For a trip to Wales, we've certainly gone off course! But with the weather looking fine, we pushed on east towards London. London has a strict emissions zone that Bodhi didn't have a hope of qualifying for, so we searched around and found a site in Buckinghamshire that suited nicely - Red Barn Farm near Marlow. It was lovely and peaceful, with horses and chickens in the fields and red kites flying overhead. Our day in London started early - first we had to drop Bodhi down at PSV Glazing in High Wycombe so his windscreen could be replaced. Bodhi had an unfortunate meeting with a van last year, resulting in some minor damage and a chipped windscreen. PSV is the go-to name for Hymer replacement screens and they were brilliant. We even got dropped off at the Underground to make our trip into London easier - and they picked us back up again that evening! We took the Underground to Marble Arch, where we were able to jump onto a Big Bus open top bus to see around the city. At over £100, it wasn't a cheap option but we only had one day. We wanted to see as much as possible. The buses were all extremely busy, so we didn't manage to sit upstairs until the last few stops, It was quite warm up there, and we still saw loads of things at street level that we would have missed if we'd been on the top deck. We made it up into the sunshine just before Tower Bridge, so I think we saw the best bit there anyway! We jumped off the bus at the Tower of London, as there wasn't a huge amount to see on the route after that point. We walked back across Tower Bridge, past some HUGE queues to climb up to the top, and explored the area near the City Hall. The views across the river and the architecture are amazing. Then we crossed the bridge again and grabbed some lunch. There's a handy Wetherspoons across the road from the Tower, if you're ever need a quick and easy lunch in London! It suited us just fine. After lunch, we headed to the dock beside the Tower and boarded a boat for a cruise down the Thames. This was included in our Big Bus ticket and was truly the best part of the day. We had a very funny tour guide who pointed out places of interest and made us all laugh. We'd seen loads from the bus, but seeing it from a different perspective from the river really showed us how huge London is - and I had never really grasped how much the Thames twists as it passes through the city. The boat took us down the Westminster - Big Ben still smothered in scaffolding - and we hopped off and started to explore in earnest. Our route took us past Downing Street, through Trafalgar Square and into Covent Garden to Neal's Yard. We took a short while to chill in this lovely little space before moving on again. From Neal's Yard we walked through Leicester Square, past the gates to China Town and down the Mall to Buckingham Palace Tired wee legs at this point! Thankfully we were able to pick up one of the last Big Buses of the day at Regent's Park, which took us back to Marble Arch and the Underground. What a day! Were were very thankful to see Richard from PSV at the station when we got in, and Bodhi was waiting for us with his shiny new screen. Back to Red Barn Farm we went, where we were very, very thankful of the peace and quiet. Love a busy city but only in small doses! Motorhomes are great for city breaks |
Categories
All
|