London - Days 6, 7 and 8

London - Days 6 and 7

On the tube again this time to see the famous changing of the guard with thousands of other tourists. We decided to do a walking tour for this and we were guided to where the guard-change actually starts in St, James Palace and then we walked at a very fast pace with the procession of guards and band playing. We were then taken to Wellington Palace were another regiment were preparing to start their march with another band. If we had taken ourselves down to the palace gates we would have missed the majority of all the leadup to the actual changing of the guards.

The very start of changing of the guard at St, James Palace

Marching down The Mall

Closeup of the famous hats

After that lunch at a really old English pub, recommended by a ‘bobby’ that we asked, we then back to the hotel to get ready for our first west end show.

We went to the Playhouse Theatre to see Dreamboats and Petticoats, a very entertaining musical with loads of 60’s, 70’s and 80’s music – all the stuff we know and it showed as the theatre was filled with a more mature audience –a great time was had by all at the end lots of the audience were up dancing – we were very well entertained.

Next day we were on the trek of another touristy adventure. This time we visited St Paul’s Cathedral. We were very lucky to have been given a personal tour of the Cathedral by one of the volunteers that work there each day. A magnificent building and the history behind its creation and survival over many hundreds of years was extremely interesting. We went at the right time as they have been working on restoring the building inside and out for the last 15 years and it has only recently been finished. I was struck by the grandness and purity of the structure. The restoration has peeled back hundreds of years of soot and grime from the surface to reveal walls and ceilings with beautiful detailed work and the brightness of the interior shines through. As the guide explained  - the Cathedral is as it was when first built or even better. Let me tell you if you get a chance to come to London visit St, Paul’s. We spent hours there.

Back to get ready for another West End experience. This time we went to the Lyceum Theatre to see The Lion King. How good was this- the singing, the acting, the way the actors became the animals, the costumes(unbelievable), the dancing and to experience all of this in a grand old theatre was the highlight of the week for me.

Day 8

Have been on the go for days now as you can see so today we decided to have a layback day. Caught the tube to Camden markets. This is an area that as soon as you come up from the tube to street level you are confronted by market stalls lining the streets. There are stalls everywhere and even though one market blends into another they have a very different feel to them. We spent most of our time in the alternate market section where it has been described as funky. Lots of very interesting characters man this section with lots of very unusual wares for sale. Unfortunately most too heavy or too big to fit in the already bulging suitcases.

Back to try and pack to get everything in and under the weight restrictions for British Airways.

Up early at 5.30 even though not much sleep was had as it was very noisy with Friday night partying happening all night.

Sorry about the lack of pictures we have been so busy forgot to download them from camera.

Off to New York.