October 7 – Day 85

Today we got the Eurostar from Brussels to London, arriving in London at around 12:30. We got the tube to Old Street, where we met Sarah, a family friend who is living in London. She gave us the keys to her place, and we went back to drop our bags off.

With our bags out of the way, we got the tube back in to Covent Garden, where we had drinks at the White Lion – the first pub we drank in when we arrived in London three months ago. After a few hours, we walked to West End, to The Queen’s Theater, where we saw Les Miserables, which was excellent.

October 8 – Day 86

Today we planned to meet a relative of mine and be shown some family history. We met Elaine at Euston Station, and got a train to Watford, where we met Alwin. They drove us to The Grove, which is now an exclusive hotel, but was once the home of an Earl. We then went and looked at the house where my relatives had lived, which was interesting.

We looked around a bit more before coming to The Stables. It is now a restaurant, and we stopped for a delicious lunch. We drove on after lunch, and visited the church where the graves of some of the family are. After that, Alwin dropped us back at Watford, where we got a train back to Euston.

We said goodbye to Elaine, and headed to Harrod’s for a look around. We didn’t stay long, but got some cupcakes for dessert

We slowly headed back to Sarah’s place, stopping off along the way at Oxford St, and a pub or two. We had dinner with Sarah and her brother, Ken, which was really fun. It was nice to see people we know.

October 9 – Day 87

Today we planned to go to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard, but slept in, and didn’t think we’d make it. Once we woke up, we rushed to the train and went to Charing Cross. From there, we started walking to the palace, but stopped when we saw a police motorcade heading towards us.

We soon saw most of The Royal Family, including The Queen, go past on their way to a church service – very exciting!

We kept walking down The Mall, and saw the changing of the cavalry, which was also fun. We continued walking down to the palace, but found out that the changing of the guard wasn’t happening today. The guards must get tired on these days

From the palace, we walked through Green park and had a pub lunch, before heading to Lord’s for a tour of the ground. The tour was good, but the guide was a bit annoying. We were still glad to see it.

After the tour, we met Sarah and Ken to see Annie Get Your Gun. It was pretty different from Les Mis, but we had a good time.

October 10 – Day 88

Today we went to Portobello Road to see the markets. It was packed, but we looked around for a few hours. We were carrying enough by now that we didn’t want to buy anything more. We kept exploring for the rest of the day, but were pretty relaxed.

After dinner we went to our friend’s place for a party.

October 11 – Day 89

After packing our bags, we went to Brick Lane, stopping at markets along the way. After a delicious lunch, we had a few drinks before heading back to Sarah’s to get our bags, and head to Heathrow.

We flew to Bangkok and stayed for two nights, before continuing back to Sydney.