Home at last

I'm back home with my little doggy in Brisbane, Australia after a LLLLLLLLOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG trip from Britannia (aka Britain). We were supposed to leave at noon (London time) but it got delayed for 5 hours. We arrived home 3 1/2 hours late (12:30 am EST).
The plane in Kuala Lumpur was waiting for us. Today, it was after 10:00 EST (Eastern Standard Time) when I woke up so that just goes to show that I have nearly recovered from jet lag.
We had a really wonderful time in Britain. Thanks for reading my blog! I hope you enjoyed it!
Riley

Coming home

My parents are madly packing while I am writing this. I finished all ten things on my list of things to see and do plus more. I cant wait to see Rex again. We have the LONG plane trip ahead.
Se you all soon.

Riley


UPDATE - at Heathrow Airport (LHR). Our plane to Kuala Lumpur is delayed for 3 hours. I had a chocolate ice-cream, mum had a bubbly and dad had a larger. Mum says "We may as well stay. Can someone post Rex?". Oh, and Marty, dad had black pudding for breakfast. "Not quite in the 'faggots' category, but I wouldn't try it again" says dad.

Last full day in London

Very sad our last day in London. First we got the Underground to Oxford Circus on the Victoria Line to go to Hamleys on Regent's Street. It is the BEST toy shop in the world!!!! It has seven floors (LG, G, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) of all the best toys. And a cafe with the best cakes!!! I bought a Flying Saucer and a Mystery UFO from the pounds I have left from my birthday money.
At Hamleys they have the Queen (and a corgi) and Prince William and Kate made completely out of Lego.
After that we went to Green Park on the Underground and Mum went on her own on the Picadilly Line to Knightsbridge to go to Harrods and Dad and I went on the Jubilee Line to Westminster to the Winston Churchill War Rooms. It was great and old. I saw that women had to work at his bunker as well. It has Churchill's bedroom and a kitchen too. It had a special material to keep it safe from bombs. Then Dad and I went on the Underground to South Kensington on the District Line to the London Museum of Natural History. We saw dinosaur bones and big birds as well.
Then we met Mum outside the Museum (she didn't get lost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and went back to Victoria Station and our unit. We had dinner at the Churchill Dining Room at St George Tavern near where we are staying.
Tomorrow we'll get on a Silver Shuttle cab to the airport.

 

An eye on London

We went on the Underground to Westminster on the Jubilee Line for The London Eye. It was great. One rotation takes about one hour. There were lots of people in each carriage. We could see ALL of London except the Tower of London or the Tower Bridge. When we got out of the carrage at the bottom, we saw a guy acting as Charlie Chaplin and a guy acting as a Royal Guard. I gave him one pound and I took photos with him. Then I had a soft serve ice-cream with a flake in it and my parents had flat whites. We then walked past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. We heard an American lady ask a man at a souvenir shop "What do you call that?" and he said "Big Ben" and she said "Oh that's Big Ben" (that's why Nanna does'nt like Americans!). We walked to Westminster Abbey which is where Prince William and Kate got married. Lots of famous people and Monarchs are buried here and an unknown soldier who died in France in World War I got burried in the Nave. We got another audio guide and saw where Henry III, Henry V, Henry VII, Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots were buried.











Riley's Mum here again: We had another wonderful day. It may not seem we accomplish a lot in a day but every attraction takes so much time to see and then there are queues (and security checks) to get through. Think I've said before - there are too many tourists in London! We always get back to our London digs exhaused after our busy day.
I was really impressed by Westminster Abbey. I never comprehended just how big it really is. You see it on the telly for royal funerals and weddings (and take in the grandure and all the bad hats of the congregation) but I never realised there were so many impressive littel chapels branching off the main nave where there are so many burial sites with some beautiful marble sculptures and monuments. The ancient coronation chair is on show too.
Riley loves visiting these places where history comes alive. He clings on to his audio guide taking in all the information. We often lose him and have to back track to find him listening to all the extra commentary. He's been a real trooper and kept up with all the walking without ever complaining. Horrible Histories has given him a real love and understanding of British history that he can't get enough of. It's been a wonderful opportunity to show him things he'll never forget. Concerning though is his claims he will live in London when he's an adult!!
Wishes to all,
Jo XXX

Mum's twenty pounds lighter!!!!

You can tell who won the bet. I got to the centre of the maze five minutes before mum got to the centre. We got the underground from Victoria to Westminster on the District Line then we went on the Jubilee Line from Westminster to Waterloo then we went on the National rail to Hampton Court (that is the name of the train station) so all up it takes about one hour. We got to Hampton Court in sunny weather. It was rrreeeaaalllyyy great. We saw where King Henry XIII lived with all his wives (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived) and his kitchens. Marty would LOVE to have a feast with Henry XIII (lots of meat, no vegetables, no water and lots of beer and wine). William III and Mary II lived there as well (not in the same time period, obviously) We spent ALL day at Hampton Court. At the end of the day, we went to one of Hampton Court's souvenir shops where I bought a Henry XIII teddy bear. We had Indian for dinner.

Hi Riley's Mum here: We are all loving London. Our unit is in such a wonderful location, handy to everything and surprisingly quiet. We do hear the occasional siren and that's about all.

Loved Hampton Court - it took us all day to see everthing. Can't decide which if my favourite - Hampton Court or Blenheim Palace. The artworks and tapestries were amazing in both.

Riley loves the Underground and wants to get down there any chance he gets. He says when he grows up and works in London he will use the Underground every day! It certainly is the way to get around London - the road traffic always gridlocked and the buses crawl along.

Was surprised yesterday when we went down to Buckingham Palace how many people were milling around outside. There are too many tourists in London!

Well the new series of Downton Abbey (ep 2)  is on tonight so will go watch it (eat your heart out, Jen!) Do you want a spoiler?

Love to all

XXX

Tower of London and the Palace

We had not been able to use the wi-fi at our unit until today so I'm behind two days.
Yesterday we went on an open-top double-decker bus on Big Bus Tours around London. We saw Big Ben, the London Eye and we got off at the Tower of London! It was great!!! We saw the Crown Jewels, the torture chamber (with the Rack!) and the White Tower and there was also a tower called the Bloody Tower. We saw all the kings' armoury and even Henry VIII's suit of armour before he got too fat.
We got on the Big Bus Tour again and went to The Thames where we got on a tour boat. There was a funny man on the microphone telling jokes (one of the jokes was "Where was the Bloody Tower? Behind some bloody trees. What a bloody nuisance.'') Then we got on the Big Bus Tour again back to Victoria station and walked home.

The Rack at the torture chamber in the Tower  of
London.

Today, Saturday we walked down to Buckingham Palace. There was SO many people outside the palace!!! We saw the big statue of Queen Victoria in front of the palace. It had lots of gold on top. We went nearby to St James Park and I fed some ducks bread Mum had brought with us. We saw where Prince Charles lives and caught an Underground train from Green Park station to Bond Street to change trains to go to Queensway station. We walked over to Kensington Park where I played in the Princess Diana Memorial Childrens Garden. It was great! A climbed on a pirate's ship and was having lots of fun until I fell down and hurt my right knee. We also saw Princess Diana's old palace where Prince William and baby George are going to live. We did lots of walking today in London parks.
The weather was good but looked like it was going to rain but didn't.

LONDON ROCKS!!!!!

Left Edinburgh for London's Kings Cross Station (Why were kings cross? Maybe their trains were late!). The train trip took 4 hours and 45 minutes. We went on the Underground train to Victoria Station on the Victoria Line. Unfortunately, it was rush hour AND IT WAS PACKED! We walked our way to our unit at 16 Warwick Square Mews without getting lost (my parents are better on foot compared with driving). Our unit has two bedrooms, one bathroom, two toilets, two TVs, one fireplace, one kitchen, one dining room and one lounge room. We are surprised how quiet it is since its in the middle of London. We had dinner at at a Mexican restaurant called Loco Mexecano.

Hi Riley's Mum here: We are on the train heading to London. Lovely weather today. Thanks Scotland for providing clear blue skies as we depart! Sadly our time in Scotland is at an end - it
was all too short.

We are now looking forward to London.  Riley has lots on his list of must-dos for our last week. We are heading for King's Cross station and then we have to find our way to our accommodation at Pimlico. No more hire cars for the Cranstouns - it will be all public transport from here! Will we still manage to get lost??

Don't forget to send Riley a message. He's really keen to hear from his cousins too.

Love Jo

XXX