Friday 30^th September 2016

Up at 6:30am this morning, as we needed to have breakfast and catch the tube to St Pancras Station for our tip to Dover.

Weather is expected to be fine but cool with 18°.

Caught the tube from Lancaster Gate at 8:30am then changed at Oxford Circus to the Victoria line for the tip to St Pancras.

We boarded the Javelin Train (Very fast trail) at 9:37am and disembarked at Folkestone Central at 10:50am and got a taxi to Dover Castle. The Taxi driver asked why we got off at Folkstone. When we told him we had been told the rail line to Dover Priory was out of service due to a storm washing away part of the rail bed. He said it was reopened about a month ago.

Dover Castle is fantasticly preserved. Henry II built the tower in 1180’s. His son’s King John and Richard The Lionhart added to the castle, which was completed by King John’s son Henry III. There is an intact Roman light house in the grounds.

Herny VIII also used the castle.

The castle sits at the top of the White Cliffs of Dover and there is an extensive tunnel system through the cliffs dating back to Napoleonic times. Most recently the tunnels were used during the cold war to as a bomb shelter for the British Government in the event of a nuclear attack.

We did the tour of the WWII tunnels and saw an audio visual display of how the evacuation of Dunkirk was planned and managed which saw 345,000 Allied soldiers evacuated.

AS it was starting to rain we had lunch in the café at the Castle. The rain stopped just as we were finishing lunch so we climber to the top of the Castle Tower where the views were excellent and we got a great view of the “White Cliffs”. As the cloud also cleared we were able to see across the 21 of the English Chanel to The coast of France.

The castle also has a lovely Church, which dated to the Saxon times, and is the finest preserved Saxon church in Kent.

The church continues to be used for worship today. During WWII services were actually conducted during air raids.

We finished at 4:00pm and walked into Dover. On the way I saw a barbershop so stopped and got my hair cut.

When we got to Dover Priory Railway station we bought an extension ticket which so we would not have to go back to Folkestone. The train left Dover and arrived in St Pancras at 6:00pm.

We hopped on the tube back to Lancaster Gate and had dinner at the Swan Inn, Steak & ale pie and a pint of ale for me. Lynne had fish & chips and a glass of wine.

All up we walked 10.5klm’s today so did not feel guilty about the chips.

The Javelin

White Cliffs of Dover

Dover Castle

Dover Harbour from top of the Castle

At the top of the Castle Tower

Dover Harbour

Queen of The Castle

Roman Lighthouse

French Coast line from top of the Castle Tower

Thursday 29^th September 2016

Weather today is expected a cooler 18° and rain this morning.

We had breakfast at 8:30am and then set off for another day of sight seeing.

Left the hotel and walked to Paddington Station to buy tickets to Liverpool for Saturday morning. Also got tickets to Dover for tomorrow to see Dover Castle. While we were there we found Paddington Bear and bought a Paddington Bear for Zac. Also did some shopping in Oxford Street.

Back on the tube to Green Park to look for Lynne’s British Bull Dog Walking stick in Jermyn Street. Unfortunately there weren’t any. Had lunch in the Richou Café again then walked to down to see St James Palace, which was built by Henry VIII and used, as the Royal Palace until Buckingham Palace became the Royal Residence in London. Also got a fleeting glimpse Clarence House where the Queen Mother lived. Prince Charles and Camilla now live there.

We have walked 5.5klm’s so far today so it was time to head back to the hotel to rest our feet and have a well earned cuppa.

The plan is to go to the Mitre Pub just round the corner from the hotel for dinner. They serve great food and have some great dark beers.

Paddington Station

Paddington at Paddington with Paddington

St James Palace Gate House

St JamesPalace

Wednesday 28^th September 2016

Up at 7:30am again today and as usual had breakfast 8:30am.

Weather was clear blue sky no wind and expected maximum of 22°.

Heather & Michael left today to travel to Guilford to visit Sam’s (Nikki’s partner) parents. They will be back in London on Saturday.

After doing some washing we jumped on the tube and went to St Peter’s Church in Eaton where Desmond was the Vicar from 1976 to 2006. Next was a walk to the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral.

By now it was well after 1:00pm so we had lunch as t café near the Royal Mews before purchasing tickets for the 3:15pm tour of Buckingham Palace State Rooms. The Palace is, as you would expect very grand and there was a display of many of the Queen’s dresses & hats in the Ball Room. Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside the Palace. At the conclusion of our tour we had afternoon tea at the Buckingham Palace tearoom overlooking the lawn.

By now it was 5:45pm so we headed back to our hotel via the Swan Pub for dinner.

St Peter's Eaton Square

Westminster Cathedral

Coach leaving Buckingham Palace

Lynne at the Palace

On the steps to the lawn

Buckingham Palace Lawn

Afternoon Tea at Buckingham Palace

Tuesday 27^th September 2016

Another reasonably early start again this morning (7:30pm), breakfast at 9:00am and onto the site seeing trail at 9:30am.

Weather today was similar to yesterday, a little overcast. Predicted maximum of 22°.

Caught the tube to Bond street and walked along part of Oxford street going into Selfridges and Marks & Spencer to do a bit window shopping and bought some Aussie wine, specialty English tea and biscuits to take to Desmond & Alan’s this evening.

With the shopping done we got the tube to the Burlington Arcade and had lunch at the Richou restaurant directly opposite the Arcade.

While in the Arcade I found a 1954 Rolex watch which was very nice until I asked the price, £8,290.00 or $16,500. Needless to say it is still in the shop.

We returned to the hotel via the tube and changed as we had been invited to dinner with Desmond & Alan at their apartment in Hendon.

We caught the tube to Colindale on the northern line where Alan picked us up.

We ha a delightful evening and a beautiful meal cooked by Desmond which included Christmas pudding with brandy butter. The dinner table was set with crystal wine classed and 300 year old silver cutlery which had been presented to Desmond by the parish of St Peters in Eaton when he retired in 2006.

After an excellent evening chatting with these two very knowledgeable gentlemen who have mixed with all levels of society including Princess Margret and the Duchess of Kent, we returned back to our hotel at 11:00pm.