I is for..../Walk 3/26 London

We had a lovely day in London on Saturday- the day after the Royal Wedding. My niece was dancing at the Royal Albert Hall . We were up at 5am, on the coach at 6.15 and back to bed at 1.30 am the next day. So an absolutely shattering day- but great fun. We walked miles and towards the end of the day we'd all seized up and were walking like grannies.

We started off outside the Royal Albert Hall and walked through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. We had a cuppa at the Lido cafe. We walked past the Diana Memorial and the first I- I is for Isis. The bird statue- new last year. At least there is a bit more to see now.

Kimberley IN the Round- dancing  in the finale. It's lovely to see all the dance academies dancing their routines- lots of different styles, including some tap and ballet, techno, street etc. Kimberleys troop were dancing a Lady Gaga routine. The photo here they are singing and dancing to 'The best night of my life'- and it's nice to see all 1300 dancers on the stage having the time of their life! We were very close to Kimberley luckily. She had said it was the last year she wanted to dance- as she's older she gets to be at the bottom of the lifts and doesn't enjoy it as much. But next year they are having Olympic celebrations- so she's going to try a few weeks rehearsal and make her mind up. It is a great day in London- but a very expensive one! To be fair we didn't spend an awful lot when we were there- apart from our evening meal which was £75 for burgers and fish and chips!

 IN THE NEWS
I wanted to see Buckingham Palace- and it was great to see it whilst the roads were still closed. We saw Prince Williams helicopter fly away from Buckingham Palace- we only knew because of the bank of photographers in the park taking photos and film. There was a 'runner' outside the Palace asking if they'd secured the photos of the Helicopter (we always call them lepitats- because that's what my little cousin called them when he was little). We saw this news reporter outside the Palace and saw him miking himself up. I found it all fascinating to see. We found out last night that he is from the BBC news channel- as we saw him last night!

 IT COULD HAVE BEEN ME
We bought Amy this t-shirt in Sainsburys as a joke- but she did agree to wear it for the photo opp! She wasn't too keen on having her photo taken as you can tell- but couldn't resist it! I was quite surprised how interested she was in the wedding. She was entranced by Buckingham Palace. She's only ever been to The Belfast in London before. She's already planning a return trip with her friends to see Madam Tussards.

 IRONWORK!
The gates at Buckingham Palace are pretty impressive.

 INTENSE CONCENTRATION
This young lad was so still that some of the tourists thought he was a statue. He really was amazing.

 INDIAN ELEPHANT
This is part of the Asian Monument at the Albert Memorial. We had a lovely day - so the photos were brighter than last year.

ICE COLD

By the time we got back to the Diana Memorial- we all wanted to paddle our feet! My sister. She actually did really well- as she hasn't walked far since she finished her treatment. Think we overdid it really- but she coped better than most of us!

ICONIC

Big Ben is an iconic sight around London. We walked over to Westminster Abbey- as I would have loved to have seen the flowers.  But there were large queues and they wanted £16 to get in. We didn't really have enough time left to wait before walking back for the show- so AMy was really disappointed.

 INSPIRATIONAL
The Nelson Mandela statue was very popular- and I was struck with how many people walked up to have their photos taken there whilst we were having a rest!

 Fairy Glade- this is right in the centre of London. It's amazing how many parks there are around London. This was so pretty.

Westminster Abbey- whilst we were there a double decker went past with 'Wedding Party' on it- for the guests. Apparently there was a wedding there that day- so possibly it was their guests!



I can't believe this is only the third walk we've managed this year- or at least the third with a camera along. I do love London- and although I've seen a lot of the sights before on previous trips- there is always something new to see. I have been inside Westminster Abbey before- but can't remember paying an extortionate amount to get in. The one place I haven't been inside is St Pauls. We've also only done one of the museums. I'd like to go to London Zoo aswell. I did read that Edinburgh Zoo were getting a Giant Panda- and as this is on my list of things I'd love to see, if I do hear more about that I can see us organising a trip there. It's somewhere I'd love to go- I've never been to Scotland- and it looks amazing.