Sights aound London

A colder morning today. Headed out to London with a very cold

wind in our faces. We headed north from Victoria Station to Buckingham Palace where we saw the impressive guards standing proudly. After watching for a while we had a sit down on Queen Victoria's monument which is just a stones throw away.

After this we headed North East through St. James park enjoying the various feathered wildlife. Holly was most taken and amused with the pelican. 

I made sure we went via Downing Street which was a bit of a disappointment except for the armed officers with automatic rifles.

Eventually we came to Trafalgar Square and this time climbed all

over Lord Nelson's monument. The kids wanted to climb on the lions but I wouldn't let them. One word of advice is, do not visit central London on a public holiday. We have visited on Easter Saturday and I can't believe the crowds. But maybe this is normal.

We made great use of our travel day pass. Must have taken a combination of 10 rides in total. We caught a bus south to go over the Westminster bridge. Unfortunately the bus we were directed onto was the wrong one and we needed to take another to make the journey. All the central buses are double decker so no guessing where we sat. We walked back over the bridge with great views of Big Ben and parliament.

We were on a walking tour mostly and just glanced past Westminster Abbey before catching another bus back to Trafalgar Square. We were in search of a Macers for lunch. We found it, but as you can imagine so had most of the other people. We bought our food and walked down into the basement dining area. After waiting a little while a seat became available and we had Holly on one table and Julia on another. Soon other seats freed up and we were able to sit together. It reminded me of an English dinner hall at high school. All scrunched together.

The staff were good although English wasn't the favoured language. I often hear people complain about how foreigners are taking all the jobs. I suspect that people employ them because they are prepared to do the hardest and lowest jobs for minimum wage (if they're lucky). I also think they are probably very hard working and dependable. I suppose you have to be when your away from home surroundings.

We caught an underground next. We started off in the wrong

 direction but this was easily rectified. We arrived at St. Paul's Cathedral. We had decided this was one place that we would go into. Unfortunately, given it was Easter they closed early for a service. Frustrated but still keen we caught another bus heading for the Tower Bridge. I had passing thoughts of entering the Tower of London until we were told that there were queues of over an hour for the exhibits once inside.

We trudged up the impressive Tower to enjoy the views. Halfway along we noticed people departing from its tower and inquired about entry. This was a surprising bonus so we made our way to the entrance. It was a wonderfully informative exhibit, with data shows and many enlarged photos of it's construction. The kids were taken by the dozen other bridges displayed from around the world with various information.

It was getting late by the time we left and it wasn't until 7pm that we arrived back at Colin's place. We are all quite tired but feel we have seen most of the tourist sites that London has to offer. To do them right we would need a week. I think it would only be worth doing this outside the tourist season as the joy you get can be sucked out by the shear mass of people and the tedious and relentless queuing.

London, Natural History Museum and Science Museum

London, the great sprawl of over eight million people. It seems like most are in the city center but thank goodness they aren't. We took a train in from Croydon to Victoria Station. Two things are immediately apparent. Its either very crowded on the under ground, or it isn't designed as well as other cities like Paris. It seems a little cramped and there's the inevitable queuing. The other thing is the very pleasant and helpful nature of the staff. In fact this seems to radiate from the people at large using the underground. It's a very different experience than we had thirteen years ago. I suppose it is a change directed by the Olympics. Hopefully they maintain this as it is very pleasant.

A couple of stops later we were outside the Science Museum. We had organised to meet a couple of Sue's cousins in the cafe. It was great to catch-up as we last saw them13 years ago. Hopefully they can come and visit us in NZ even though it is on the other side of the world. Or as many English refer to us as the antipodeans. 

For me the London Science Museum is a massive expensive waste. It has huge displays which look very impressive and are informative for adults. However, compared to NEMO the Amsterdam equivalent this one misses the mark massively. The kids learn't very little. The Natural History Museum on the other hand is very impressive and unfortunately we went there second with only an hour left. The dinosaurs are massive. However, the inside queue for the dinosaur area is over an hour long. Arrive early and plan on at least a three hour stay. If you ask the staff for a kids interactive area they will direct you to the basement. It is very good and Sophia and Julia loved using the microscopes and computers to answer given questions. They checked out a tarantula close up. However, it was the skeleton of the moa that we all loved.

Just outside we wandered into Kensington Gardens past the Royal Albert Hall. No visit is complete without seeing the Peter Pan statue. 

Bodiam Castle and Chartwell

We left Cambridge and hopefully the last of the snow. I suspect not though. Quick visit to Asda for food and we were off. Important note is not to use petrol stations on motorways and especially on the M25 (the London loop). The prices are about 8% more.

Bodiam castle is what you would call a traditional medieval castle with towers and moat. It's one of those great treasures hidden near the south coast. Because it is owned by the National Trust it isn't as well known as the other castles near London. But this was something out of a classic movie and shouldn't be missed. 

Originally it had a small draw bridge but unfortunately was sacked by the parliamentary army many centuries before. It was still an opportunity to climb the ramparts and check out towers. I feel sorry for anyone having to try and attack this place. 

Later and on our way to Croydon, London we dropped into Chartwell. This is the family home of Sir Winston Churchill. Great gardens and house. Well setup with a museum in a couple of the rooms. He was quite the man and well loved by the country. It was a short trip from here and Sue's uncle Colin greeted us warmly. He has a great house which feels very comfortable after staying in travel lodges for the last few nights. Might not be warm but plenty of blankets to go round.

Cambridge

After another early morning jog we managed to leave at 9am. We had some issues with our sat nav in that it was giving us the right directions but the arrows were in the wrong direction. We made an early directional mistake, but with motorways it is easy to redirect. Eight miles later we were back on the right road. It's quite a nice drive down the east coast and the familiar names put the UK in perspective. Hull, Barnsley, Sherwood Forrest and Nottingham all flew past. 

We arrived in Cambridge about noon and parked up at the local baths we were planning on visiting later in the day. Cambridge has to be the most beautiful city I have seen in the UK. It has a number of very large open parks in the middle of the city. There are a large number of colleges which make up Cambridge University all with their own courtyards and surrounding old buildings. The first one we stumbled into looked just like the Chariots of Fire courtyard race, but I suspect it wasn't. 

Later we came across two museums. One of Archaeology and the other of Anthropology. The first was our favourite with a real skeleton of a dinosaur. When you get a university museum it is more authentic and what you see and read is more what has happened rather than something they are trying to teach you. I loved the fossil of the largest known spider. Imagine waking to this one walking across your face. Apparently they are meat eaters.

We ended this day well, spending a couple of hours in the pool messing around and using the two hydoslides. The slides never get old no matter how fast they are.

York - National Train Museum and the City

Our first stop was the National Train Museum. A couple of very large buildings connected by an underpass. The main hall had about 15 trains of various ages and sizes all positioned around a turn table. My favourite was a replica originally made in 1821. A big deal was being made of the Flying Scotsman. Apparently it is in the process of being renovated but the Green arrow (same model) was on display.

Holly was more interested in the toy trains and brought Julia for the ride. The other rooms had a collection of grand carriages used by royalty. Ironically Sophia preferred the railway museum in Turkey as they were allowed to climb all over and inside them. Nothing quite like adventuring. 

After a couple of hours we wandered into the city through the city gates. Holly started off chasing the pigeons. 






Quickly she learn't this wasn't working and before long she tried to feed them.

Needless to say she made a lot of friends that day.








A trip to York is never quite complete without a visit to the Minister. The biggest middle ages cathedral in Europe. However, with an age restriction on the tower walk and starting to get over the whole cathedral thing we gave the 20 pound entry a miss. In stead we headed in to the narrow streets of the city to just explore. Its one of the cool cities where asking for directions is pointless as everyone is a tourist.

Eventually we came across the Clifford's Tower about 1000 years old. We climbed the spiral staircase which gave panoramic views of the city. Apart from the swirlling snow and freezing wind it was a great place to just hang out. The guy on the entrance couldn't keep up with the influx of people as he needed to give a complete history before entry. 

We ended our tour by walking a section of the walls which is always great. Apart from the elevated view it gives a great perspective of the old to the new city.

Touring England - Fountains Abbey, York

We thought we would leave the look around England until later in the year when it would be warmer. That was at Christmas. Now its Easter and its even colder. We left our house in Hawarden covered in snow and at about 3 degrees. The warmest it had been for two days after it snowed all weekend. 

We left nice and early for York and arrived at Fountains Abbey by midday. The stressful sensation of driving around the UK quickly returned. The motorways are jammed full of cars and trucks. The slightest distraction can end in another adrenaline rush as cars pull in front or slow down in front of you. 

The remains of the abbey are a hidden paradise tucked away on the east coast close to York. The 12th century abbey was destroyed by the English reformation but enough of the original remains to create an airy atmosphere especially in the snow. After a suitable period of exploring the abbey and chasing Holly through various hiding places we followed the past along the small river.

With 800 acres of grounds a track leads next to the river to where a number of great views can be had of the abbey. A seat named after Anne of Boleyn gives the best view and provided us a break for what was a reasonable climb and walk.