More Sunshine in London...day 2

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21 April 2013

We wake up around 9am, the first decent sleep of none that are to follow. First things first, check the weather. The sun is shinny again!!! Who couldn't believe such luck. We pack our suitcases and they ship us of into another room this time with a double bed. The room is smaller than the last but the view from the window is just what you can imagine with all the little London houses, all in a row. With that sorted we head back out, excited to have the sun on our faces. The weather is still cold, around 15 degrees.

Once on the tube we put our plan into motion and head to Buckingham Palace. It is a Sunday so we won’t be able to enter the palace and our London Pass guidebook also informs us that the Royal Mews will be closed. It is also the London Marathon. Mere days after the Boston Marathon where the world witnessed another terrorist attack. However the atmosphere is not tense and when the sunshines in London, nothing can ruin that day. We walk out of the tube station and walk past the entrance to the Royal Mews...it looks like its open. Excited at our luck we enter with our London Pass and wonder around the royal stables. Unlike most stables there is a lot more carriages and a lot less horses. We learn a lot with our free audio guides and spend a little longer lingering at the Australian coach before staring at amazement at the Gold coach.

After the Mews we head around the corner to Buckingham palace, right where the London Marathon is set to finish. The crowds are however not at the gates of the palace but on the other side of the street, obviously more interested in the Marathon than in the palace, luckily for us. It's impressive but I still prefer Westminister Palace. We walk through a park to the right of the palace and as Nathan's navigation is correct we walk down this street and arrive at Piccadilly Circus. A few happy snaps of the famous round-a-bout and then we are back on the tube to Hyde Park. Deciding that it would be the most beautiful and fitting spot to have lunch whilst in London.

We pop out from the tube and there is Hyde Park on our right and the Wellington Arch on our left. We explore the traffic island where the arch is surrounded by other war memorials including one for both Australia and New Zealand. We get free entry to climb to the top of the Wellington Arch with our London Pass and the view is beautiful. We can see down into the very edge of the Royal gardens, the London Eye in the distance and of course Hyde Park.

We venture over to Hyde Park where we buy toasted sandwhiches and sit down amongst the green grass and tall trees. We are delighted to see the little squirrels running around, the horse track and those who had a turn on roller blades. We walk along Hyde Park for only a moment and then back out onto the streets. We then take the tube to a large Westfeild Shopping centre which we explored for a while then decided that the best London shopping was back at the Britannia shop we saw near the Piccadily Tube station. So back there we went for just a few bags of souveniers and then home to the hotel.

Buggered from another big day but determined to have dinner at a London Pub we walked down to the one right at the bottom of our hotel, the Blackbird. I got a butternut squash pie and by golly it was the best pie I have ever had in my life. Stuff the fish and chips and order a pie when in London. We had some beer and some wine and oddly enough weren't served by fellow Australians. Then it was time to hit the hay as we had a big tour the next day.

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