspley, hence the name. It was built in the late 1700s and became Wellington's home in the 1800s. The house was given over to the "people" after World War II by the family. They have many rooms with the original furnishings and wall treatments set up for people to walk through. The tour begins in the display room. This room ... read more