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OUR HOLIDAY 2012 Sydney - London Well, here we are again – continuing our European holiday.
Dad passed away on 31
st January 2012. We had been his primary carers for 7 months – not an emotionally easy thing to do but glad to have been there to make his life as comfortable as possible. His house has been sold and the estate has been settled.
Tuesday 8th May 2012 It’s 3.45pm and we are flying out of Sydney to London. We will be staying for one week to see if we can sort out the British rego for motorhome and then fly out to Rome, then catch an overnight bus to Otranto, Puglia to collect our motorhome. (We hope it is still in one piece).
Wednesday 9th May 2012. After 23 hours flying we land at London Heathrow airport at 5.30am their time. It has been a very bumpy ride with lots of air turbulence.
No problems with customs as I (Gaye) also have a British passport.
We purchase an ‘Oyster’ railway card, which gives us access to bus and rail for the week within zone 1 and 2. If we go
out into further zones, then we have to top up the card.
We board the Underground train, to Earls Court and then a short walk to ‘Enterprise Hotel’.
The wheels on our large suitcase, which we bought cheap in Otranto to get us home in a hurry, started to fall apart as we arrived at the hotel, so later we purchased a new suitcase.
Being very early at the hotel, the room was not ready, which was OK for us, but the receptionist found us another room. Must say the rooms are very cosy – not much room to swing the cat. No fridge, no drawers, 2 single beds put together pretending to be a double bed (yuk) and Tom says it’s smaller than the motorhome.
Freshen up with a shower and then off to Wimbledon to the DVLA to sort out the motorhome registration. Things being the way they were (long story) we couldn’t do MOT or tax disc. So off we go to get some lunch, buy a new suitcase.
Get back to hotel about 3pm and set the alarm for a 2 hour catch-up sleep. Nup – not going to get up,
too tired - so back to sleep until the next morning. We were however woken up at 1.45am by the hotel smoke alarm going off – just a false alarm.
Thursday 10th May 2012. Up early and off by foot to see Hyde Park. Go into Kensington Palace and gardens and signed up with membership as we then could have entry to 5 Palaces - 3 of which we wanted to see - more economical - so we will be able to use it again when we return later in the year.
Kensington Palace was interesting and the gardens not bad. Had a bite to eat and then off to see The Royal Albert Hall. We check out what concerts were on, and saw that 10CC were on tonight at 8pm, with their 40 years celebration concert, so we purchased 2 tickets which were in the side box, 2
nd from stage £90. Only 1 original member left from the band – Graham Gouldman.
Went back to hotel for a rest and to chase up insurance on motorhome. The receptionist was not very cheery – it appeared too much trouble for her to give us our key
– they won’t like our evaluation when we leave.
Tom rang the insurance company and took out 4 months insurance for £438.16 – all done with no fuss.
Off to dinner and show at Royal Albert Hall. We hadn’t booked dinner – not knowing how busy it would be. Couldn’t get into the main restaurant, but there was another restaurant upstairs – good food and service but a bit expensive at £63.
Off to our box seats. There were only 4 of us in the box. It could have fitted 8 people. The show was in 2 parts. First was songwriter, Graham Gouldman who sang and played acoustic guitar along with 3 others, the songs he had composed for other bands such as the Yard Birds, Hollies and many others. Then the 2
nd part as 10CC – songs from the 70’s. Great night especially as our memories kicked into play. Ha-ha.
Friday 11th May 2012. Up and in to town to the London Eye for a ride – really worth it. We got bonus time up at the top as the mechanism broke down – about 15 minutes.
Then caught the ferry to The
Globe – the Shakespeare theatre. Did a tour – lots of items to look at and stories to hear – very interesting. It was lunchtime and across the road was a Turkish restaurant – so off we go – great food.
Onto the ferry to London Tower. Walked around for about 2.5 hours. Sort of another ABC (Another Bloody Church/Cathedral/Castle) for Tom. Gaye back into tourist mode and buying post cards, books etc to send home for later.
Both of us have sore legs and feet from so much walking.
Saturday 12th May 2012. Up in the morning with the plan to go into town and do the red bus tour around London, BUT on the way we saw an advertisement for ‘Grand Designs’ exhibition currently showing and finishing tomorrow, so that was it for us – we head out to see it.
On the way we stopped at a box office and purchased tickets for dinner and show – the Jersey Boys at the Prince Edward Theatre – then onto to train to the Excel Centre in the Docklands for the exhibition.
We walked for hours looking and Tom talking. We even saw
Kevin McCloud wandering around. Lots of good ideas everywhere. Then Gaye sees display of ‘under floor heating’, so Tom talks to a guy for a while to get a good understanding of how to do our place when we get home and start our renovations.
Then back to train to Piccadilly Circus for dinner and show. What a sight - the Saturday crowd. Dinner was at the Grace pub, a set 2 course then onto the theatre – full house and a great show. The building was very well restored.
Out into the very crowded streets and some interesting sights. The crowd was so large as we headed down the train station steps, that the security had to stop us to avoid overcrowding the station platform. All in all, a great day – long and tiring – back into tourist mode. Love it.
Sunday 13th May 2012. Up and off we went to Liverpool station – very large – and down to Spitalfield Markets. They are advertised as designer markets, but there were many mass productions stalls there. Gaye bought a scarf and leather belt, a belt for Megan and a French designed beanie for Sharmayne
– looks good on so we hope she likes it. Then had an English breakfast – very large.
Then off the James Park underground to walk to Buckingham Palace . We wandered up to Burlington Arcade (ritzy area). Saw some shops that had been hit by the recession – either in the process of closing down, one gone and many with 70%!o(MISSING)ff sales.
In to the Glass Blower pub for a drink and nibblies. It was about 3pm so back to hotel as we needed to get a load of washing done – Tom did that at the Laundromat while Gaye typed up the diary.
About 6pm we went around the corner for a few drinks and tapas dinner.
Monday 14th May 2012. Well it started to rain again and it’s cold, but we still headed off the Hampton Court to go have a look at Hampton Palace where King Henry V111 and his wives lived.
Had something to eat at the restaurant as a late breakfast. We did all the inside areas – nice inside the kitchen with a huge fire going – everyone else thought it was great also. Had a
late lunch and finished touring around inside.
Well worth the visit, but didn’t do the huge gardens as it was cold and raining, so will come back when we return in July. Home by 5pm for a rest. Type up the diary and download pictures. Down to the bar for a few drinks and dinner.
Tuesday 15th May 2012. Up and off to airport. Supposed to fly out at 3.40pm. Flight delayed due to storms so we get away 1 hour late.
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