have just landed in Singapore and free access to the net - what a wonderfully civilised country it is! What thieving sods the English turned out to be - the prices I saw were 1 pound per 10 mins at the airport and environs that means it would cost on average $10 - $15 per email. Anyhoo see how quick it is to catching the whining heh heh. Had a great last couple of days. Set out with a vengence the second day armed with map and underground map. First stop was British Museum - my mission was to see the Egyptian bit and it was brilliant - lots of mummies and information. Also checked out the Elgin marbles and other bits that belonged to what we had seen in Mycenae, Rome and Athens. Also checked out some of the Assyrian remains which were awesome. Dinosaurs were next so after two changes on the underground and a pass through Tesco's for lunch to go, Angela and her daughter and I had lunch on the grass next to the Natural (cant think of the next bit) museum. The building is absolutely a work of art, a goldy coloured brick with a bluey brick and gothic as. We walked into the museum and hello, there was a dinosaur (bones) right there. How amazing it was to see the remains of many a dinosaur which felt like looking at old friends (read into that what you may LOL). The Big disappointment was that some of the remains were fake, - copies of the real thing!. In saying that the bit I did like was the fake tyranasaurus rex who growled a lot and moved with not quite snapping jaws. Took video with sound effects of that. I wonder have my senses become a trifle dulled after watching Lord of the Rings etc and Jurassic Park when the fake looks better than you imagine the real thing. Did a quick burst through the mammel section where an extremely tired bunch of stuffed animals lurked. There were signs apologising for the tired looking beasts saying they had been collected back in the day and in the spirit of conservation, no new animals were being killed for the exhibition. I thought someone could be a bit proactive and have likely to die zoo animals on a data base but guess there is a whole other slew of regs re getting dead, stuffed animals across the world. The newest member of the clan seemed to be chi chi who died in the late 90's from memory. It was about 3.30pm after my whistle stop tour of the bits I wanted to see and then another couple of changes of line on the underground back across the city and off I went to St Paul's in time for a sung Evensong at 5.00pm. Was impressed to see they have the candle burning thing going in the cathedral and even more impressed that the Anglicans only want 30p per candle ....... St Paul's was amazing, what I could see of it. I got to sit up the front on the right hand side with a good view of the choir stalls and main alter. On the dot of 5pm a woman in church robes walked out in front of a troop of small boys in choir robes, followed by a male choir suitably dressed. The acoustics were fantastic and the sound wonderful as the choir sang most of the evensong. We had a hymn at the end to join in with and we got music to read with the words so was able to join in as it was an unfamiliar hymn. The format of the magnificat and the nunc dimittis was not the one I had sung back in the day but it was still great to be at an Evensong, in ST PAULS in London! Whilst I was dashing hither and yon on the underground I noticed the the National Art Gallery was open until 9pm that night so making an executive decision I headed back across town again to go there. All the museums were free and I had an all day pass on the train so really got my monies worth that day. I walked into the first room of the museum and OMG - in the front of me was Pablo Picasso's child with the dove, next to it was Van Gogh's chair with his pipe on it and next to that was the sunflowers. I have to say a small squeak did emit from moi as it took me completely by surprise but it just got better and better. Half the museum was closed but belted around what was open. In the first room there was Toulouse Lautrec, Monet, Degas, Gaugin ... I seemed to have stumbled on a huge impressionist collection - a couple of which I am sure came out to NZ in one exhibition or another. Also got to see the Haywain by Constable and more. I saw the 1963 and 1962 Christmas stamp nativity scenes and there were many paintings there that were similar or by the same painters that were in the Louvre. As I had done the last two things on my own and it was heading towards 9pm I decided to go straight back to the hotel. Checked in with the few that were up - no one had missed me so all was good.
Thursday we were off by bus to Windsor Castle and Oxford. I had at one stage thought that I might give that a miss and carry on see some other things but didnt and for that I am really glad. Windsor Castle and the St George Chapel were absolutely amazing, and beyond anything I expected. We arrived as they were changing the guard which is done with full brass band and the sound of that ringing across the courtyard and seeing the guards changing with bellowing commands put hairs up the back of my neck. I have trillions of this bit on video as I thought Noel would like to hear the band. St George Chapel was smaller than I thought with all the Knights of the Garter's seats and coats of arms around the walls. Sir Edmund Hillary's is there. I think the Albert chapel that is the family private chapel is even more breath taking but will have to find pictures to explain all this. From there were went up the the castle and got to see the Dolls House made to scale with real paintings and real silverware etc that wasnt a dolls house that was played with but a tribute to Queen ? as a gift (am typing to fast and without my notes for complete detail). We then moved into the family apartments that are open to the public. How wierd it was to walk through places again that had some familiarity. We saw the hall that had been burnt in the fire back in the 90's and the wonderful restoration that has taken place. What stopped me in my tracks here and made the whole trip to the castle such a bonus were the real paintings of Queen Mary, Elizabeth I, and Edward in the Queens apartments. It was incredibly moving to stand there and look at them, and to see the real of what I had only ever seen as pictures in a book - mind you the whole trip has been like that. The village around the castle is amazing and of course there is the tourist element and good on them but as I walked round the road around the castle, I was aware the last time I had seen the castle was for the Queen Mother's funeral. A quick stop for a drink and the loo and off we went to Oxford which was a good hour from memory. There had been an accident on the other side of the road about 10 mins into our trip - noticed first by one of the Dad's as there was no traffic on the other side of the road, and then an ambulance zooming along our road on the outside lane for that sort of purpose. I have never seen a traffic jam like it on the other side. There was no gory bits thank goodness by the time we reached the site which took about 10 - 15 mins but meanwhile two unmarked police cars had hooped past on the opposite side of the road and two trucks towing a crumpled van and other scene info had gone back also. If you can imagine traffic stopped from Drury to about Otahuhu/Mt Wellington if not a bit further - that is how long it was. Guys in trucks had pulled their curtains and were having a kip and there were people out of their cars having conversations with one another. We had a guide to take us through Windsor Castle and she came to Oxford with us and was very good. We got dropped off outside of the Randolf Hotel and walked into and around the colleges. What a fascinating place and again the history is very interesting. We got to walk around Christ College on the outside but the biggest disappointment of the day was that we were not allowed inside to see the campus (of Morse fame and Harry Potter for the dining room) The very Porter type person who Morse always checks in with stopped some other tourists before us from entering the gates!!!! A bitter blow indeed but I did get some photos from the back through a fence. Had a cornish pasty whilst walking around and nachos in a little cafe down a side street as we did not head back to Heathrow until 7.340pm.
Managed to get hold of Phil and Kath that night by phone after a huge rigmarole with a person at the front desk which meant going up and down to my room in the lift 3 times. They were to arrive the next morning at 7.30am!!!!
By 8am they had not showed so went and had breakfast and they walked in about 15 mins later .. they had been driving around Heathrow trying to find access to the hotel. They had already checked in so after a quick catch up and waiting until 9.30am for the cheap train ticket for the day off we set. They had booked tickets on the London Eye and a river cruise. I had been dubious about the Eye after Paris thinking I'm not sure whether I am ready for this but it couldnt have been more different. After getting the physical tickets in Kath's hands (best loos here yet, a hand dryer that is exceptionally space age!) we formed a very small queue and we were on. You hope into something that looks like a pod, the only nerve wracking bit is that it never quite stops either getting on or off. There is a seat which I firmly settled on to start of with, however you move so gradually around I gained courage and got to the handrails on the side for better views. Kath had got a 360 degree view of London with all the monuments depicted and there to the West was the power station used on the Pink Floyd cover. I would not hesitate to recommend this attraction to anyone who has not tried it - it was wonderful. There was a pause after that before the river cruise so wandered along the water front and looked at the Dali sculptures (as you do) - another famous one with the bent watch that was on an Underdogs LP cover in the late 60's I feel but also on another one that I could not remember who the group was. The building where we got tickets also has a cinema and there was a very realistic looking 007 in the foyer, (Pierce Brosnon) and there were life size figures of storm troopers from Star Wars outside the theatre. Phil saw Darth Vader wandering amongst the crowd but I missed that. What I did see was a host of people as statues along the waterfront or busking playing instruments. The whole water front had a very festive feel. Going on the Thames in the river boat was brilliant. Although it was a motorised boat and going at a reasonable clip I could imagine what it must have been like going up to the Tower of London (where we turned around). I imagine it would have been considerably worse as it would have drawn out the time before the portcullis on the moat closed behind you. We walked towards the Tower after the cruise and had lunch at a cafe along the way - beer battered fish, chips and mushy peas - very yum. We didnt get to the pub that was in the Tom Cruise Mission impossible movie as we were too hungry to go any further as it was about 2pm. We walked on to St Pauls and caught a train to the Tower which meant crossing three lines which took miles of walking and there we were walking towards Traitors gate which you have to enter by. Straight away to your right is the archway that the boats used to come right into back in the day. The English appear to have been a smaller race back then as the rooms are tiny (as was the suits of armour in Windsor and at the Tower). It was very claustrophobic walking up some of the turrets and into the rooms that previous captives had been held in. Sir Walter Raleigh's room still had furniture in which was interesting to see. We saw the rack and a couple of other instruments of torture - not a fun place at all. The place where the scaffold stood is now a green lawn and hard to imagine that such grusome things occurred there with the sun shining and flowers about. What blew me away here was seeing the crown jewels - this is a serious OMG experience and unimaginable wealth in the stones that I saw in the crowns, gold plate etc. Not a lot of conservation or recycling of crowns here - a new set of do dads seems to get made for each coronation. It was glorious to see and had more impact than I expected. It was heading towards 5pm so we started to walk back along the riverside to town and decided to stop in at the Tait Modern on the way back. Luckily a bus came by which dropped us at the back of the building. As it would suggest by the name it is a place to go and view Modern Art ........ There was a Monet water lillies that was huge on one wall, a Picasson that was recognisable, and a very few other painters I have heard of but the general comment from those of us who saw it was ...... what a load of rubbish. The hogwash that was written about the deep and meaningfulness of a pile of stones or a few lines on a canvas or just paint thrown on a canvas was difficult to fathom. After seeing two floors we felt we had done enough and so carried on walking to Blackfriars Bridge, over the bridge and up the river to Covent Gardens. People were everywhere drinking outside on the footpaths and generally having a good time. We went to look for somewhere to have dinner but could not find the place Kath and Phil were thinking of so walked to Leicester station and caught the train back to the hotel. Had the best beef ribs out for dinner. They said two on the menu and as I wasnt initially feeling hungry thought that was fine. They turned out to be the size of a small dinosaur and were absolutely delicious.
Got up next morning and watched the All Blacks v the Springbox in the bar with Phil - we were the only ones there until towards the end when some English bloke popped his head in. Kath came down and we had a leisurely breakfast at 10.30am and I finished packing. Kath and Phil headed off to a friend's birthday about 1pm and I decided to stay and relax rather than zoom out and do any more touristing. My bags were packed with nothing to spare and did not feel like lugging all that round with me. Caught the plane to Singapore last night and slept 90% of the way which was good. Am now going in search of a foot massage and something to eat before boarding for home. Am looking forward to catching up with everyone and cannot wait to use the phone again LOL. Until then Lots of Love to all, Lynn