The Whyte Harte Hotel is very old (but beautifully restored) and is situated the lovely village of Bletchingly. My friend Barb picked me up from the pub where I'm staying and we caught a train from Redhill station into Victoria London station. When we arrived at Victoria we noticed that they charge you 30p to go to the loo there - bit cheeky.

I really felt like stopping and pinching myself - I was really in London with its black Cabs and red Buses. It all seems like a dream - I never thought I would be visiting the UK. That said, the place was full of police - there were armed police at all places of national importance (we're not just talking Glock pistols but sub-machine guns also).

We stopped off at Buckingham Palace - there was something going on at the main gate, lots of armed police with nervous faces - as we stood there a black car drove very quickly through the main gates (it was Prince Andrew, Duke of York). Before you ask for photos, it was either get a blurred photo of a black car or try and ID the person sitting in the back seat - I chose the second.

We walked through St James Park, bought a coffee and played with the friendly squirrels. On the other side of the park we arrived just in time to watch the changing of the guards. There are so many fantastic buildings and statues all over London - feels like you're in a city-sized museum.

In Westminster we saw the Houses of Parliament, including Big Ben. We walked across Westminster Bridge and got a few good shots. We finished the day by visiting Westminster Abbey. It was just amazing how much history lies inside its walls. The recorded tour is very informative. We saw a whole bunch of monarch tombs including Queen Elizabeth the 1st and Mary Queen of Scots. There are also memorials for people such as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare and George Frederic Handel. We also saw the memorial for that great Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Unfortunately you can't take photos inside.

Tomorrow - cute little English villages?