Summer Trip - London (15-22nd July)

A four and a half hour ferry ride from Oostende, Belgium delivered us and our car to Ramsgate, England. When driving in England cars must drive on the left side of the road (like in Australia), so it took a bit of concentration for us to drive in our left-hand drive car. The traffic was horrendous and it took us nearly three hours to reach our apartment in Willesden Green, London.
The first morning was used to catch up with sleeping, washing, internet, grocery shopping. After lunch we got the Tube (Underground Train) into Piccadilly Circus and the Tourist Office. We walked to Trafalgar Square, had a short look through the National Gallery (some Monet and Van Gogh paintings), then strolled to Buckingham Palace. We didn’t get to see the Queen, but the Royal Guards put on a show for us. On our way home we rode in the top level of a red double-decker bus.
The London Eye ferris wheel was the first stop on our second day and after packing a picnic lunch we took the Tube into London. During the slow-moving 30 minute revolution of the Eye we had a fabulous 360 degree view of London, particularly the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. A short walk away we viewed the Tower Bridge, a magnificent structure, with blue and gold trimmings. A couple of train rides later we walked through the Camden Markets, a bustling area.
A quiet morning-in before a lunch of meat pies and sausage rolls (our first for six months). We got the Tube to the Science Museum, which had terrific interactive displays. We had some fun making huge bubbles. Next, we visited the Natural History Museum, with its fantastic dinosaur section, birds and mammals and a life-sized blue whale. We ate some Jelly Tots that reminded Terri-Lyn of her childhood days.
Bath, in the west of England, was our destination for this next day and once we found a car park we walked towards the Roman Baths. We entered the Baths and with the admittance price we got a ‘phone’ with audio commentary of what we were looking at. It was amazing to see these baths that are so old in such great condition – you could easily imagine how it was living in those times. The town of Bath is very attractive, with lovely buildings, river and parks. The drive to and from Bath gave us picturesque views of the green, rolling hills of the countryside. We had a wonderful day.
Sunday was a quiet day. The girls went swimming in the local indoor pool in the morning. In the afternoon Terri-Lyn and the girls went to a cinema (another first for six months) to see ‘Mamma Mia’, which we enjoyed. Mark stayed home and watched the British Open on television.
On our last day in London we took the Tube into Covent Garden, looked through the markets and stopped at a nice pub for a beer and coke. We went to a large supermarket, Sainsburys, on our way home to buy some products that we can’t get in Dagmersellen, such as (for the girls) Milo, 2-minute noodles, tinned spaghetti, Weetbix; and for us BBQ sauce, oven bags, French onion soup.
OVERVIEW OF LONDON:
* Traffic is very heavy with lots of traffic lights.
* Red double-decker buses are plentiful. Mark says that no amount of pay would be enough for him to be a bus driver here.
* Pedestrians don’t obey the WALK / DON’T WALK signs.
* Underground – The Tube – great system. The trains come often; we hardly had to wait for a train. The connections between lines run smoothly. They are clean. Buskers are scattered along the walkways between lines, and they are usually pretty good.
* Small self-owned businesses are plentiful, with lots of mini-marts.
* Lamb (I miss it so much) at the local butcher was cheap and delicious.
* Weather was drizzly on most days.
* The Pound seemed so cheap until we realised that we needed to double the price to compare it with the Australian dollar.
* Our apartment was small, run-down, slow draining shower, but great location.
* Betting shops are on every block.
* People are generally very friendly – such a mix of nationalities.