DAY 22

Saturday 12th July 2008 8:07am London

Yesterday there was lots of kissing and hugging as our group parted probably never to see each other again.

Our room at the Hotel Olympia is a nicer one that our previous one at the beginning of our tour. This one looks out onto Kensington High Street.

After a quick change we met Trevor and Jacqui then walked to Kensington High Street station as soft rain fell upon the Friday night crowds. We negotiated the London Tube changing once to arrive at Piccadilly Circus. These trains really feel like a tube and are much smaller in diameter that the Melbourne trains.

We lined up for half price tickets and bought tickets to see Buddy for £29.60 each. We then found a small Indian restaurant where we enjoyed some lovely curries, although I found it hard to choose when faced with a menu with so many choices. Inside a small intimate theatre we took our seats near the front. It was a fast-paced and energetic show. The performers obviously enjoying the enthusiastic involvement of the crowd and this resulted in a fun happy event.

Out into the night we followed the happy theatre-goers and found our way back to our hotel using the Tube again. We slept well and woke at 6am with no wake-up call or schedule to meet.

12/7/08 3:24pm London

I am sitting on the window ledge in our hotel room on the 5th floor overlooking Kensington High Street. Below me the busy Saturday afternoon traffic streams back and forth. Frequent sirens from police, ambulance and fire trucks punctuate the steady hum.

This morning we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and then walked to the nearest tube station where we bought an all-day bus pass for £3.50 each. We spent a while trying to decipher the maps to work out which bus to get on. I wanted to visit the British museum and didn’t know which bus stop was closest, so we got off at Piccadilly Circus then walked. At 9:15am the footpaths were very quiet and the shops not yet open. It was quite cool and we hadn’t worn jackets.

Eventually we found the back entrance of the British Museum and went in. There were some amazing ancient artifacts beautifully displayed. I had wanted to see the architecture of the domed reading room and I found the space of the Great Hall to be light, spacious and modern. We looked at the Egyptian mummies, the Rosetta stone and other awesome sculptures, statues, and artifacts from the ancient Egyptians.

By this time tour groups were beginning to thicken. We left and I had to buy a cardigan to keep warm on this grey cool English day.

As we wandered along past Leicester Square to Trafalgar Square the pedestrians were everywhere clogging up the paths. Red double-decker buses followed each other closely and taxis wove in and out.

We visited the Art Gallery at Trafalgar Square to see a wonderful collection of original paintings by Van Gogh, Turner, Monet, Renoir, and more.

For lunch we went into a typical London pub and had fish and chips with a glass of Guinness. We then threaded our way through the people and traffic at Trafalgar Square to try to find the right station. It was crowded so we sat on the upper level looking down on the Saturday shoppers, passing familiar landmarks along the route to our hotel.

Michael is asleep and I have checked our pickup time for tomorrow’s trip to the airport and the long flight home to Australia. I have unpacked and repacked all my things and I can’t seem to find the airport parking ticket for Melbourne airport. I’m not sure how they deal with that and I hope they don’t add too much of a fee to our bill.

I really like London, or at least the parts I’ve seen. It did get a bit too busy today but it is Saturday and summer and their holidays are about to begin.

It is strange how I can see myself and my family in the people here. My ancestry is obviously here and I feel at home. It is nice to be able to converse with the waiters and shop keepers in English. I wonder if my accent is very noticeable to them. Australians seem to be well liked wherever we went. We are a bit of a novelty and generally people don’t seem to know much about us.

12/7/08 9:22pm London

We slept until after 6pm then walked back along Kensington High Street where all the shops were still open and shoppers making the most of the Summer Sales. We found an internet café where we checked our emails and Greg’s football results. The Kangaroos beat Power by only 2 points. Greg kicked the first goal and his stats were good.

We walked through the lovely grounds at Holland Park looking for squirrels in the twilight but saw only one.

We had dinner back at the hotel in the Plum Bar eating a Hilton Burger and a Stella beer. Not many customers were there so the waiters kept coming and attending to us.

Michael has repacked his bag ready for our flight tomorrow. We will have an early night to be up at 6am tomorrow. Our flight leaves at 12:20pm but our car service picks us up at 8:20am.