Today was our last day in London. We had all day as our flight wasn't until 10.05 pm. We decided to do a Canal Boat trip, so we caught the bus to Camden Town, as we had heard that there were markets there. The bus trip took us through quite a few London suburbs that we otherwise wouldn't have seen. When we arrived we were amazed at the size and atmosphere of the markets. They go on for ever, and are very different. After wandering around the market, we headed off for our canal boat trip. Our journey was to take us to Little Venice which took about 45 mins. Once at Little Venice we had 11/2 hr before the return trip to Camden Town, so strolled around and then had morning tea in a canal boat that has been made into a Coffee Shop. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and would now more than ever like to have a holiday on the Canals (was one of our original ideas, but there wasn't enough time). It was a really lovely way to spend our last day. Earlier in the day we received a text message from Singapore Airlines, saying that our flight was delayed by 3 hours, luckily I decided to check again later in the afternoon, as it was rescheduled again, this time back to its original time. We were sad leaving London as there was so much more to see and do. We arrived in Singapore at 6.05 pm Monday after about a 13 hour flight, were the temperature was about 29 deg and humid - just a little different to the UK.

Today we started off at the Churchill War Rooms. The rooms are as they were left at the end of the 2nd World War, combined with that is a Museum on the life of Winston Churchill. It is very well done and well worth a visit. It is incredible to think that people actually worked and then slept in the same place for the entirety of the war. When we came out of the War Rooms we were able to see the Household Cavalry pass on the way to their stables as they came back from Buckingham Palace. A little later we saw a troop of Army, Navy and Airforce Cadets march past, with the same precision as the professional soldiers. On to the Royal Mews - when you walk through the gate from the chaos of London into the quadrangle of the Royal Mews the hustle and bustle disappears - it's like a different world. As these are working stables you can see the residences of the people that live here around the quadrangle. Then you see all the magnificent carriages, the last of which is the Carriage used for Coronations....really spectacular. Next stop the London Bus system, which we think we have just about worked out (just as we are about to leave). We got off a bus at St. Paul's and walked across the Millennium Bridge to the Globe Theatre, which is in the round and the centre is open air, as it was in originally - which makes it interesting when in rains for the actors and those standing in the pit. We went on a tour, which was really good, and found ourselves in a rehearsal of McBeth. It would have been great to see a show. Maybe next time!!Back onto a bus and eventually (between the fact that the London Marathon is on tomorrow, so lots of roads are closed and buses are being diverted, and the fact that the Tower Bridge opened), we did a river cruise back to Westminster, which we did last time we were here, but was good to do again, and we needed to sit down for a while. Back onto a bus to Victoria Station, where we had been at least twice before, (which was a good thing) and onto the bus to the home, stopping in at the local for a drink and dinner. John doesn't understand how we went from our English/Irish heritage (with regard to pubs) and got it so wrong!

Today was a big day. It is after 11pm and we have just arrived back at the unit. First thing this morning we caught the bus into the city (as most tube stations have a lot of stairs) and collected our London Passes we then walked from Piccadilly Circus to Leicester Square to the Half Price Ticket Booth, where we purchased tickets for a show. We then caught a bus and got off at St. Paul's Cathedral, where there was a celebration of St. George's Day. We spoke to a policeman, who was riding a 17.3 hands high Shire/Clydesdale cross. St. Paul's is truly amazing. and different from others we have looked at, but then it is only a baby compared to Salisbury, and Notre Dame, as it is only 300 yrs old. Back onto the bus and off to the Tower of London. We had fish and chips here last time, when it was quite cold and windy, and they were really good - so decided to have them again. They were still really good only today it must have been around 20 deg - much more pleasant!! Into the Tower, with all its history, we saw armoury, statues of horses, but to me the most impressive was the Crown Jewels. The largest diamond in the world is here, along with a huge gold punch bowl, that is used at the Coronation. The Coronation Spoon, which of course is patterned gold dates back to the 1200's. There were Beefeaters and people in costume and character wandering around. By this time my knees were feeling all the stairs, so back onto another bus to Trafalgar Square, where we walked to Buckingham Palace.......it didn't seem that far when we looked down the Mall so decided to walk - big mistake, it seemed to go on forever! When we got there, we realised that the Royal Mews is closed on Fridays, !!!!!!so went to the Queen's Gallery and will go back to the Mews tomorrow. We then went for drinks at The Bag of Nails Pub, which is the Queens local - it's right next door!! It was then a reasonably short walk to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to see "Wicked". The show has been running since 2006 and was fantastic, we really enjoyed it (even John did). Since coming home I have been on the Singapore Site and checked in for our flights from London to Singapore on Sunday night - it's hard to believe that our wonderful trip is almost over

We started from Watford with the directions from the Motel and managed to get to the Avis Car Return without taking so much as a wrong turn......we had thought it would be difficult, as Heathrow Airport is so big. After dropping the car, we went to the Singapore terminal to get an update for our flight on Sunday night, and were told that as our seats are confirmed we don't have a problem. We then got a little black London Taxi to our apartment near Paddington. After we settled in, we decided to go to Portobello Road, and wandered among the antique shops and looked at things we either couldn't afford, or couldn't have because they weighed too much. We stopped for a beer and Pimms and Lemonade in the Duke of Wellington Pub and then caught the tub into town to Harrods. We decided that we would cook our own dinner tonight, as we needed a break from pub food, so got some lamb & salad, and of course some red wine and had a relaxing night, reminiscing over some of our photos so far. Booked our London Pass tickets for tomorrow and then I chatted to Sue on Skype for about 1/2 hr

We had a busy and interesting day today, which started in Salisbury. After wandering around this Medieval City drinking hot chocolate and eating sausage rolls, we went in the direction of the Cathederal. We did a guided tour of the Cathedral, which took longer than we thought it would, but was well worth it. It is a really amazing Cathedral, quite different from some of the others we have seen. From here we drove for about 30 mins to Winchester Cathedral to find a small exhibition on Jane Austen. We were not aware that she actually died in Winchester and is buried under the floor of the Cathedral. She was only 41 when she died. After having a what we would call a Devonshire Tea (scones,jam & cream), here it is called a Cream Tea, we walked through some parts of Winchester and found the Great Hall, which has the Round Table (King Arthur) hanging on the wall. John didn't believe that it existed, but then he doesn't believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, or Robin Hood - how silly is he!!!!Anyway, again after spending more time than we thought, we set off for Windsor Castle....only to get there just as it closed. We are hoping to do a day trip from London back to the castle. It is so impressive to see as you drive around. Today the Queen must have been there as the Royal Standard was flying. Tomorrow we have to return the car to Heathrow, and make our way to Maida Vale, near Paddington, where we will be located for our last 3 nights in London - we think!!. Planes have started flying here, but who knows what the backlog of passengers is. ??????

We didn't travel as many miles today as we have over recent days, but nevertheless our day was still full. On leaving Stroud we took the back roads all the way to Bath, which once again meant that we saw some spectacular scenery. As we drove into Bath, I saw the Jane Austen Centre, so we spent some time there at the exhibition. We the walked around the town, checked out some of the housing prices, and decided that we couldn't afford to live there !! Some of the properties were 1,800,000 GBP - they must be really special. From Bath we drove to Avebury, which is a 5,000 year old megalithlic site, similar to Stonehenge, but a village has been built around Avebury. Next stop was Stonehenge which is really amazing. To think that these huge stones were moved with only man power!!! Our last stop for today is Salisbury, where we are staying in a Tudor Style Hotel which was built in 1220 and is thought to be the oldest purpose built hotel in Europe and possibly the world. On a different note, the Volcanic Ash which has grounded all flights into and out of the UK and Europe is hopefully getting better as British Airways and some Irish Airlines allowed some planes to take off from 1pm today. However, it is possible that they will stop again at midnight. I guess all we can do is wait and see what happens over the next couple of days.

Today we continued our drive through Wales, and found some of the smallest roads we have come across. We started off at Cardiff harbour, which seemed at lot more modern than other cities. Up through the hills and across to Stroud. We spent the afternoon walking around the township, mainly in search of a Thimble for my collection.....but there wasn't one to be found. We had dinner at the hotel, and spent the night talking to a fellow from Cambridge. We are heading towards Bath and Stonehenge tomorrow