London Trip

On Thursday afternoon, we caught the train up to London. Wayne had an exchange conference to go to, and of course the rest of us were not going to miss a chance of seeing the capital, even if it was freezing cold. We stayed just south of London with our exchangees' parents in Reigate. (See above right.) They were very good to put us up and look after us so well. The Hodges, senior, were very hospitable and kind to us - and we got on very well. This really is a very close exchange in terms of people with similar sorts of interests and backgrounds.

So, on Friday morning Wayne went off to his meeting, and the children and I prepared to explore London. Off we went to Victoria station. (Here we discovered that you have to pay to visit the public toilets. Jack, in particular, was most indignant. The girls squashed in one turnstile together, saving us a massive 30p...)

We opted for tickets on a sight-seeing bus. This was quite expensive, but expected! And it was very interesting. We sat in the top of the bus. I went up the front, in the covered bit, but the children were prepared to brave the freezing weather to get the best view. (The picture up the top shows them near Hyde Park, where we had a longish stop.We stopped off at Madame Tussaud's. We took many silly pictures... here's one of me with Tom Cruise...

Here are the children with the royal family:









Here's one of Annie showing Jerry Hall how it's done:










And here's Eleanor learning how to put hair on a wax model. There were a few hands-on things at the museum, which was fun. However, we were all a bit shocked when a man thought that a weighing machine next to a model of Muhammed Ali was a 'how hard can you punch' thing, which he slammed with his fist, breaking glass and cutting his hand. Consternation!

We were happy to get back on our tour bus and see the sights again after this. Jack determined to sit outside, even when it began to sleet, but eventually joined us at the front of the bus when the cold finally got to him!

We had some hot drinks back at Victoria station, and managed to meet up with Wayne again for the train home. (I think Wayne would rather have been with us, although he did enjoy meeting up with the other Aussies.)

The next day, we decided to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It was interesting, but it was a cold wait for it all to happen.

Here's some pictures of us at the foot of a large statue of Queen Victoria at the front of the palace. And here's another of the guards doing their thing.

We were nearly frozen by now, so we trooped into an old pub called the "Bag o'Nails" (originally 'Bacchanals') to warm up and have a hearty pub lunch. There was a very acceptable glass of ale for the grown-ups, too...

Off to the Tower of London after this. We had a few transport difficulties, here, with an unexpected forced change onto the buses which (firstly) we couldn't find, and (secondly) were very crowded. It's all very awkward with coats and hats and gloves, on and off trains and in and out of buildings, too - constantly taking them off and putting them on! Anyway, we got there, and it was very interesting too.

Here's the kids in front of the tower bridge. Someone in Medieval kit showed us a cloth map of the world of the time... ( Australia vaguely off in the 'here be dragons' section.) Again, there was some good 'hands on' stuff - helmets and crossbows to try.
Here's also the kids with a beef-eater and some important ravens of the tower.





















Back to Reigate late in the afternoon, very glad that we had home comforts to look forward to. We had to return on the Sunday, with various trains and buses because of track work and so forth. We were glad to get 'home', which now seems very comfortable and familiar. We have been here for one month!