17th June - Another trip into London

We still had time left onour City Bus tour tickets from the day before, so we decided to use this on the river boat.  We caught a train from Abbey Wood to Greenwich, where you could pick up the River boat.
We were disappointed with Greenwich as the Cutty Sark was being restored and not on view so we did not stay long, just whilst we waiting for the boat to turn up.

 Views of the Attractions from the boat

We took the boat to Westminster bridge
 

 

From the boat we walked through Westminster and stopped for lunch in Little Frankies and then headed to Covent Garden, where they were cooking Paella but as we had already eaten we did not partake.

We enjoyed the entertainment

very funny singer

and had a mosie round the shops before heading back to Trafalgar Square, where West End Live was taking place for the weekend. 

We stopped for a short while but the rain was heavy, so we dived into the Cafe in the Crypt for afternoon tea before catching the train back to Abbey Wood.

16th June - Abbey Wood to the City of London

We had a good nights sleep and woke with a spring in our step to find out what lay ahead in London.

We headed to the information hut where we found a wealth of information on the local area and also how to get to the city and what to do once there.

We decided to go into the City by train, Abbey Wood station was a 15 minute walk away and the trains to Charing Cross were almost every 5 minute at a cost of £7.50 each return. Within an hour we were in Trafalgar Square deciding what to do next. It had started to rain but this did not deter us. We had Tesco rewards for the City Bus tour so found the city bus office and exchanged our vouchers for 2 tickets (saving £45). This included a hop and hop off bus and river cruise and we could use this within 24 hours. We then hopped on an open top bus and found that although it was open top there were seats at the front that were covered from the rain. We settled down for the tour and it wasnt long before it stopped raining. We just had to wait for the seats to dry so that we could move back and be in the open air. 

 

Tower of London


 



Big Ben and Houses of Parliament



Marble Arch



We stayed on the bus for the whole tour and then jumped off on the 2nd time round at the London Eye. We were hungry so went looking for something to eat. We found a great Noodle Bar where they cooked noodles with a choice off meat, veg and sauce. Billy was in his element!

After the visit to the Noodle bar we headed off to exchange our Tesco Rewards for tickets on the London Eye.

First we were taken into the 4D experience and then on to the Eye and into the pod.



Buckingham Palace


fter alighting from the Eye we then walked back across Westminster Bridge

Once across the bridge we wandered around Westminster taking in the sights


Westminster Abbey










Buckingham Palace






 

Horseguards



Women of War Memorial



Cenataph

 We ended up in the Spaghetti House by Trafalgar Square for a meal on Tesco vouchers.  We will not be wasting our Tesco vouchers at the Spaghetti house again!!

 
Then we made our way back to Charing Cross and caught the train back to Abbey Wood.

15th June - Cardiff to Nottingham to London

After a good nights sleep we had breakfast and packed up, the weather forecast was not good.  We had a brain storming session.  Was it a good idea to go to London in bad weather?  We decided to head for Northumberland to visit family.  We cancelled our booking in London and drove back to the M5 and across the M42/A42 to Nottingham, where we stopped for in the Service Station for a cuppa still chewing over if we were doing the right thing.  We were going to surprise the family in Northumberland so no-one knew we were on the way.  

Dilema, dilema. Our visit to London had been planned for sometime, we had visited many European cities in the past but had never really done our own capital.  We had also cashed in our Tesco rewards for vouchers to use on attractions in London but here we were on the M1 going North. In the end we decided not to worry about the weather and continue with our original plans to go to London.  Mad I know.  We phoned the site where we had cancelled the booking and luckily they still had our pitch.  We turned round and drove down to London from Nottingham, arriving at Abbey Wood Caravan Club site just as they were closing the gate at 8pm.

The wardens were really helpful.  Despite it being closing time on the site, they still took time to welcome us and give us a quick site induction.  They showed us the information hut where we could find out local info.  They even let us know that we could have a nice take away delivered to the site .
We parked up and ordered an Indian take away which was delivered in double quick time and tasted delicious.

14th June - Take That and Pet Shop Boys

We decided to leave early to get to the Millenium Stadium even though it was only a short walk from the site. It was a lovely evening and we enjoyed the walk.

 We arrived at the Stadium in plenty of time to go to the bar before taking our seats and watching the stadium fill up.

 

First on the stage were the Pet Shop Boys, they were very good.

Then came the Take That Boys who were brilliant.

And then came Robbie who had his own spot and was as good as ever.

After the gig we followed the crowd and made out way back to the campervan.  We were back at the van in 20 minutes and avoided all the queues trying to get out of the city.