Last day in London town... a special day.

Well, time has gone by so quickly and now it is my last day in London…. so once again it was time to hit the streets.


In London there are a number of bridges over the Thames, the most famous is the Tower Bridge.

One of things I have said before is how surprising the size and presence of the different things I have seen are and the Tower Bridge is no different, it is not a long bridge but with its towers and walkways it is impressive.

Heading up the tower I was amazed with the workmanship that has gone into the building of this structure and also how being 49m higher above the river changes the view.

After making my way across the walkways enjoying the views and learning more about the bridge, it was time to head down to the engine room

After a bit of history it was time for me to spend some time with Wiz, so I wandered through St Katherine’s dock and made my way to my dear friend.

Now back at home when Wiz and I catch up almost every time it is for lunch or a drink but we have found something that entertains us just as well… shopping so we made our way to Spitalfields market.

The streets were alive, people walking along, having lunch and I am told enjoying the sunshine (they say that the sun only is around for such a small time of the year that they need to make the most of it) and there were some gorgeous little shops on the way.

The markets are huge... they go on and on and on, we wandered around and bought a few things but only saw such a small part of the whole place, I have to say it is a dangerous place for two girls to go but we didn't buy that much... really, compared to what we could have bought.

Wandering through the streets of London I love looking at the buildings, there are so many old gorgeous buildings but also a number of new buildings and I appreciate how they can stand next to one another and not take the beauty away from the other... not all cities are able to do this as well as London.

After controlling our spending it was time to head back and catch up with Matt and to share the beautiful bottle of Veuve that I had bought duty-free on my way over to celebrate three wonderful friends being together again.

(no champagne flutes but it was still very special)

As a treat I had taken Wiz to Paris for a girl's night and now it was time for Matt's treat... dinner at a Gordon Ramsey owned restaurant, The Warrington.

The restaurant is above a gorgeous little pub, it would have been nice to have a drink there before going up for dinner but as our reservation was at 8 and we arrived at 8:30 after struggling to get a taxi for over forty minutes, it wasn't to be.

We headed upstairs and made ourselves comfortable in a beautiful restaurant, shared a wonderful meal and had an amazing time... the perfect way to end my time in London.

The new and old of London town...

First I just want to say there will be no separate post for Friday, just a brief mention here... because there is not a lot to report.

I left my beautiful hotel in the morning and made my way to the airport (arriving 2 hours and 20 minutes before my flight so a little earlier then needed), checked in, went through security, went to my gate and waited... and waited... and waited... and waited. My flight was delayed by over an hour and a half so it made for a long day waiting around in the airport.

When I finally arrived back in London, a phone call to my dear friend, Wiz and we were off to the local, the Dickens Inn, for a drink or two (it was going to be just one then dinner but we made new friends) and then off to dinner. That was Friday.

So Saturday it was time to hit the road and explore the streets of London once again, the plan to see something new and something old. The new... London Eye.

The London Eye...

• 
  
  first opened March,2010
• 
  
  stands 135m tall (equivalent to 64 red telephone boxes piled on top of each other)
• 
  
  Each rotation takes about 30 minutes, meaning a capsule travels at  26cm per second, or 0.9km (0.6 miles) per hour - twice as fast as a tortoise sprinting; allowing passengers to step on and off without the wheel having to stop
• 
  
  The London Eye can carry 800 passengers per revolution - equivalent to 11 London red doubled-decker buses

So after joining the queue (I bought a fast-track ticket, which means only 15 minutes in the line... 10 pounds more but only 15 minutes in queue, well worth it) it was time to board my flight and step in to the capsule, as it says above, the wheel keeps turning and it is the weirdest sensation to step on to, with that first step you are away.

You stand in your capsule looking out over the river,  moving around looking at the view out the window. As I said with the Eiffel Tower there is something special about being up high and looking out...

the thing with the view in the London Eye is that it is always changing, as you move up and around, the landscape in front of you evolves as you rise, you see things that you couldn't see before and the excitement grows as you travel.

It is surprising how quickly the time passes as you travel the loop and before you know it the time has come to step off, the sensation of "solid" ground under your feet again does take you by surprise.

Heading from one wonderful destination to another I headed to the Tower of London... the Eye is only ten years old while the Tower of London has a history over a thousand years old.

It amazes me to look around at things such as the Tower and to think about how old they are... I come from a country that is just over two hundred years old and I am standing in front of something that is five times older than that... it is mind blowing.

Standing looking at a place that has such a violent history, killing of queens by beheading and the number of people that had been imprisoned here, I found myself surprised at it's beauty and calmness.

Unfortunately I only had an hour or so at the Tower, I was told by staff that it does take two to three hours to tour it properly and I believe this but I still wanted to experience it and I am glad that I did. The one thing that I really wanted to see while I was there were the Crown Jewels. Unfortunately once again I was told photography is not allowed and once inside you are constantly moving and very low light so I did shoot a few from the hip but not many.

(Coronation plates that are used during the celebration after the Coronation)

As I waited in line and made my way through to the Jewels, I was overwhelmed with the history of England... there is a display showing the dates and crests of all the Kings and Queens of England, it is one thing to have grown up hearing of them but actually seeing and experiencing the history is something else.

(the train of the robes that Queen Elizabeth II wore during her Coronation)

You make your way through and as you do you are shown video of the Crown Jewels and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen looks so very young in the video of her Coronation and she was, becoming Queen at the age of 23 but the other thing you notice is how the robes and Crown appear so heavy and that she needed assistance to stand, not until you actually do see them you realise that yes they are very heavy.

After a day of exploring it was time to catch up once again with my dear friend... drinks at a pub in Notting Hill (after going to two different beer garden venues to be told they were closed due to private parties) before dinner at Electric.

A wonderful day and night...

What a day!!!!!!!!

Thursday...

I don't know if my words and photos are going to be enough to describe this day but I will try... As I said in my last post this is an early 40th birthday present from the White House gang... I love you guys...

Well full of excitement I joined the group becoming the seventh member (everyone of us was from Australia) and we hit the road to begin our tour... first stop Lamborghini museum.

The Lamborghini company first begun as a tractor building company, they have come a long way from tractors but in some ways especially with the engines you are able to see those humble beginnings.

Next stop was a private collection owned by the Pannini family, the Pannini family made their fortune in trading "baseball" cards and what a fortune it must be because this collection is colossal.

A large part of the collection was bought direct from Maserati, when the company was sold in the 90's but the collection is not just limited to Maserati, other classic cars and  a large collection of bikes.

Next stop was the one place that I wanted to be, I said that Paris made me feel like a child on Christmas morning, well this place had me feeling like every Christmas had come at once... the Galleria Ferrari.

We sat and had lunch at the cafeteria (next to workers sitting in their Ferrari uniforms)... time seem to slow as I waited for lunch to be over... I was so close.

Eventually (it had felt like forever but now time seem to be going so fast) we made our way in to the Galleria, Ferrari racing cars sat in front of me, I could walk around them, I could touch them... they were right there.

Looking at the distant past cars was wonderful but anyone who knows me knows which car I was there to see... Michael Schumacher's cars.

To stand beside his cars was simply breath taking, the beauty of the cars, the history of the cars and knowing that I had seen the man himself race these cars to World Championships.... I can not explain how I felt.

Ferrari started as a way to finance the racing cars and not the other way around and you are able to see that from their design...

The road cars, though simply stunning are not as breath taking as the race cars...

After seeing such beauty it was time to experience it... I drove a Ferrari California, a beautiful red (is there any other colour) convertible...

I was so very nervous, I had never driven a left-hand drive, never driven a Ferrari and never driven a Ferrari and here I was about to do them all.

I had to sign a contract, if I was to damage a rim or tyre I had to pay a thousand euro and god forbid if I was to crash I had to pay three thousand euro, but it would not had matter if it was thirty thousand euro I was not going to miss this chance.

After a shaky start where I automatically went to the left hand side of the road, we were away. My "instructor" was great and when we were on an open piece of road instructed me to "push, push...". I had some concerns when seeing 70kph speed signs and I was hitting 100 but he told me to "push, push..." so I did. Top speed I hit was 170 but the car still had so much more to give.

It was a pleasure to drive and I could not help but show that, which my instructor loved.

There is a video of my driving but inside the case it comes with the warning... Before publishing any video on internet, we advice you to check you didn't break the highway code laws. Otherwise, under request by the police, we'll be obliged to supply them with your personal datas and to ask you to pay the relative administration fees.... so it is not going on here.

After all the excitement I would have been happy to go home but our tour was not complete and we set off for the Ducati factory and museum.

We toured the factory floor and it was very interesting to see the bikes coming together.

You think of motorbikes and you really don't think too much about how they have developed over the years... there are two wheels, a seat, frame, handle bars, engine... but walking around the museum and looking at the history of Ducati it is amazing how they have changed over the years.

It was great to see the racing bikes and just like Ferrari you can see that is what this company is there for (though they started making sewing machines and cameras). It was also great to see the small Aussie touches that have been added to the bikes by the Australian riders.

It was a brilliant day and I am so lucky to have such amazing friends... it was the best present!