Our last day in London..

Wednesday 30/05/12 - We woke up this morning knowing this was our last day in London so we left the hotel early to make the most of the lovely sunny day that had dawned.  We were looking forward to a day of sightseeing but as soon as we left the hotel we discovered it was not going to be that easy.  The following weekend was the Queens Jubilee Parade and until now all the decorations and bunting had been attractive and added to the festive feel of the city, but today most public places were fenced off as they erected great stages and big screens for the many people who would come to celebrate.  Not a good look on a holiday snap but lets see what we can find anyway.

Passing St Martin's on the Field and a fenced off Trafalgar Square and walked over to Admiralty Arch where we could see more preparations for the weekends concert taking place at the other end of the Mall.  We wandered along to Charing Cross station where we saw the replica of the Eleanor Cross in the station forecourt.  This very intricate statue is almost lost among the taxis now but it is still worth a look if you have time.  From here we walked through some lane ways and a lovely garden and found ourselves on the banks of the Thames right in front of the ferry terminal.  

We boarded the ferry for the Circular cruise opposite the London Eye and sailed along the river to Tower Bridge where we turned around and came back getting off at The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.  It was a lovely afternoon and we sat on the upper deck in the sun taking in all the wonderful old  sights of London like Shakespeare's Globe theatre, the Tower of London and the Traitor's Gate, the  London Dungeon, St Paul's Cathedral, Blackfriars Bridge and London Bridge.  

Some of the newer sights include Tate Modern, Royal Festival Hall, the London Aquarium and the Design Museum.  Today there is a new building taking shape on the banks of the Thames and when finished 'The Shard' will be the tallest building in Europe.  The impressive glass tower consists of 11,000 glass panels, 44 lifts and a will eventually open a public gallery 309.6 metres above London.  It is due to open in Feb 2013.  

Even the river was in preparation for the Queens Parade on Monday with many platforms anchored along the river in readiness for bands and official visitors for the big occasion.  The 'Family Photo' mounted along the side of a large building added to the excitement of it all. 

After our cruise we had a look at the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and then walked back into central London passing Downing Street, The memorial to the Women of World War II, the Horse Guards Parade grounds and Parliament Square coming back out onto the Mall and walking  back through Admiralty Arch.

We took some time out to have lunch in The Crypt of St Martins on the Field before walking back to our hotel to pack for the last time on this holiday.  We managed to get everything back into the suitcases and hand luggage and soon after we were in a cab heading to Heathrow for our flight home.  

Leaving at 10.30pm after a full day of sightseeing meant that we were able to get some sleep on the way back to Singapore.  Not a full night but better than none at all.  Our trip back on the A380 was very good and no delays saw us arrive and depart Singapore on time.  Just time for a coffee before we were on our way again and with a little more sleep on the last leg we arrived back in Melbourne Airport about 5.30am to a very chilly Melbourne winter morning.  We had an easy walk through Customs and  arrived home about 7.30am and managed to stay awake for the whole day before succumbing to Jet lag 
and bed about 7.00pm where we slept until 8.30am the next morning.

A phone call from a friend on Saturday morning solved 'our what are we going to do tonight' dilemmas and we caught the train to Blackburn later that evening to help celebrate Uncle Harold's 86th birthday with his daughter Joy and her family.  It was good to see them all again and share our adventures with them.

And so now our holiday is over and life must return to normal once more.  We have had the best time and have loved seeing and spending time with all our family and friends along the way.  Thank you to each and every one of you for making our trip one we will never forget.  For everyone that reads Rhossietalk, I hope I have not bored you too much with our daily adventures but there was just so much to tell and I just couldn't decide which bits to leave out so I didn't.   

And now it's time to get ready for work on Monday, until next time.......