Reunion with Bluey

Our 2 weeks were over in London and time to farewell Tom and Kristy who we wont see again until January. We had a wonderful time with them and Claire exploring London and seeing where they live and work. We took the underground to the Eurostar terminal at St.Pancras. Thomas met us there for final goodbyes and we had a pleasant trip under the channel to Lille. We had good timing with the Metro to St.Philibert and then the Bus to Houplines followed by a 20min walk to the camp ground. This part of the trip took 1.5 hours. Bluey was in one piece, thank goodness, but we were astounded and disappointed that our bikes had been stolen! Very frustrating... so plans have been put on hold until we have gone go to the police station and chatted with the insurance company tomorrow... we drowned our sorrows with some yummy Belgium chocolates.

Imperial War Museum

We spent the morning back in the Imperial War Museum to finish our visit of the other exhibits. We then finished our day in the Picadilly area and walked through Soho and had a look in the Liberty half-timbered building. After strolling down to Leicester Square we made our way back to Clapham.

Tower Bridge and more London

We came out at Blackfriars station and walked up to Fleet Street named after the river that still flows under the road to the Thames River.

 We continued up Ludgate Hill where the city wall once stood and in Shakedpeare's day there was and entrance called Ludgate. We walked past the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Courts, which has seen many notorious trials. It is on the site of the former Newgate Prison where criminals were executed by hanging. We then came to St.Pauls Cathedral which has the 2nd largest dome in the world (after St.Peter's of Rome). It is also Europe's 4th largest church. It was here that Winston Churchill had his funeral and Prince Charles and Lady Di where married. It is also the resting place of the Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson. Even Christopher Wren who built it is buried here.
Our next stop was at Bank Junction which iscthe financial center of London. We had a peek in the Royal Exchange building before going into the free Bank of England Museum. We learnt the history of bank notes and even got to hold a genuine 13kg gold bar.

After a bite to eat we made our way to  visit the most famous Tower Bridge built in 1894. We walked along the walkways 45m above the Thames and had a look at the original engines that where used to lift the road to enable large boats to pass.

We then walked to Pepys Street in memory of Mark's  father who loved reading Pepys Diary. He lived here and worked in the Naval Office. We visited the church where Pepys was laid to rest. 

We then made our way back towards the Thames and to St.Katharine Docks which offered a nice break from the hussle and bussle.
We then made our way back to Clapham.

Imperial War Museum and Westminster London

London has many free museums and we decided to go to the Imperial War Museum. It opened at 10am and at 12 we were still in the WWI exhibit!

  Then all of a sudden an alarm sounded with an emergency message that we needed to evacuate the building. 

Everyone seemed to make it out into the park but we were soon told to leave as many police cars surrounded the area. Not sure what was happening but we decided to move on and follow a Rick Steves audioguide of London. We learnt a few more interesting facts and discovered some new spots. Then it was back to Clapham.

View of Westminster Parliament and Big Ben.

The London Eye.

The Strand.

The St. Clement Danes Church dedicated to RAF servicemen.

This marks the official entrance to The City.

Dr Johnsons' house where he wrote the first dictionary

Charles Dickens' favorite seat in Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Tavern.

In the crypt of St Bride's church