Return to London

After arriving back in Edinburgh on Boxing Day we had one more night there. So, I took my camera and tripod up Calton Hill and attempted to get some night shots of the city. It was blowing a bit of a gale and bitterly cold, so we soon gave up on that endeavour. We continued walking and got to Holyrood Castle at the opposite end of the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. Walking back up the Royal Mile we passed the new parliament building and my ‘boyfriend’ from the first time I came to Edinburgh.

Tuesday 27th December – Happy Birthday Mum!!

Most of mum’s b’day was spent on the train from Edinburgh to London. We decided to take a daytime train for two reasons: 1. We could see the scenery, which is quite nice, and 2. The 5 hour train ride actually takes about the same time it takes to get from town to the airport, fly to London, and then get back into town and our accommodation once in London. After arriving in London and checking into our accommodation mum and I saw We Will Rock You. It wasn’t anything like I expected, but I quite enjoyed it… But what’s not to enjoy about Queen’s music? I think maybe Brian May, the Queen guitarist played a bit on the night, I didn’t recognise him though, so who know, lol. The crowd in general seemed rather pleased that he was there though, giving the guy a large round of applause.

Wednesday 28th December

Being pushed by the 'little force'. I think she did better
than I did :/

Today was the day an old school friend of mine – Adam- arrived in London. He wasn’t due until the afternoon, so mum and I went to the Science Museum in the morning. This is my second time to the museum, and I still haven’t seen all there is to see! We watched a few of the shows they put on that are primarily aimed at the kids (read that as under 5’s – at the bubble show, Mum and I were the only one’s without a rug rat hanging off us). Although at one point they needed a ‘big kid’ volunteer, so I put my hand up. It was only fitting as I DID come with my mum! the show was about rockets and forces, and I had to push a little girl who was sitting on a wheeled office chair. I was scared of pushing her too hard, and ended up failing dismally, only pushing her about a centimetre :P Another show was about explosions – Did you know flour is flammable? The great fire of London actually started when flour exploded in a bakery.

Going to visit H.P!

After exploring a bit and watching 3 shows, it was time to meet Adam back at the hostel. We were a bit late, and he was already there, so he had obviously survived the 20+ hour flight. That night we met up with Gill and Ronnie (who have since gone home ) at Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, where we had a drink on the carousel bar – only THE. BEST. IDEA. EVER!!! And the great thing is you don’t even need to drink to feel a bit drunk, as you spin around.

On the Carousel Bar

Bundy Bear Represents!

Thursday 29th December

Didn’t really do much today – In the morning we saw the Changing of the Guard, and then did a walking tour in the afternoon. We don’t even have many pictures from the walking tour – but tonnes from the Changing of the Guard, which mum said was a waste of 2 hours of her life! We also had a look at the Christmas lights in Oxford Street.

The police had a tough job controlling the people

A statue at the beginning of the walking tour