After we arrived back in the UK on Monday, we quickly realised that we only had a couple of days left to enjoy being in England. And... we hadn't even spent any time in London...
So, with David and Carol, we took the train to London and made our way to Victoria station to try to find a Whittard Shop for our David. Thanks to a very helpful information man, we did this and got what we wanted.
Then it was off to Lambeth Palace to visit the library there. This is the first time that the Palace Library has been open to the public and it contains some very valuable items.
Lambeth Palace is the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Anglican Church. Some of the books and items of interest from the library had been put on display in glass cases and they had small audioguides for everyone to go round the displays and these were very helpful. David found one mistake in the audio!
Some of the books were very old - dating back to 12th and 13th centuries, before the printing press was invented. They were had written in beautiful script and with lovely illuminations - coloured pictures and highlighted letters. We even saw a Gutenberg Bible.
There were also documents relating to events in history such as the death of Sir Francis Drake and letters from the various Kings and Queens over time. The library also has artifacts like the gloves of Charles 1, who wore these gloves when he was beheaded. The fanciful could find drops of blood even!! There was also a tortoise shell reputed to belong to a former Archbishop which went into hibernation after the original owner died and was unfortunately dug up by the gardener, after which it died of the cold! It was supposed to have been 102 years old.
After the Palace, had coffee at the Garden Museum next door then walked over to Southbank and found a nice cafe for lunch. Walked into Trafalgar Square, then decided it was time to make for home. After a short stop at M&S for more food, we caught the train back to Elmers End.
Wednesday was a beautiful, sunny day so made the most of it by going into Croydon to get our pin numbers for our new cards - only 5 weeks after we arrived and requested them!! Banking is not as good as it is in NZ. Did a bit of shopping then went for a drive to Squerryes Court, a stately home where Emma was filmed for the BBC last year. Beautiful gardens and a lovely little tea place. Unfortunately, it did take rather a long time for our lunch to come.
From there, via a circuitous route, to Westerham - a little village in the countryside with a village green, very old church and some lovely shops, albeit very expensive.
Thursday was our final day, so we spent most of the day getting organised to leave. Managed to get some time to take a short walk in the Shirley Hills where we went to a lookout where you could see in to Canary Wharf, the Millenium Dome (now called the O2 Arena), the radio masts at Crystal Palace and the new stadium at Wembley.
David and Carol took us to Heathrow - a trip of about 75 minutes and we were very early so were able to check in quickly and make our way to the lounge, where we were able to relax for the time before we boarded for our evening flight.
The flight to Hong Kong only took 11 1/2 hours, much shorter than going over. On the way, we flew over the Baltic, but it was dark and you couldn't see anything anyway!
Now waiting in Hong Kong for the almost final leg home. It will be good to get back, but the trip was a good one and we had a great time visiting David and Carol.
Pictures to come when I get back!!
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