Blogs from Bayswater, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 5

London swings like a pendulum do…… No Bobbies on bicycles tho’. What a multicultural city London is. We think Oz is multicultural! I’m afraid the Poms are terribly outnumbered. Either that or they’ve all gone somewhere else to live. Our hotel is Eastern European. All the staff are and most of the guests are too. Very nice tho’. We dropped Lib off at Heathrow at 9ish. Fond farewell and so sorry to bid her farewell. Lib really brought a lot to our holiday and she was unstoppable. I think she had a good time. She kept us running often and the dinners we had….. Some of those will be great anecdotes later. Lib was pining for the kids and grandkids tho’. Probably a tug of war in her mind being pulled back to Oz. We have ... read more

In true London style, Pen has been living like royalty in The Queen's neighbourhood thanks to her gracious host and long lost 'sister' Sarah. Strolling amongst swans in Kensington Gardens, skirting palaces and sipping cocktails in Notting Hill's posh 'Beach Blanket Babylon', the two blondes have been making the most of the rare London sun. Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday party provided the perfect excuse for a red-wine-fueled picnic under the stars as Amy Winehouse (looking surprisingly healthy), Queen and other rock celebrities belted out classic tunes carried over the £90/ticket barriers and into free-loading eardrums abound. Inadvertently the BWT (Big World Trip) has morphed into a WCQ (Worldwide Cupcake Quest). Add Dave's influence and you get a WCQ+GPS (Global Pizza Scoff-fest). A saunter down Portobello Road had the girls pass the Hummingbird Cupcake Cafe. Simply passing ... read more

I arrived in London by bus from Cardiff, Wales, with my friend, Dai. We took the tube (also known as the underground or subway) to our hotel in Bayswater, the Royal Court Apartments. Linell was flying in from Shanghai and was to meet us there on January 15. As often happens, her plane was delayed by bad weather so she was several hours late. Linell sent Dai and me her report on our trip. I have her permission to use it for the next 3 blogs--one on each city, London, Paris and Florence. Here it is sent to us from China where she lives. I am back from the Europe trip. Everything is very quiet here in Nanjing, except for the nightly firecrackers and the persistent drip, drip, drip of melting snow. Students are still at ... read more

Here we are at the beginning of our big tour of the world! Our trips first destination is London. It doesn't really feel like we're abroad: We speak the language fairly well, the weather is chilly and grey. Yesterday we went to a pub and had a few beers and people we're getting drunk and someone entertained the rest of the pub by shouting drunkenly. It feel's like home! We've been taking long walks in the city and seeing the main sights like Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, riding the Tube( we feel smart 'cause we can use it quite well) and having tasty sandwiches and most of all trying not to spend too much money. Mission of the day: We went to Waterstone's bookstore to buy something to read: It is a paradise for anyone ... read more

We've had a great few days in London - been travelling around with our tourist "must see" maps showing all the icons (Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Madame Tussaud's etc). We have been very lucky with the weather - Monday and Tuesday there was occasional rain spurts, but yesterday and today there is blue sky and sunshine - even to the point of requiring sunnies!! Tuesday night Meggs came down to visit, and with met up with Steph and went to dinner at the LongAcre pub, Covent Garden - had a few drinks - and a great night! We loved Madame Tussaud's - in one room, we honestly thought John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson were part of the crowd - they were so lifelike! Luke posed with Sly and couldn't help but grope Britney! It's great ... read more