Monday 12 April 2010

Walking round London

Hope everyone had a good weekend - ours was spent walking round London, being tourists!  My brother had treated me (us) to a weekend away (a birthday present for my impending ssshhhh 40th....).

We stayed in Westminster and managed to park on the road for free which was fortunate - a bonus at the weekend.  It was a great location as we were obviously near Big Ben, Houses of Parliment etc.  Our first stop was to walk across into Lamberth to visit the Imperial War Museum.


I remember going there as a child as my brother was interested in 'all of that' and I found it incredibly tedious.  My view now, as an adult is completely different.  The boys were in their element and they took lots of photo's.  My photo's were all of the 'impact the war had on children' exhibition.  The exhibits were wonderful.  It really makes you realise how difficult it was for children to be sent away - maybe to never see their parents' again. Here's a snapshot.





Next was a trip on the tube - a first for the boys, to Covent Garden and the Transport Museum.  Again, my love for nostalgia is reflected in my photo's.




Then, a hop on the bus, back to the hotel to freshen up, then onto Tate Britain which was 5 minutes walk from the hotel.  It's great that there are so many free admission places to visit, you then don't feel you have to stay for too long.

Yesterday saw us up nice and early, back on foot to walk along the Embankment, past the London Eye to catch another form of transport - a boat called the Clipper, to take us to The Tower of London.  It's a great form of transport as it was quick, spacious and you get to see lots of landmarks.  As we had travel cards for the tube and bus, it also entitled us to discount on the boat too!  One to remember.



The Tower of London was wonderful, but extremely busy even at 10.30 on a Sunday morning.  You really felt like you were walking back in time walking through the towers.  The vault where the crown jewels are kept was a real priviledge to see.  I can understand why it's one of London's most popular attractions.



Another walk, towards the City where we saw 'Spooks' being filmed down a side street. We weren't allowed to hang around unfortunately due to some burly men looking rather imposing.

A spot of shopping, then back to Westminster, in the car to come home.  Worn out, but what a great time we had.  It was lovely being tourists just for the weekend!

7 comments:

Marigold Jam said...

What a great birthday present! Sounds as if you had a really good time and with the weather being dry and bright it must have been extra nice!

Jane

Annie said...

Sounds like great fun, I am off to London for my daughter's birthday later in the week. The Imperial War museum looks fascinating, it's one I haven't visited. I love the transport museum and have some of the posters I bought from there framed around the house.
Ann x

Em said...

What a lovely weekend..x

...Nina Nixon... said...

A great weekend and I love London to visit though with three little ones it's only been the once so far in about 'ooooooo' ten years!!

Enjoy your day,

Nina xxx

Country Style Living said...

Looks a lovely weekend. Thanks for some great photo's and idea's. We hope to visit this year with our son, show him the sights etc...

Victoria - Florence and Mary said...

I work just around the corner from TOL and love to pop over there in my lunch break. It’s beautiful when the sun is shining.

Victoria xx

Josie-Mary said...

Sounds like a great weekend :)