Last Day of our London Pass

It felt a bit like Chevy Chase's European Vacation today, we covered quite a bit of ground and took in several of the big sights that were still on our list.  First stop was the Tower of London:

Gold weather vane

The Queen's Crown and all the fancy jewels are kept here but they don't allow photos.  Pretty over the top items in there!

 Westminster Abbey where the Royal weddings, baptisms and coronations take place.

Emblem in the cobblestones in front of Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace 

After that it was time to go to  Harrod's Department store, the high end designer  merchandise they sell was still selling despite the high prices, it was a very interesting place to see.

 We stopped for a bottle of Harrod's own lager at the little bistro they have overlooking a deli section. Check out the chandeliers...

   

And that was another full day being a tourist in London, now we have three days of hopefully getting in to see some tennis at Wimbledon!

The London Zoo

Perfect day to visit the zoo so off we went, and after checking out their map we began our tour.  There's some great exhibits and seemed very well laid out, and although it's so old that the Queen used to come here as a child it's very good.

Pygmy hippo

The lemurs were in a walk through exhibit so the pathway took you right inside their habitat, with just a short chain keeping you from reaching over to try and touch them.  

Blue throated macaws make a lot of noise.

Pelican lagoon - they were interesting to watch as they ate the grass. 

The butterfly exhibit was another walk through, this blue one really liked Ted's shirt which was blue as well.

Nectar sipping station

Believe it or not I decided to take a look inside the walk through spider exhibit but once in the automatic door closed and I had to walk all the way through!

This one was behind glass though, thank goodness.

Hyde Park

'Speaker's Corner' at Hyde Park was on our list of places we definitely wanted to go to while we're here in London, and we were hoping to see Jay Smith who is a regular speaker there.  It's a place where anyone can go and stand up on a chair, step ladder etc. and speak on whatever topic they wish.  There is a lot of debating and interaction with the crowd who gather around to listen, and of course there are those there who merely want to stir the pot at each speaker's gathering spot no matter what the topic.

Topics ranged from religion, recent political events, and environmental issues.

Christian speakers

Muslim speakers

And on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Hyde Park you can also just take a picnic and enjoy the day.

Windsor Castle

We got on the train and went just one stop down the tracks and we arrived at Windsor where the Queen spends her weekends, she calls it 'home' and Buckingham Palace the 'office'.  The quaint feel of the little town that you get once you leave the train station makes her sentiment understandable when you compare it to the hustle and bustle of London.

Unfortunately no photos are allowed to be taken inside the castle, but it was beautiful.

The guards work two hours at a stretch, on and off two hours at a time for 24 hours.

These were embedded on the cobblestone path just outside the castle where there's numerous cafes, pubs, and tourist shops.

I found my shop!

The lawns all around the castle and area are all immaculately kept.

Tomorrow we are planning to head back into the centre of London for another full day of sightseeing, and back on the Hop On, Hop Off bus!

The Boodles

Today was our day at The Boodles tennis tournament at Stoke Park, a warm up for Wimbledon so players can practice on the grass courts.  We started out warm and sunny, experienced intermittent showers, an actual downpour and then it totally cleared up and got warm again.  The weather here changes very quickly, which is a good thing for tennis matches.

The venue is beautiful

We arrived early so we could scope out the place and watch the players warm up.

Cigar girl!

We had no idea what Pimms is, so we ordered a jug and found out it's the English's sangria. 

Action shot on the court

London

Once we arrived in London we began the business of figuring out how to get out to Slough Station area which is where we're going to be staying for our first five nights.

Paddington Station - where there's a stand that sells Paddington Bears.

Huge sign boards to figure out which platform you need to be on. Not so straight forward!

We eventually got to our hotel where we relaxed for the rest of the day, then woke up to tackle it again in the morning.

 We bought a London Pass which gives entrance to about sixty popular sights and activities here so we started off with a Hop On, Hop Off ride around the centre of London.  Great way to see things and we had a live guide aboard who pointed out the sights as we came to them.

             Tower Bridge was busy with both cars and people, as well as a few buskers.

The river cruise down the Thames was pretty good too but it had rained so sat inside this time.

Big Ben - which is actually the name of the bell inside the tower, not the tower itself.

Teo to Santiago de Compostela

Our third and final day of our walking adventure did not disappoint, the sun shone and we saw some interesting sights along the way.  And it amazes me  how many people have roosters that crow in the morning, we heard a lot.

Monday morning wash day - not quite like at home. 

There are lots of little places in the small hamlets that make you shake your head in disbelief that people still live in them.  This one though looked like it could be a possible fixer-upper!  What do you think Shirl??

Fresh bread is left hanging on your gate or door in the morning, I like that idea.

We enter the old town area of Santiago de Compostela just after noon.  We had hoped to get to the Cathedral by 12:00 for the service but about one kilometer away from it I stumbled and did a major toe stub!  And I was wearing open toed walking sandals - not a smart choice.  Anyways I managed to hobble in, aided by a nice walking stick that a young man came over and gave me when he saw what happened.

The old historic area is a labyrinth of narrow streets, tons of little cafes, bars, tapa places and souvenier shops. 

This building is opposite the cathedral in the main square.

The cathedral is being cleaned up so there's lots of scaffolding on it unfortunately.  We went inside and there was lots to take in even though we didn't see an actual service. 

We arrive at our destination, the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral!