London - September/October 2025
| London - September/October 2025 | |
| After having visited Kristin and Alvaro in Florida, we stayed for a few days with Alexis in London. We also got to catch up with Elaine and Craig between their European bus tours. | |
| Our route from Gatwick to Canary Wharf was smooth. We particularly enjoyed the easy access from M25 along the A2 almost to the O2 Arena. We then got to drive the newly opened (April 2025) Silvertown Tunnel under the Thames. | |
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| After only a few minor navigation errors, and some key-fob issues we parked Percy under Alexis' apartment building, and settled into her comfy chairs with cups of tea for the lovely view. | |
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| Alexis taught us about the concept of "Londonhenge" sunsets - conveniently happening on one evening of our visit. Basically, the sun sets at a very photogenic spot relative to key landmarks in the city. We caught the sun setting behind the Shard and at one point it was even shining directly through the London Eye. Of course that does not show up on our amateur cameras. | |
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The next day we found two Aussies wandering around Kensington Gardens.
Given how big the gardens are, we consider us lucky (or clever) to find
Elaine and Craig. It was wonderful to see them and to share a sightseeing walk
through London.
This included a photo op outside Royal College of Music where Elaine's grandmother, Winsome, was many years ago. Rob dodged cars to get a picture of us all - if only that silly van could go away... |
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| As the van moved away, he caught the photo of one Norwegian and two Aussies. | |
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| After lunch at a Bunch of Grapes we popped next door into Harrods for a quick walk-around. Wanted to see what the rich people buy and eat. The food market was amazing to look at. With some help from store staff, we found the famous Egyptian Escalators - named for the decor rather than where they were manufactured. | |
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| During our walk from Harrods to Buckingham Place, Hild was chuffed to take one single photo that included soldiers riding on horses, a red double-decker bus, and a black London cab. Probably common in London, but exciting for Hild. | |
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| Near the Wellington Arch we stopped by the Australian War Memorial. We amazed again at the clever design with large letters spelling out the locations of major battles, and small letters spelling out towns where those who died were from. | |
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| With help from their website, we were able to find Craig's family's town of Quairading hidden just above the "N" in Singapore. | |
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| It was a beautiful and quiet day to walk past Buckingham Palace. | |
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| Of course, we stopped by Australia Gate. It is a bit disappointing because it is smaller than the Canada Gate. Hrmpf. There were gold swans, eagles, and lions set into the gates. We figured there should have been kangaroos, quokkas, and wombats too. | |
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| After a stop by to see the Horse Guards we kept going all the way to Trafalgar Square. By that stage we were all tired and took the Tube back to West Kensington. It was time for cups of hot chocolate, tea, and sticky buns at a local bakery. Elaine and Craig were off to catch the rest of the family. What a lovely treat to meet up in London. | |
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| We took the Tube back to Canary Wharf and soon found ourselves with cups of tea, enjoying the view while wearing our new Aussie socks decorated with possums and wombats. | |
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| There is no photographic evidence of our visit with Alexis. We spent hours chatting while having dinners and many cups of tea. As always, great catching up! |
September/October 2025