Manky Monkey Motors

O.K, not quite Christmas yet, but it seems Londinium's already in full Jingle Bells mode.
Taz & I both had the day off yesterday & decided on the spur of the moment to take some time out from building stuff to enjoy some much needed "Us" time. So we walked down to the village railway station & jumped on the first train that came along. 40 minutes later we were in Waterloo station & set about being tourists for the day.
We looked at the London Eye. 

And the Salvador Dali sculptures along the Embankment.

We marvelled at the "Duck" amphibious vehicle sight-seeing tour bus. I really fancied a trip on this. It trundles around the land based sights, then down a slipway into the Thames for a trip along the river. We decided it was a bit too chilly for it though. Maybe in the Summer.

.

From there we nipped across the road to the Houses of Parliamet. Taz's employer, the right honorable Earl of Onslow, has taken her on a guided tour. If you have to have an office job, I guess this is a nice place to work.

Past Downing Street, heavily fenced & guarded to stop us commoners that pay for it getting anywhere near it, & a stop at the Cenotaph. As a volunteer standard bearer for the Women's branch of our local British Legion, this has a special significance for Taz.

London's full of monuments to just about everyone, especially the armed forces. This one, dedicated to the women who served in the 2nd World war, was simple but quite effective.

Past the guys with the funny hats & kinky boots.
The young lad on the horse was actually dozing off as we watched. I bet they hate tourists.  ;D

.

On past Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. Anyone else remember doing the MAG demo rides here in the late 80s/early 90s?

Admiralty Arch?

Covent Garden.

A sign of the times?

A "GWizz" plug in & charge electric car. More pics of them in the Street Cars bit of the main site.

Through China town.
The Wonky restaurant?

Attack of the giant snowmen.
Carnaby Street.

Enviromentally friendly trike.

The lights of Regent Street formed a canopy along the whole street. Much more effective than the photos show. We spent an hour or 2 wandering round & round the 5 floors of Hamleys toy shop. When Brock & I were kids we were taken there every Christmas to spend our pocket money. I'm sure it had at least 26 floors when I was younger though. We stopped for a cuppa & an all important slice of cake in the top floor cafe.

Father Christmas arrives at Selfridges on his trusty scooter.

Beyond Marble Arch, a quite moving memorial to the animals who served in wartime. "Obedient unto death, they had no choice".

.

We stopped to check out the Park Corner Aston Martin dealership. That one's nice. How much? One & a half -million. Hmm, maybe not this week then.
Across the road & into Hyde Park, jumping out of the way of the endless streams of joggers & mountain bikers. We headed for the bright lights of a fairground in the distance. It turned out to be a German Christmas fair. Again, snapshots don't do it justice. A truly magical experience with a lovely, cosy festive atmosphere. No blaring hip hop & pop music, just the sounds of Sinatra & Tony Bennet wafting through the trees. Lots of beautifully carved wooden figures & decorations, bratwurst sausage & hog roast stalls, beer kellers, inviting restaurants, even a full size ice skating rink. And all here for just a few weeks.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A 2 storey restaurant, brought from Germany & erected in the middle of Hyde Park, just for the Christmas period.

.

From the park, we crossed the road & wandered down to take a peek in the windows of Harrods. It really is another World in there.

Strolling through Knightsbridge, we ended our foray into the big city watching the ice skaters on the floodlit rink set up outside the Natural History Museum. This petrified tree, excavated in the 1800s & standing guard outside the museum gates, is over 330 million years old. Amazing.

So that was our day.
We left the skaters to it & hopped on the underground back to Waterloo, catching the 10 o clock train back to Surrey & arriving home utterly exhausted. The return off-peak train fare, including unlimited use of the underground, cost us just over 12 quid each. There's so much to do & see in London, we could go back every weekend & see something different every time.  :)

What a good value day out!

I remember when my kids were - well, kids - I had a little booklet called 'Things to do for free in London' - it was amazing how many there were!

Used to go to London a lot as a kid, then every month to the Chelsea Cruise at Battersea as a teenager. Haven't been sight-seeing there for a long time though, so it was great to go back. Yeah, loads to do there & plenty to see for free.

only been to london once 27 years ago first night there got nicked and locked up all weekend

brilliant travelogue Manky...thanks for sharing.

 :) We're only 30 miles away from the centre of London, but it's amazing how often people never visit the places right on their doorstep.

You're absolutely right I have the historic Barbican and Pymouth Hoe only a couple of miles away yet I rarely go there. Then there's Dartmoor only a 15 minute drive away. I go up onto the Moor more often than I visit the Hoe mainly because I enjoy the solitude out there especially at this time of year.

Same reason I love visiting the Scottish Highlands.
One of my workmates at the Basingstoke Royal Mail sorting office came up to me this morning. Told me he'd taken his family on the London Eye & the amphibious tour bus at the weekend & his kids absolutely loved it. What inspired them to go? Reading about it here! I didn't even know he read the site.

Yep the barbican and Dartmoor are great places. Jenny cliff and Bigbury, Whitsands, Looe, Polperro are great too. Spent many a happy hour there in my youth. I was brought up in Plymouth meself. Don't get down there much these days.
Regards
K

ooh London... I live there! :D
Lots to see and do, and you did the main bits.

you got some crackin pics and saw an awful lot for one day!!
There's a route i have that I take visiting friends on and show them all around the sites. Lots of walking. You seem to have covered the majority of it. Did you do Buckingham Palace? I can't remember seeing a pic. It's a 5-10 mins walk from Trafalgar Square.

We only saw it from a distance this time but back in 2005 when they held the Poppy tribute on World War II day. I was there and not just as a spectator. I was carrying the County Standard for my area for the Womens section of the British Legion. The weather was soooooo hot and I'd drunk so much water I thought my bladder was going to burst and I had the full length of the Mall to march like it. In the photo with this post you can't see me but that's what I was part of. I was actually stood inside the perimeter fence for Buckingham Palace on the main courtyard. The Flyby was an amazing sight and one I'll never forget. I feel very proud to have been a part of it.

wow. that's definitely something to be proud of.
I was part of a similar march there on a memorial day about 8-9 years ago. I forget the name of the place we marched, but it was where all the horses parade.

HorseGuards Parade?

 ;D ;D ;D
Nice one Tazet, well done
Regards
K

 ;D Thanks  ;D