laj

Friday 20 August It felt like we were coming home! We had to wait for around an hour for or transfer. The driver was good and told us stories and pointed places out to us. We arrived at the Thistle Marble Arc and were able to check in quickly. No view this time... just a dingy courtyard instead of Oxford Street. We took off straight away to catch the Hop On, Hop Off bus. First stop was Westminster Abbey. A beautiful church! Creepy though. We were walking over dead bodies everywhere. Lots of famous people buried there as well as historical figures. I wouldn't want to bethere at dark! There were crypts at every corner. Next stop was St Pauls. I liked this cathedral a lot. It was much lighter and brighter and spacious..... plus less ... read more

Saturday 22 August We woke up sore and sorry today. I thought it was the dancing at first.. no.. more like all the steps we climbed yesterday. After a nice hot breaky, we took off through Hyde Park - LONG WALK. Big mistake. We should have Tubed it. The whole point of having an Oyster Card. Too much walking just makes you tired and miserable and you don’t enjoy it as much as you should. We found a cute squirrel near the lake. Very cute how they nibble. It came very close. Thankfully it didn’t jump on my face.  We finally made it to Notinghill. The number of people were overwhelming. More than last time for sure. I love the markets. I bought a suede bag from Oi! And a chocolate peanut butter cake from ... read more

A-MAZE-ING! Sunday 23 August. I had a nice little sleep in today and then a smaller breaky.. already.. it didn’t take very long for the novelty to wear off, huh? I went for a walk by myself to Hyde Park. I came across some of the Queen’s guards ready to parade from Hyde Park Corner. I followed them up through Green’s Park (squirrels everywhere) to Buck Palace. I got there just intime for the changing of the guards. What a non event that was. I sat in James’s Park and enjoyed the peace for awhile, before walking back through Mayfair. When I got back, it was time to get ready for lunch with the family at Gordon Ramsey’s “The Maze”. It was a bit tricky to find it. On the way, we stumbled across a dingy ... read more

Wednesday 26 August No wake up call! Breaky and bags 7:15am Leave 8am We headed off toward Durham this morning. It was a wettish morning and around 14 degrees. Breakfast was nice and I had a tiney taste of black pudding. Meh.. .just tasted like salt. On the way we pasted Newcastle and John told us this is where the saying “Taking coals to Newcastle” came from… meaning.. there’s no point. Newcastle was a major coal exporter. We drove through the countryside of Wuthering Heights, where the Bronte sisters lived. We arrived at Durham at 9:30am and walked up to the Cathedral. What a wonderful town (saying that a lot, aren’t I??) they all are! The cathedral was simply beautiful especially since it was built in just 40 years. I really loved walking around the cloisters. ... read more

Friday 28 August Bags and Breaky 7am Leave 8am We hopped on the bus and sadly, drove out of Edinburgh. There was lots of beautiful scenery as we headed up to the highlands. We stopped at St Andrew’s Golf course. This is one of the most famous and old golf courses around… and I couldn’t give a toss. It was great to see how excited some of the golfers were on the trip though. It was drizzling and wet, so some of us headed up to the café and had a glorious hot chocolate - filled with cream and marshmallows. We drove a short way to Pitlochry for lunch. It was a lovely, quaint town, perfect for a tourist lunch stop. I had a toasted ham and cheddar Panini. I bought myself some celtic earrings from ... read more