We awoke to a bright, warm and sunny day for our final day of sightseeing in London. It was a 15 minute walk to the Gatwick airport train station, where we took the Gatwick express for the 30 minute train ride into London. Because it was Sunday morning, the train was almost empty (unlike our previous trip).
After arriving at Victoria Station, we found the tourist information office and picked up tickets for "the original" hop on hop off bus tour.
First hop off was at Buckingham Palace (see pic). Unfortunately for us, preparations were being made for the Queen's Jubilee celebrations next weekend, so the whole area in front of the palace was barricaded and a construction zone, with a huge stage and bleachers being erected. Not nearly
as picturesque as I remembered it from my last visit.
Next stop was the London Eye, which normally has 2 hour long queues for the ride, but we got lucky and only waited about 20 minutes. It was a beautiful clear day and the views on the way up and down were fantastic.
From there we took the river cruise which was included in our hop on hop off ticket, and decided to take it all the way to Greenwich, a trip of more than two hours there and back. We got off in Greenwich and explored the area a bit, which seemed to be wall to wall with people, tourists and locals, enjoying the great weather. We ended up having fish and chips with mushy peas for lunch on the upper floor of a very nice English pub. From there we got back on the boat for the ride back to Westminster Pier, where we once again hopped on the bus. A few stops later we were near Westminster Abbey, just in time for the 30 minute organ concert at
5:45. We definitely enjoyed the two Bach pieces a lot more than the two 20th century pieces by French composers -- seems to be a recurring theme!
Back on the bus once more and then it was time to look for a place for dinner. We ended up in the West end theatre district near Chinatown. There were a lot of ethnic restaurant choices and a lot of people on the streets. We found a nice Italian place for dinner. By the time we finished dinner, the hop on hop off bus was no longer running so we took a cab to Victoria station. We got our Oyster card refunds and took the Gatwick Express one more time back to the hotel.
Another wonderful day, especially with such great weather in London. But tomorrow we fly to Edmonton and our our Europe 2012 trip will be over, at least for Sherry and me, so this will be my last post. Ron and Evelyn will be spending another couple of days in Edmonton before flying home to Kelowna.